Unlike the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) which has been tagged as a party of drugs, the opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) is not a political party of drugs.
APC does not run the economy with drugs but with funds generated locally and internationally.
Sierra Leone, under SLPP’s rule, has been under the world’s watch list for narcotics after dubbed a narco-state.
According to international reports and investigation, Sierra Leone is a hub for drug lords with particular focus on Jos Leijdekkers, Europe’s most wanted fugitive.
The arrest of Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to Guinea, Alimamy Bangura with bundles of Cocaine added weight to the allegation of a state-sponsored drug market in Sierra Leone.
Ambassador Bangura was briefly held under house arrest in Guinea before granted a persona non grata and replaced by his deputy, Fatmata Sawaneh, former leader for the Women’s Wing.
The investigation also confirmed that notorious global drug traffickers carry Sierra Leonean diplomatic passports thus conferring immunity and privileges from searches at international airports.
However, APC does not tread on such grounds since it believes in hard work and commitment to principles of good governance: free and fair elections, free speech, the rule of law, respect for human rights among others which endear the party to development partners and investors.
APC manifested its zero-tolerance on drugs trafficking when the Cocaine-laden plane landed at Lungi international Airport in 2008 by Inviting US FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) to handle the matter in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Police.
Former Inspector-General of Police, Francis Allieu Munu was AIG (Assistant Inspector-General) of Police in charge of Crime Services at the time of the plane landing.
As a seasoned and top-notch police officer, he supervised the investigation from start to finish, and ensured that no avenue was left unexplored to adduce the evidence.
At the end, none of the traffickers went off the hooks as they were immediately extradited to the United States and served prison terms.
For such a show of patriotism and police professionalism, the people of Sierra Leone placed hands on hearts for the APC, a party that provided the political direction to curtail drug trafficking in Sierra Leone.
It was a move that saved Sierra Leone’s youths who could have fallen prey to the drug menace had the trade been allowed to flourish.
Those who have been observing, researching and documenting drug trafficking syndicates in Sierra Leone indicate that the Cocaine plane at Lungi Airport is one of the traces of the SLPP regime under President Tejan Kabba.
The trade continued even after SLPP exited governance hoping that APC would continue on the same drug trajectory, but it was a complete disappointment for them.
Political analysts and commentators claimed that the SLPP regime took to drug trafficking after the international community particularly World Bank and IMF stopped providing financial support for the then government owing to high levels of corruption.
After the end of the war in 2002, Sierra Leone attracted global attention for financial assistance to resettle displaced people.
But, the funds were siphoned by hungry-looking politicians who choose corruption their path to success.
Road projects were slow, energy supply at an all-time low with Freetown tagged as the darkest city in the world, infant and maternal mortality rate had a rolling statistics, the economy was in bad shape and all these governance failures were attributed to corruption, and drug peddling was the only option for a cash-strapped government.
However, APC showed to the world that the party is not a party to any drug syndicate following its tough actions on the peddlers who attempted to use the Airport at Lungi as a landing place for narcotics.
It was from that time, the then APC government speedily passed a strong drug law known as the Anti-Drugs Act, 2008.
The National Drugs Control Agency was also strengthened, appropriately staffed and equipped to combat and neutralise threats posed by drugs.
From that time, incident of drug peddling in Sierra Leone is almost rare not until these days when SLPP government takes over that Sierra Leone is again listed for drugs.
APC is a party known for practical policies and not the use of drugs to run the economy and propel national development for the benefit of all and sundry.
APC manifested their competence and commitment to state governance when they took over power from SLPP in 2007.
For a long time after the train went off the rails in Sierra Leone, energy supply almost grounded to a halt, infrastructure devastated and national development stagnated, it was the APC that revamped the economy under the direction of Samura Kamara as Minister of Finance now the Presidential candidate with a commanding lead in the June, 2023 election according to report from international media channels.
APC displayed its commitment to state governance when former President Ernest Koroma asked for trade and not aid during a conference held in Britain in 2008.
He convinced top business executives and development partners that Sierra Leone was ready for business and investment.
It was after the conference that two Iron Ore miners, London Mining Company and African Minerals Limited knocked at the doors of Sierra Leone for mining concessions which were granted.
The two companies immensely contributed to the economy of Sierra Leone by way of job creation, payment of royalties to government and surface rent to rural land owners.
The economy flourished and livelihoods blossomed and Sierra Leone earned the honour of being the fastest growing economy in 2013, with Samura Kamara partly taking the credit.
Other companies particularly SUCFIM which deployed in Pujehun, Southern Sierra Leone also played its part in Oil Palm plantation project improving the lives of people and creating jobs for the jobless.
The signs of good leadership first showcased themselves during APC’s first 100 days when Freetown which had been in perennial darkness for years was electrified in all its corners.
The electricity was also taken to various parts in the provinces following the completion of Phase-1 project of Bumbuna Hydro Electric project.
APC also got a good chunk of praise for its hard work in the infrastructural development.
Before APC came to power in 2007, Sierra Leone’s roads were nothing to write home about as most towns especially rural communities were no-go areas. Kailahun, Kabala, Kono, Pujehun among others were almost cut off from the capital city owing to their road conditions.
Sometimes, a passenger travelling from Freetown to Kono or Kailahun could spend days on the road before reaching their destination. The story however changed completely when APC took over state governance from SLPP under Tejan Kabba.
With the support of EU, massive road construction projects were embarked on by the APC government.
In few years, Freetown-Bo, Freetown-Kambia, Freetown-Kono, Freetown-Kailahun roads were fixed and dilapidated bridges were rebuilt – a move that improved the transport sector.
Thanks to the EU for such a wonderful contribution to a post-war country that was struggling to rise from the doldrums of abject poverty and under-development.
Apart from the party’s landmark achievements in the roads sector, APC also made an everlasting contribution to the health sector through the launching of the Free Health Care policy on April 27, 2010, three years after the APC came to power.
The covers pregnant women, lactating mothers and under-five children, and it is still rolling as it gets support from global development partners.
According to this policy, those three categories of people receive free medical services in all government health facilities in the country. It was a move to cut down on the rolling statistics of infant and maternal mortality deaths in Sierra Leone.
Before the proclamation of the Free Healthcare policy, Sierra Leone had the second highest death rate for pregnant women and children under five in Africa. Sierra Leone was second only to Angola in terms of infant and maternal deaths owing to long term neglect of the sector.
Such deaths were also trampled in the dust of history when the Free Healthcare policy took deep root in its few years of proclamation.
Other ground-breaking achievement could not be mentioned all at a go, and APC was able to secure and maintain such record because it was in the good books of the international community because it is not a party of drugs, defiance, violation and abuse of human rights and extra-judicial killings, but a party of good governance.