By Ragan M. Conteh
The former leader of the Coalition For Change (C4C) party in Parliament, Hon Emerson Lamina, has officially tendered his resignation from the C4C party and in effect joined the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
According to Hon Emerson Saa Lamina, before his defection to the SLPP, he first sought the blessings from the fourteen (14) paramount chiefs in Kono district.
Hon Lamina further revealed that, apart from seeking the blessings of the Paramount Chiefs, he has also sought the blessings of religious leaders and other strong groups including teachers, women, among others.
Hon Emerson Lamina made the submission on Tuesday 25 April 2023 at an emergency press conference organised at Committee Room One, Parliament Building on Tower Hill in Freetown.
Giving some of his reasons for defecting to the ruling SLPP, Hon Lamina said, he decided to join the SLPP because of the injustices meted out on Kono people during the APC regime.
According to Hon Lamina, the people of Kono have been sidelined in terms of development for decades, adding that when the SLPP came to power he saw the developments taking place in his home district.
He disclosed that, he felt disturbed to see five Kono MPs turning their backs on their people, adding that, ‘The five of the C4C MPs went with their belly. They went to Parliament only for their personal aggrandizement and not in the best interest of the Kono people.’
Hon Lamina also lampooned the former APC government, accusing them of not working in the best interest of the people of Sierra Leone.
He said he is now a full member of the ruling SLPP and will be going there with a committed barrage of people of reputable character and loyalty.
The former C4C leader in Parliament pointed out that his defection to the SLPP resulted from the protracted brouhaha within his former C4C party, adding that most of those in the C4C party are bootlickers that have betrayed the cause for the progress of the C4C.
He described his C4C colleagues as Judas who has fought relentlessly until the demise of their Kono party, stating that the C4C party is currently in court with a case between the diaspora and the home based supporters.
Hon Lamina also explained the reason why the C4C party was formed in 2018, adding that the Kono people were locked up, sacked from top offices, citing the former Vice President, Chief Samuel Sam Sumana who was unconstitutionally sacked by the then President Ernest Bai Koroma of the APC.
He also spoke on the reason he decided to join the SLPP, including the construction of the Kono University, provision of stable electricity supply, free quality education, among many other achievements, in the last five years.
Hon Lamina also pointed out that, ‘the people of Kono will be going green to give President Julius Maada Bio a resounding second term victory’.