1996 Sierra Leonean general election

{{Short description|none}}

{{Infobox election

| country = Sierra Leone

| previous_election = 1985 Sierra Leonean presidential election

| previous_year = 1985

| next_election = 2002 Sierra Leonean general election

| next_year = 2002

| election_date = 26 and 27 February 1996 (first round)
15 March 1996 (second round)

| module = {{Infobox election

| embed = yes

| election_name = Presidential election

| type = presidential

| image1 = Ahmed Tejan Kabbah (cropped).jpg

| nominee1 = Ahmed Tejan Kabbah

| party1 = Sierra Leone People's Party

| popular_vote1 = 608,419

| percentage1 = 59.49%

| image2 = Noimage.png

| nominee2 = John Karefa-Smart

| party2 = UNPP

| popular_vote2 = 414,335

| colour2 = FFFF00

| percentage2 = 40.51%

| title = President

| before_election=Julius Maada Bio

| before_party= Military head of state

| after_election=Ahmed Tejan Kabbah

| after_party=Sierra Leone People's Party

| module = {{Infobox legislative election

| embed = yes

| election_name = Parliamentary election

| seats_for_election = 68 of 80 seats in Parliament

| party1 = Sierra Leone People's Party | leader1 = Ahmed Tejan Kabbah | percentage1 = 36.17| seats1 = 27 | last_election1 = new

| party2 = UNPP | leader2 = John Karefa-Smart | percentage2 = 22.14 | seats2 = 17 | last_election2 = new

| party3 = PDP | leader3 = Thaimu Bangura | percentage3 = 15.33 | seats3 = 12| last_election3 = new

| party4 = All People's Congress | leader4 = Edward Turay | percentage4 = 5.69 | seats4 = 5 | last_election4 = 105

| party5 = PDP | leader5 = John Karimu | percentage5 = 5.26 | seats5 = 4| last_election5 = new

| party6 = DCP | leader6 = Abu Aiah Koroma | percentage6 = 4.78 | seats6 = 3| last_election6 = new

}}}}}}

{{Politics of Sierra Leone}}

General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 26 and 27 February 1996 to elect the President and members of Parliament, with a second round of the presidential election on 15 March.{{Cite journal |date=1996 |title=Election Watch |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/697486 |journal=Journal of Democracy |volume=7 |issue=3 |issn=1086-3214}} They were the first elections since multi-party democracy had been reintroduced following a referendum on a new constitution in 1991, and the first multi-party elections held in the country since 1977.

The presidential elections were won by Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), who defeated John Karefa-Smart of the United National People's Party in the second round by 60% to 40%. In the parliamentary elections, the SLPP became the largest party for the first time in 29 years, winning 27 of the 68 elected seats, whilst the UNPP finished second with 17 seats.

The All People's Congress, which had governed from 1968 to 1992 (from 1978 to 1991 as the only legal party), ran in a contested election for the first time in two decades. It finished fourth in the parliamentary election, whilst its presidential candidate, Edward Turay, finished a distant fifth with only 5.1 percent of the vote.

The elections were characterized by violence.{{Cite journal |date=1996 |title=Election Watch |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/697485 |journal=Journal of Democracy |volume=7 |issue=2 |issn=1086-3214}}