Conflicts and disagreements from within is slowly killing the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) day by day. The disagreements are within the minds of several key members of party, but they are kept within their minds since President Bio is at the helm at the moment. The conflicts will be laid bare when parliament is dissolved next month.
It goes without saying that Bio will be less powerful when the house of representatives is shut down.
He will not enjoy real presidential powers after the dissolution, and that is the moment many SLPP members are waiting for. Bio’s greatest enmity in the party was bringing back Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh as running mate for June 24 elections.
Some SLPP members wanted to see Mr Jalloh dropped and replaced with another person most preferably, a real South-Easterner.
The current Vice President claims PortLoko as his birthplace to curry political favour. The ruling party has a long-standing tradition of getting a South-Easterner as flag-bearer, and Northerner as running mate and vice versa. It happened in 1996 when Tejan Kabba who was a Northerner was elected as the party’s flag-bearer and a South-Easterner, Dr Albert Joe Demby as running mate. SLPP is also known for a culture of a President not ending well with his deputy. In 1996, Demby was chosen as running mate in the convention, but
was not chosen for the second time.
He was dropped in the 2002 convention and replaced with late Solomon Ekuma Berewa who was Attorney-General and Minister of Justice at that time. Credible sources within SLPP have informed this press that real SLPP members do not see eye-to-eye with ‘PAOPA’ Group. They claim to support the Group only to get political appointments and to survive. In spite of the political largesse SLPP members enjoy, they have always seen ‘PAOPA’ cabal as hijackers with no real love for and loyalty to the party.
As the internal split and drifts persists, the country pays the price. Failings in almost every sector of governance is visible and many ministers are not in tune with Bio. With little or no suspicion, the President sits comfortably and forget.
However, First Lady, Mrs Fatima Bio remains highly suspicious. Most times, she goes at loggerheads with the ministers. The First Lady has made a number of allegations against some government officials as those who do not want to see President Bio rules. Hatred for Bio became high when he was chosen unopposed in a convention held in Bo city in the Southern region two years ago.
The grumblings and rumblings were high as most alleged that Bio did not create the level playing field for other contenders to come to the stage.
They also suspected Bio’s nomination as a conspiracy between him and Dr Prince Harding, SLPP Chairman. At the time he nominated Bio, Dr Harding had an albatross around his neck as he was a candidate for a police investigation over the murder of a colleague SLPP at the party headquarters in Freetown. Many say the only way for Dr Harding to keep his head above waters was to let Bio come back as flag-bearer.
The plan was well executed in Bo, but many members were not pleased. They only put up with the situation since Bio sits as President. A great number of SLPP members have always wanted to see Bio out of the flag-bearer race out of the fear that with Bio they, the party will not win the coming elections.
They keep mute for now since they occupy important positions in governance. Even most of those in the diaspora are less comfortable with Bio’s second term as they see him as an illegal candidate. A old and ardent SLPP member, Stephen Sahr Mambu who has stayed for good years in the diaspora has referred to Bio as “illegal candidate” for June 24 elections.
Mambu also strongly condemned the December convention in which President Bio emerged SLPP’s flag-bearer. “The convention in Bo City in December, 2021 was not a flag-bearer convention. It was meant to choose only national officers of the party. I am surprised when it later turned to be a national delegates’ conference to elect Bio as flag-bearer,” Mambu expressed wonders.
About a year ago, the diasporan SLPP member summoned a press conference in Freetown where he promised to challenge Bio’s candidacy. He informed this press that he had consulted lawyers who have done the paper work for the litigation.
But, like others, Mambu is waiting for the dissolution of parliament.
“If parliament closes down today, I will sue Bio to court for his illegal action,” he promised. Mambu is no friend to the ‘PAOPA’ which he always refers to as a “terrorist language.”
“We should no more encourage ‘PAOPA’ members in a civilised party of ours. SLPP is a party of God,” he observed. For many SLPPians, President Bio has exhausted his chances of flag-bearership since 2018. Prior to its manipulation, SLPP Constitution permitted a flag-bearer to run once in a general election. He becomes an ex-officio member of the party if he loses a general election.
It was in the same way late Berewa became ex-officio after he lost 2007 elections to former President Ernest Bai Koroma. Unlike Berewa, Bio refused to be relegated to an ex-officio status after he lost 2012 elections. He held the forte tightly and rebuffed all calls to step down.
He stayed in the party’s leadership against the wishes of the majority, a move seen as a blatant disregard for the party’s laws, rules and regulations. Intra-party skirmishes did not whittle down Bio’s zeal to lead the party. Instead of stepping down, he marshalled clueless grassroot members that transformed overnight into the ‘PAOPA’ group who rendered SLPP party offices no-go zones for other flag-bearer aspirants.
As rudderless as they were, ‘PAOPA’members would molest and brutalise any other flag-bearer that surfaces on any SLPP offices.
Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella was a victim of ‘PAOPA’ humiliation.
Bio was determined for the party and state leadership at all cost against all odds. He forcefully remained as party leader even when the Political Parties Regulation Commission made it clear that his existence in the party as leader was the source of all conflicts. December, 2021 convention was the third time Bio became SLPP’s flag-bearer.
The sacked Attorney-General, Antony Berewa did Bio’s bidding in tampering with the constitution.