The decision of the National Advisory Committee (NAC), the second highest decision making organ in the governing All People’s Congress (APC), to put their convention on hold has created a dangerous ground. Many members and supporters are angry with NAC for delaying the convention after it had asked all those with flag-bearer ambition to resign from Government a year to the national elections as stipulated by the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, and had also set the criteria for national positions and the flag-bearership.
One would have thought that after NAC had gone through the aforementioned stages, it would have wasted no time in holding the convention given the limited time to the 7th March, 2018 presidential, parliamentary and local council elections. If the delaying tactics boomerang, it will surely hurt the party than the people it is intended to hurt, such as those who have resigned their lucrative jobs in Government to vie as flag-bearer aspirants.
Take the just concluded local council bye-election in Ward 139 in Samu Chiefdom in the Kambia District, for instance, which the ruling APC lost to an independent candidate through complacency. Many stalwarts have argued that if the former Sierra Leone Ambassador to China, Alimamy Petito Koroma was not removed as APC Chairman in that district, APC could have won that election in a constituency they had dominated since 2007. According to reports, the APC would not have given the independent candidate a good run for its money had it not been the last minute intervention of Alimamy Petito Koroma and a female stalwarts who made tremendous efforts to woo the voters, though.
The disappointment of the APC in Ward 139 could be a pointer to the unnecessary delays in holding their convention because many stalwarts have their political future hanging in the balance due to the incessant postponement of the convention. It is but fitting that NAC moves on that dangerous ground in order to accelerate the final process leading to the convention so that the party will select/choose its national officers and, eventually, the presidential candidate.
Also, APC should be very mindful about choosing parliamentary candidates to maintain its grip on Parliament. Committee for the awarding of party symbol should consider candidates who are very popular with their constituents based on their contributions to their respective communities. The party should avoid imposing candidates on the people who should not be taken for granted. If popular aspirants are denied the party symbol, they would either go independent or be hijacked by other political parties and this could militate against the party’s chances of winning majority seats in Parliament.
Besides, with the suspension of Alhaji Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella’s bid for the flag-bearer of the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), the party, not surprisingly, already have their presidential candidate in the person of Brig. (Rtd.) Julius Maada Bio. Their convention would be a mere formality because the only flag-bearer who could have posed a very serious challenge has said enough was enough.
This could give the SLPP the political leverage to embark on campaign as quickly as possible, while the ruling APC would be embarking on the marathon exercise of electing/choosing their national officers and presidential candidate before the awarding of symbol to parliamentary and local council candidates and this could be disastrous for the party.
Truth is that the ruling APC must not become complacent about their development strives over the last nine years as they would pale into oblivion given the monumental challenges facing the average citizens who still live in poverty and squalor. It is only hoped that commonsense could prevail so that NAC would accelerate the snail pace of their internal election/selection ahead of the March 2018 polls.