Although there appears to be a mad rush in the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) to replace the party’s current flagbearer, ranking members and supporters of the party who said their votes in the 2023 elections were not protected have stated that they find it very distasteful for their party’s leadership hopefuls to be so focused on impressive voters while they have been very quiet these past seven year and failing the people through their lack of commenting on issues of national importance since Julius and Fatima Maada Bio and PAOPA stepped onto the scene.
It must be recalled that despite the present urge in the APC for a flagbearer, the people have stated that the issues of the 2023 presidential elections are still unresolved with none of them knowing how and if their votes were reflected in the count by the electoral commission that declared Maada Bio the winner.
“Our leaders have been too quiet. Where have they all been these past years as opposition government in waiting? Although they are all vying to replace Samura Kamara however they have all failed to address the ruling party government for all that has happened since 2018. For example we have been on the electoral justice fight but some people in our party government decided to quit the fight and prepare for 2028. If we are not assured of how the voting panned in 2023 how confident should we be that such will not be repeated in 2028?” the APC grassroots members asked.
Of the 29 flagbearer hopefuls that put their names up for the party’s flag none of them has addressed any issue of national importance to the satisfaction of the people whose votes they hope to secure.
“Meanwhile, when EBK selected Dr Samura they were the ones who claimed to have not known Samura. They all sat down while EBK selected a highly unprepared Samura Kamara to lead the party. Even when they voted for the 2023 flagbearer, Dr Samura ended with the most delegates’ votes ever for a flagbearer aspirant. So we already have a flagbearer. The fight for electoral justice has been going on and we are with Samura Kamara to see it to the end. This fight is not just about Samura Kamara but also in the interest of us knowing how our elections ended; who really won the presidential elections? We expected for all these people who are now trying to run for flagbearer to speak up and against this government yet they have failed. What is it that they hope to accomplish now that they couldn’t do in 2023? If they have failed to protect our votes now what assurances do we have that they will protect them in 2028?
The opposition members stated that there are too may important issues for the opposition to address that they have failed, which they blamed in those who would want to run the party and country without making personal sacrifices such as spending time in jail, being falsely accused, and losing your properties, etc.
“If they have failed to protect our votes and quit the electoral justice fight leaving Dr. Samura Kamara, us and some members of the international community to fight for them, why now they want our votes? We the people wanted change the last time and voted for that change. What happened to our votes? Were they counted? We believe that Samura Kamara won but that our mandate was hijacked by the incumbent. Now these guys don’t plan on losing in 2028, what assurances can we get from the current field of APC flagbearer hopefuls that Bio and the SLPP will not win a third term the same way they have been able to win in 2018 and 2023?” asked the APC electorates.
Since 2018 there has been no shortage of issues emanating from government and our political leadership, yet there has been an almost consensus from those in the main opposition camp that would want to lead the party into the 2028 elections to keep quiet and not address these issues.
By suing for the party’s flag in light of all that has happened since PAOPA landed on us, APC supporters have said these men have decided to put their personal ambitions over national interest.
This is the contention of dedicated All People’s Congress (APC) executives, members, and supporters who say despite their quietness on issues of national importance these men have decided to instead put up posters and banners, making contributions of rice and money to teashops and so-called grassroots organisations while failing to address the issues at hand and proffering alternative solutions.
The people who voted in the June 2023 presidential and other elections on Saturday, 24 June, 2024 say they don’t trust the present contenders for the APC flag, adding that although they voted two years ago they still fail to see or know the outcome of their votes as the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone has failed and outright refused to publish the demanded disaggregated voting data per polling station from across the country.
The APC executives and other members and supporters say their leaders promised to protect their votes, and although there is supposed to be an active Tripartite Committee recommendation implementation going on the ruling party government has failed to address any of the recommendations as there is a stalemate with regards prisoners who were supposed to be under the lock and key of the authorities are reportedly on the run being aided by the opposition.
Apart from the almost death of the tripartite process or demand for electoral justice, there is the deaths of protesting civilians, the assassination of prisoners at Pademba Road Prison by presidential security guards, the passing laws that can only be described as bad for the people but good for the regime at present; that is, until another regime decides to address their leadership foibles.
However, since the advent of the Julius Maada Bio regime, no matter what they have done with regards the economy, handling of the public purse, the peace and security of the state, the flooding of our cities and villages with illicit recreational drugs, the allegations that the regime is involved in drugs and money laundering, no one, not the APC party nor these men who are busying themselves with trying to impress the delegates at the 2026 convention to elect them as flagbearer.
But according to party faithful there is already a flagbearer as the 2023 elections is not over; it has not been exhaustively laid to rest, and definitely not done and dusted. Despite promises to address the contentious issues the regime has woefully failed for which the people who voted and lost so much during the 2023 elections have blamed the party’s top guns of complicity with the ruling party government to steal their mandate to lead.
According to the aggrieved partisans, the APC flagbearer hopefuls are neither commenting nor addressing pressing national issues for which they have lost the respect and admiration of their supporters.
The question on the minds of the APC supporters is: What can the present crop of flagbearer hopefuls promise the people that wasn’t said during the 2023 elections? The people are of the contention that they have been disappointed by their leaders who are failing to admit to this fact but are still asking the people to trust them that going forward what happened in 2023 will not be repeated in 2028.
“And who are all these people? What are their investments or contributions to the development of their communities? If they bribe you with rice and money for your votes, after they won they have the right to abandon you since they had already paid you for your vote. So far these flagbearer hopefuls have not been presidential in their utterances. The party must go to the drawing board and sensitize their flagbearer hopefuls to speak in the interest of the people and party. The party can return to State House, and the people must be made to actually believe this despite what happened in 2023,” stated an APCian who is hoping to be a delegate in 2026.
It must be noted here that the ruling party regime has shown no signs that it is either preparing or sees itself as the official opposition come 2028. It follows then that they plan on winning and having won for two consecutive elections despite the prevailing objections to such wins, the SLPP and their supporters are emboldened that the party can go for a third term.
Here is a regime that has shown no remorse for all that it has put the country and people through these past seven years for which we have heard nothing from ranking opposition politicians who are now parading the country trying to convince delegates to elect them to represent the party as its flagbearer.
According to APC members, the current field of APC flagbearer hopefuls are not in the position to convince them that they can accomplish anything without the guarantee of electoral justice, which fight they say is much bigger than Dr. Samura Kamara, the SLPP, APC and all the other political parties combined, adding that by addressing electoral justice the people can be assured that their votes in 2028 will be counted or protected.
For this reason members of the opposition APC that spoke to this journo say that there is no official opposition to government in Sierra Leone as leading members of the party have allowed for the government to cower them into silence on matters of national importance because they fear what would happen to their peace, security and properties should they decide to speak out and challenge the government on its excesses.
Members of the opposition say they speak to the media for their voices to be heard as their leaders’ voices have been silenced for which they easily comply, adding that they don’t know who to trust from the current field of flagbearer hopefuls parading the country.
Sadly, the people who say they don’t trust the SLPP to lead the nation further have also said they don’t trust the ambitions of their party leaders, and have asked what alternatives they have except to try and protect their votes themselves.
This is the state of affairs in the APC leadership: leaders are trying to move ahead without addressing what is really important to the people whose votes they hope to secure. The only way out according to the people is for their leaders to show some guts and start addressing what Maada Bio and the SLPP have done to our body politique. Lonta!