Reports of violence have tamed in the run up to the August 11 elections in Sierra Leone, despite rising tensions in the west African country.

The UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) noted that following escalations of violence in July, fewer incidents have been reported in August as candidates round up their campaigns.

Police arrested scores of people in July after clashes in the south between the supporters of two of the main contenders in the election, the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) and the People's Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC.) Election related violence was also reported in the capital, Freetown, and the south-eastern towns of Bo and Kenema.

Sierra Leonean’s will go to the polls over the weekend to elect a new president and parliament for the second time since the decade-long civil war ended in 2002, and for the first time without the presence of UN peace keepers.

Given the electoral system, in which voters choose their local candidates directly, fears rose over intimidation and the possibility of clashes between political rivals, particularly in light of the lack of a peace-keeping presence.

The elections come shortly after the Special Court for Sierra Leone handed its first guilty verdicts to militia men over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone between 1991 and 2002. It also comes as the trial of former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, gets under way after the case was relocated from Freetown to The Hague over fears it would renew violence in the country. Some 50,000 people were killed and thousands mutilated during the war which was largely funded by the trade of illegal diamonds for arms.

In addition to maintaining the relative political stability of the past five years, the new president’s main challenge will be to improve economic and social conditions which are still reminiscent of the war years. According to The Economist, Sierra Leone’s unemployment rate is close to 80 percent, with seven out of 10 people currently living on less than a dollar a day. The country has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world, The Economist noted.

Some 2.6 million of Sierra Leone’s 6 million citizens are reportedly registered to vote in saturday's election, representing around 91 percent of the over 21 year old voting population.

Seven parties have been cleared to contend in the elections with the SLPP, the PMDC and the All People’s Congress (APC) the main contenders in the presidential race.

SLPP head, vice-president Solomon Ekuma Berewa, is the front-runner to replace outgoing President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah who is completing his second 5-year term in office. Kabbah was re-elected in 2002 gaining 70 percent of the votes cast in an election which saw the SLPP win 83 of the 112 parliamentary seats.

To win the presidential race, a candidate must receive 55 percent of the votes cast. If no clear winner emerges, a run-off would be held two weeks after the election.

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The Kimberly Process - Questionable at Best!

The Kimberley Process is a joint government, international diamond industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds - rough diamonds that are used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. The trade in these illicit stones has contributed to devastating conflicts in countries such as Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is an innovative, voluntary system that imposes extensive requirements on Participants to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are free from conflict diamonds. The Kimberley Process is composed of 45 Participants, including the European Community. Kimberley Process Participants account for approximately 99.8% of the global production of rough diamonds.