Despite his glorious two-term rule, Ernest Koroma is no more in charge of the opposition party, All People’s Congress (APC).
He often claims to be in charge to declare himself relevant to the party but he is not.
He has played his part and depart, and history will judge him. Many APC members and supporters say he is here only to mislead APC for the third time to pave the way for Bio’s third-term.
Other credible APC sources share that view saying Ernest Koroma no longer has genuine intention for his former party.
The former President, opposition politicians said, had succeeded in deceiving the party on several occasions, but this time seems different as the people are vigilant and have gotten wise to his tactics.
The people, APC politicians say, are getting tired of Ernest’s political gimmicks and shenanigans that has wrecked APC, and will remain in that state until a redeemer comes.
Currently, the people are calling on the former President to go home and rest and wait for his reward as enough is enough. Despite the constraints, controversies and challenges, APC has an executive, though many say consists of traitors, who are manning the party’s affairs since Ernest has long ridden into the sunset.
In his glory days, Koroma was made APC Chairman and Leader for life according to the defunct APC constitution of 1995. But, such arrangement ceased to work few years after his presidency.
The former head of state also stopped to be an influential figure of the party following a high court decision that ended his tenure.
The court, presided over by Justice Adrian Fisher, ruled that the tenure of the Ernest Koroma executive had expired, and that he held a de facto mandate.
The case that saw the ex-President out of the party’s leadership structure was brought against him by a diasporan member of the party, Alfred Peter Conteh.
Conteh’s contention was that Ernest Koroma had exceeded his tenure and had to give way to a new set of people.
In compliance with the court order, Koroma stepped down but still worked from behind the scenes to remote control APC at its detriment. For him, it is an advantage on his side.
He has the cash to lavish on low-level members and supporters of the party who still see him as a demi-god even after it is crystal clear that he is not doing for APC’s interest.
But, it is not the same support he enjoys outside those myopic circles.
Senior and well-informed APC members accuse the former President of surreptitiously working for SLPP’s one-party project initiated long ago by Sierra Leone’s second Prime Minister, Albert Margai.
The idea of a one-party state in early 1960s failed when Albert lost the 1967 elections, but it worked well for President Siaka Probyn Stevens between 1978-1992.
APC’s one-party rule only ended when the Khaki boys formed the NPRC (National Provisional Ruling Council) after toppling then APC government. Now, the move for a one-party system of government has however been given fresh impetus by
erstwhile SLPP Chairman, Prince Harding drawing experience from the ruling party in Mexico which, he says, has ruled the country for over 70 (seventy) years, and it is possible for Sierra Leone.
He said the Mid-Term Census of 2021 had proven it although the headcount is illegal in the eyes of the vast majority of Sierra Leoneans.
It is however extremely difficult for one-party rule to take hold in modern-day democracies.
But, opposition politicians say, the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) is venturing into it because he gets the backing of the former President.
But, and the but part of it Ernest Koroma no longer asserts his usual influence on the APC owing to what the party veteran politicians referred to as his “deceptive politics.”
Ernest Koroma initiated the politics of deception in March, 2015 when he controversially sacked his then Vice President, Chief Sam Sumana following his (Sam Sumana)’s expulsion from the party.
Sam Sumana’s dismissal came at a time the country was entering an election period, making it one of the hottest topics for discussion among the public.
While many Sierra Leoneans saw the Presidents worthwhile, many consider it a political ploy to damage APC.
Political analysts, in their arguments, saw the President’s move as a way weakening the party’s continued grip of the swing district of Kono to pave the way for Bio’s presidency.
Ernest Koroma, the argument, went on, knew that APC would perform badly in the ballot box if Sam Sumana was removed, but he still went ahead.
The political argument became real in the 2018 votes when APC lost most of its parliamentary seats in Kono.
Ernest Koroma’s next move to see APC out of power was his unilateral decision to handpick Samura Kamara for the party’s presidential candidacy during a national delegates’ conference in Makeni in 2017.
Although there were jubilations at first, sadness, disappointment and disgruntlement was however subsequently heard and seen everywhere when the deal became clear.
Ernest Koroma’s deal was not to see Samura Kamara becoming President but a mere agent of transition.
He sees Samura Kamara as a docile and malleable puppet who he can easily tell to give up power even if he wins and will comply without question.
Indeed, it happened in the 2018 polls which Samura Kamara won in a landslide victory as stated by a senior APC politician, Kemo Sesay.
The veteran politician, in a widely circulated audio, informed Sierra Leoneans that Samura Kamara won the 2018 election but Ernest Koroma’s diabolic plan of a “regime change” damaged APC’victory.
The people of Sierra Leone accepted Bio’s presidency for the sake of peace, backed up by Ernest Koroma’s promise of bringing back the party to power in the 2023 election.
His promise became a message that was cascaded right to the last man in the last village, encouraging people to exercise self-restraint and patience, but with hope, zeal and zest to win the election.
But, the hope started evaporating when former President Koroma lined up APC flag-bearer aspirants including Samura Kamara in the party’s unfinished building in Makeni and called them “MUNKU POLITICIANS.”
He went ahead to accuse them of fomenting most of the disagreements and conflicts in the party in front of a jam-packed hall of APC grassroot supporters, thus invoking a mob mentality.
It was possible that those politicians would have been mobbed to the point of death had they bantered with the former President.
In 2022, just a year to the election, Koroma hypocritically threw his weight behind Samura Kamara again by contributing to his (Samura)’s resounding election victory during the second national delegates’ conference.
But, Koroma kept an arm’s length during the campaign only to blame Samura Kamara for everything that went wrong after the 2023 election.
Speaking from exile in Nigeria, Ernest Koroma said Samura Kamara made a fatal mistake for negotiating with President at the peace table during the Agreement for National Unity in October, 2023 to end the post-election gridlock.
It was a time Sierra Leone was going through a governance shut down never seen before. The rest of APC parliamentarians had boycotted parliament, leaving only SLPP lawmakers to preside over the affairs of the legislative house. It was a move that members of the diplomatic community in Sierra Leone were not comfortable with and had to persuade opposition politicians to take back their parliamentary seats. At one time, former US Ambassador, David Reimer called on APC members of parliament to reconsider their decision with a view to go back to the legislative house. The Ambassador’s view was that APC could make their voice heard only when they are in parliament. But, Ernest Koroma never saw it that way.
He went on to state that the main tactic to solve a post-election stalemate is to take the opposition candidate to the negotiation table, and is the case for Samura Kamara.
For Ernest Koroma, the 2023 election was over as long as Samura Kamara has participated in the peace negotiation although Samura Kamara says “it is not yet over until it is over.”