7th March this year is the date APC (All People’s Congress)’s reviewed constitution matures to full blossom. The move is a direct compliance with legal requirement that says the document should be gazetted for a period not less than 14 days. The countdown starts Monday 21st February, 2022, a date that marks the end of a long and tedious journey for a party whose pursuit of power is relentless.
The document is today three days old with 11 days more to go. The sacred document which, few days ago, was in the hands of PPRC (Political Parties Registration Commission) has been sent to the government printing agency for publication. PPRC is a body that regulates the conduct of political parties in Sierra Leone.
“Pursuant to section 24 of the Political Parties Act No.3 of 2002, I officially submit for publication on the government notice, the constitution of the All People’s Congress …for final publication for a period not exceeding 14 days,” a portion of PPRC’s letter reads. The party’s secretary-general, against whom various allegations have been for derailing the trail of constitutional progress of the party could not be reached for comments about the new achievement.
A senior member of the party who asked not to be named intimated Nightwatch that objections have been noted and errors rectified. The move, he said, went a long way in calming down nerves of a great many APC members who were going to run out of patience. To the party’s membership, having a credible and accepted constitution, is a blend of inspiration and aspiration for victory in the near future.
The leadership’s achievement is a seeming sigh of relief as the countdown signals new hope for the party. “The Problems are over, there will be no more objections and quarrels on the constitution,” the APC politician expressed confidence. But, others still cling to pessimistic notions that conflicts are bound to occur come what may.
In spite of the fundamental milestone the party has achieved in the adoption of the constitution, questions are being asked about what would be the next line of action the party would take in coming days. In response to this question, the anonymous senior APC member went on to explain that having a new constitution does not mean that APC is out of the woods.
He said many more things needed to be done if the party must catch up with its main rival, the ruling SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party). The party, he went on, had membership issues to address and to conduct lower level elections for a substantive executive.
APC is still battling with issues that have to do with membership rights of party members, and this must be settled before the party goes for internal elections. The burning issue was highly expected to have been addressed when APC met in the northern capital of Makeni under the auspices of a 21-man committee that was formed following a court order.
Providing solutions to problems of membership right was a legal requirement for the party. In a bid to create a platform for an out-of-court settlement, part of Justice Adrian Fischer’s directives is to ensure that this problem of membership was laid to rest. But, influence from behind the scenes caused a big setback. As it stands, the party has many irons to fry. Time is no more in its favour.
SLPP, despite its challenges, has had its lower level elections, and a functioning executive that would take the party to elections. The party already has a flag-bearer that would contest the elections in 2023. Secret campaigns, reliable sources say, have already begun by the SLPP. It is a beat of the gun.
APC, on the other hand, will have to hold internal elections and get a fit presidential candidate for the elections. The process to have a flag-bearer would appear cumbersome for the main opposition. The party’s senior politicians have made no mince of words saying that flag-bearer elections could be the most dangerous stage for the APC’s road to the 2023 elections. The emphasis has always been that peace and stability of the APC would be assessed only after the elections for the presidential candidate.
Over a dozen senior members of the party have expressed their intentions to run for the party’s flag. Their ambitions seem uncontrollable as most have always wanted to clinch the flag at all cost against all odds. Their vaulting ambitions were exposed months ago by the chairman and leader of the party, former President Ernest Bai Koroma.
During the convention at APC’s regional head office in Makeni, former President Koroma informed APC grassroot that not a day passes without being contacted via mobile phone by each of APC’s flag-bearer aspirants. Koroma expressed fears about the party’s peace after the elections for the flag-bearer race will have been held. He also hastened to inform his comrades, supporters and sympathisers that if the party fails to come together after the convention for the flag-bearer, it could be the actions of some aspiring flag-bearers.
He too promised to wage a “jihad” against any of them who foments trouble after a flag-bearer would have emerged. Those who wanted to run for the flag committed themselves to keeping the peace even if the outcome does not favour them.
This commitment would hardly be accepted by experienced members. Another senior politician has also told this press that the flag-bearer aspirants would say it because the day is yet to come. The hulabaloo that erupted after the 2018 convention in which Dr Samura Kamara emerged as flag-bearer was alluded to.
Many APC runners for the flag became disgruntled after it was clear that their luck had run out. Former Minister of Information and Communications, Alpha Khan was one of them. He was the most disappointed among the lot as he was the most hopeful of all aspirants. His adoption of the nick name ‘The Apprentice’ demonstrated the extent to which Khan eyed the flag.
At an earlier stage, he resigned his post of adviser to President to show that he was determined for the noble job. Little wonder that the former minister has switched over to the ruling SLPP to seek solace since he was denied of the flag. The 2018 flag-bearer, Kamara was abandoned in his campaign trails, a factor that was responsible for the defeat of APC in the elections.
Kamara’s emergence as flag-bearer was seen as a big ploy between him and the former President since he never expressed his desire for the party’s flag. He won the flag at a time the party’s constitution had the infamous ‘selection clause’ which confers powers on the party leadership to handpick officers of the party including flag-bearers.
Some senior APC members continue to call on the party’s leadership to ensure that fair and not foul play prevails on every step of the way. They have always argued that it is only honesty and fairness that would keep the party well afloat after the convention.
To them, the SLPP has failed the people of Sierra Leone, and they are now ready to go for an alternative, and that the APC is the ultimate choice. Many Sierra Leoneans have insistently complained that the ruling party has failed to provide safe drinking water, energy, good roads and sound economy among others.
The party has met none of its promises contained in the 2018 Manifesto most popularly known as ‘The People’s Manifesto.’ The only alternative is to go for a party that would wipe tears from their faces, and APC has been identified as the one capable of doing so. It would be a great disappointment if APC fails to put the necessary structures in place that would enable them take back State House.
Since it left power in 2018, APC has been embroiled in intra-party conflicts and disagreements leaving many in wonders as to whether APC is ready to take back power from SLPP in 2023. APC’s conflict was made visible when NRM (National Reformation Movement) sued the party to stop the party from adopting a constitution they said contained clauses that were not in the party’s interest.
One of these clauses is the ‘selection clause.’ NRM had wanted the expunge of this clause and other demonic clauses to sanitise the party. NRM was successful in its litigation as an injunction was slammed and the convention aborted. As the party was about to rest, another APC member in the diaspora filed a fresh suit demanding the Koroma-led executive to go.
Through his legal team, Conteh argues that the executive’s mandate has faded. The litigations which had shown signs of receding took a u-turn when APC failed to go by what was directed by the court.
APC is still in court although hopes are high that they would come out of the court to emerge as a larger man in the elections.
The people of Sierra Leone wait and watch the unfolding drama.