Sierra Leoneans head to the polls amid cost-of-living crisis

FREETOWN - Sierra Leoneans will vote on Saturday in fiercely contested presidential and parliamentary elections, amid international calls for peace and a cost-of-living crisis that helped spark deadly riots last year.

Twelve men and one woman are in the running for the top job, but incumbent President Julius Maada Bio's main challenger is Samura Kamara of the All People's Congress (APC) party. 

The two will face off for the second time in a row after Bio, of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), narrowly beat Kamara in a runoff in 2018.

Rising food prices are a key issue for many voters in the import-dependent West African nation of eight million people.

Year-on-year inflation hit 43 percent in April, according to the latest official figures.

Both Bio and Kamara told AFP they would prioritise boosting agricultural production.

Some 3.4 million people are registered to vote, 52.4 percent of whom are under 35 years old, according to an electoral commission spokesman. 

Polling opens at 7am and closes at 5pm.

Presidential candidates must secure 55 percent of valid votes for a first-round win.

Turnout has ranged between 76 and 87 percent over the past three elections.

Voters will also elect members of parliament and local councils in a proportional representation system after a last-minute switch from a first-past-the-post system.