Sierra Leone's Bio: putschist turned progressive champion

Julius Maada Bio, who has been re-elected for a second term as Sierra Leone's president, is a former coup leader and has worked hard to rebrand himself as a family man who cares deeply about education and women's issues.

The 59-year-old, seen awkwardly dancing to Afrobeats on the campaign trail, was hailed by supporters for some of the most progressive policies in the region during his first term.

However, his detractors say the civic space has shrunk under his watch, and his main opponent Samura Kamara has cried foul over his election victory, calling it "not credible."

"Bio is concerned about how his presidency is perceived, particularly internationally, and his media team have sought to curate a narrative that amplifies its positives and glosses over shortcomings," said independent analyst Jamie Hitchen.

Bio abolished the death penalty and a criminal libel law, boosted women's representation in the public and private spheres, and slashed school fees to widen access to education -- all recommendations by Sierra Leone's post-civil war Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Around the capital Freetown, his face adorns billboards advertising free sanitary pads for students and he introduced measures to keep pregnant girls in school.

In a recent interview with AFP, Bio said he would prioritise agriculture in his second term to "stimulate economic growth right across the country."

Supporters of President Julius Maada Bio celebrate in the streets following his re-election. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP)

However, Sierra Leone's score on the annual index of US-based democracy advocacy group Freedom House has slipped.

It has also dropped 28 places on Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index for 2023.

Following deadly riots last August, Amnesty International said it had gathered testimonies alleging excessive use of force and condemned internet restrictions.

'Shot their way to power'

Bio comes from the south, a stronghold of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) he now leads.

His father, a local chief, died when he was four and he was raised by an illiterate mother whom he credits for instilling in him a respect for women and an understanding of the value of education.

Bio has worked hard to rebrand himself. By Kola SULAIMON (AFP/File)

In 1992, he participated in a coup with a group whose leader, Valentine Strasser, became the youngest head of state in the world at age 25.

Bio served as chief of the defence staff and deputy to Strasser before overthrowing him in 1996 and briefly taking over as head of state.

He agreed to step aside three months later for an elected civilian leader and subsequently apologised for his role in the junta.

"He was among a group of military guys who shot their way to power," Information Minister Mohamed Rahman Swaray told AFP.

"The other guys were trying to stay on, and he wanted to leave... He had a conviction that Sierra Leone was bigger than their personal aspirations."

Bio retired from the military and went to study in the United States.

Trade Minister Edward Hinga Sandy said the president was a "very good listener" who seeks many viewpoints before making a decision.

"He has this thing in him... 'What I was not able to do when I was a military leader because I did not have time, I should be able to do at this time'", Sandy said.

Few words

A man of few words, even by his own description, Bio does not often show emotion.

When AFP asked about Sierra Leone's current economic malaise that has left people struggling to afford three meals a day, he was quick to say the crisis was caused by external factors and not his doing.

But some burdens appear to weigh heavily on the leader.

Joseph Kaifala -- a historian on the 1991-2002 civil war during which Bio was a soldier and later part of the ruling junta -- once asked the president if he knew that the largest identified mass grave in Sierra Leone was in his hometown of Tihun.

"He responded, 'Yes, I know -- those people were killed because of me'", Kaifala told AFP by telephone, in reference to the fact the village was attacked by Bio's enemies during the war.

"President Bio is a very stoic fellow... but then he did manage to convey to me how much that has affected him... and he really does believe in the work that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission did."