Sierra Leone’s political battlefield is already beginning to take shape ahead of the anticipated 2028 general elections, and one question is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: can the All People’s Congress (APC) successfully transform itself into a sufficiently united, disciplined and convincing alternative to the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP)? For supporters of the SLPP, the answer may appear obvious: the APC has repeatedly struggled with internal tensions, strategic uncertainty and political positioning. But politics is never decided by confidence alone. The real contest will be decided by organisation, credibility, public perception, economic performance and the ability of each party to convince ordinary Sierra Leoneans that it deserves their trust.
The APC remains Sierra Leone’s principal opposition party, and therefore it would be premature to write it off. Indeed, the party returned to Parliament in 2026 after a period of boycott and subsequently re-engaged with the Political Parties Liaison Committee, demonstrating that it remains a significant political institution. Yet the very fact that the APC has had to navigate boycotts, negotiations and questions about its participation in national institutions illustrates the enormous strategic challenge confronting it. A political party cannot defeat a governing party simply by opposing it; it must demonstrate that it can organise better, communicate better and offer voters a more compelling future.
This is where the SLPP may possess a formidable advantage. The governing party has already begun preparing its political machinery for 2028. At its 75th anniversary celebration in April 2026, President Julius Maada Bio publicly called for unity, discipline and electoral preparedness, while stressing that the party’s next flagbearer should be capable of uniting the party, winning nationally and governing competently. Such statements matter because elections are won long before Election Day. They are won through grassroots organisation, candidate preparation, messaging, fundraising, and coalition-building and the cultivation of public confidence. If the SLPP succeeds in maintaining internal discipline while the APC remains consumed by internal disagreements, the governing party could enter 2028 with a substantial strategic advantage.
The APC’s greatest danger, therefore, may not actually be the SLPP. Its greatest danger may be itself. A party with a proud historical legacy can become trapped by its own history if it assumes that yesterday’s political loyalties automatically guarantee tomorrow’s votes. Sierra Leone’s electorate is changing. Younger voters are increasingly interested in employment, education, technology, economic opportunity, affordable living and competent governance. They want to know what a political party intends to do for their future—not simply what that party did decades ago.
This presents the APC with an uncomfortable question: what exactly is the new APC offering Sierra Leone? If its political message remains dominated by criticism of the SLPP without a sufficiently detailed alternative programme, the governing party can portray the opposition as angry but unprepared. The APC must therefore go beyond saying that the government has failed. It must explain precisely how it would improve the economy, create jobs, strengthen institutions, improve electricity supply, support agriculture, expand private-sector investment and restore public confidence. Without that positive programme, opposition rhetoric can lose its power.
The economic question could become particularly important. Sierra Leoneans are living with difficult economic realities, and political competition will inevitably be influenced by people’s perceptions of their livelihoods. Interestingly, a June 2026 CHRDI poll reported that respondents expressed greater confidence in the APC than the SLPP on management of the economy and national security. This demonstrates that the APC is not politically finished. On the contrary, it possesses an opportunity. But opportunity is not victory. Public confidence must be converted into an organised electoral movement. A favourable survey can disappear quickly if a party fails to turn public dissatisfaction into a coherent political strategy.
Another challenge for the APC is the question of unity. Opposition parties need extraordinary discipline because they have fewer institutional advantages than governing parties. Every public disagreement becomes a potential headline. Every factional dispute becomes ammunition for the ruling party. Every leadership controversy creates uncertainty among undecided voters. If APC supporters spend more time fighting one another than explaining why citizens should vote for them, the SLPP will not need to defeat the APC from outside; the APC will be weakening itself from within.
The Tripartite process has also demonstrated how complicated the relationship between the APC and the government remains. The government and APC have continued to disagree publicly over the implementation and interpretation of recommendations arising from the 2023 Agreement for National Unity. These disagreements are important because they shape how voters perceive both parties. If the APC appears permanently confrontational without producing tangible political gains, some voters may begin asking whether confrontation is actually serving their interests.
At the same time, the SLPP cannot afford complacency. The party itself has publicly acknowledged the dangers of factionalism and political entitlement. President Bio’s April 2026 speech specifically warned against factional behaviour and insisted that the party’s future leadership should emerge through a transparent and democratic process. This is significant because the SLPP knows that incumbency can become a weakness if internal succession struggles are allowed to dominate the political agenda.
The APC’s potential vulnerability is therefore best understood as a race against time. It has until 2028 to demonstrate that it has evolved beyond the political battles of the past. It needs a leadership structure that can command respect beyond its traditional supporters. It needs younger voices. It needs a powerful economic message. It needs grassroots organisation. Most importantly, it needs to persuade undecided Sierra Leoneans that voting APC represents not merely punishment for the SLPP but a credible investment in the country’s future.
The political environment itself also demands maturity. Sierra Leone’s two major parties have historically dominated national politics, and both remain powerful institutions. A 2026 democratic-governance assessment described the SLPP and APC as the dominant forces in the country’s political system while noting that political polarisation and competing interests can hinder cooperation and reforms. That means the APC cannot afford to build its entire campaign around political hostility. The electorate may ultimately reward the party that appears more capable of bringing stability, competence and national cohesion.
This is where the phrase “SLPP’s hard hands” becomes politically interesting. It does not necessarily mean that the SLPP is invincible. Rather, it describes the formidable machinery of an incumbent party that has time, institutional experience, government visibility and an established national network. The APC will have to fight that machinery with something more powerful than slogans: discipline, unity, credibility and a compelling national vision.
The 2028 contest will therefore not simply be APC versus SLPP. It will be a contest between two political narratives. The SLPP will ask voters to remember what it believes it has achieved and to trust its vision for the future. The APC will ask voters to believe that it can do better. Whoever tells the more convincing story—and, crucially, whoever can make voters believe that story—is likely to gain the advantage.
So, can the APC be saved from the SLPP’s political gangsterism? Absolutely! But only if it recognises that salvation will not come from nostalgia, anger or political entitlement. It will come from renewal. The APC must rebuild its internal unity, embrace younger generations, develop a credible economic programme, communicate consistently and convince citizens that it has learned from its previous weaknesses.
If it fails to do so, the SLPP could enter 2028 with the psychological advantage of an incumbent that has successfully maintained its political coalition while the opposition struggles to consolidate its own. But if the APC transforms itself into a disciplined, modern and genuinely national political movement, the story could be very different.
The final verdict will belong neither to the SLPP nor to the APC. It will belong to the Sierra Leonean voter. And that voter will ultimately ask the simplest—and most devastating—question in politics: Who can give me a better future?
Until the APC can answer that question more convincingly than the SLPP, the governing party’s political grip may remain extraordinarily difficult to break. The battle for 2028 has already begun, and for the APC, the greatest challenge may not be defeating the SLPP. It may be saving itself first.