“There is victory for all,” is one of the noble lines in the first stanza of the All People’s Congress (APC) anthem. APC, Sierra Leone’s main opposition party, hopes to sing the victory song in complete unison as the long awaited verdict comes today. Singing of the song with one voice will portray APC as a party that has taken back control of their destiny. Few days ago, after a long and tedious journey, the presiding Judge, justice Adrian Fisher set aside 28th today as a day for the eagerly expected verdict.
Attention of APC stalwarts, members supporters and sympathisers is now glued to the court to see how the verdict would look like.
The expected verdict which determines how APC will look like in coming months has become the hottest and longest topics of the day. It has overshadowed all other discussions in the streets, homes, offices, mosques, churches and the list continues. The verdict, without doubt, has far-reaching implications on APC’s overall political activities. They hope that once the verdict is handed down, the freedom of internal politicking will be regained.
APC needs to put its house in order: zonal, constituency, district, regional and national elections have to be conducted within the party to get the required officials that would form the party’s new leadership and representatives for elections. It is also hoped that a flag-bearer that would fly the party’s flag next year has to be chosen for which a convention must be held.
Former President Ernest Bai Koroma who is currently APC’s chairman and leader, announced, a month ago, that the party will go to a convention in June, this year to have a flag-bearer and leader. The announcement for the convention was the second as the first date did not hold owing to litigations.
Koroma initially singled out this April and May, this year as months for APC’s elections to have the required party officials including the flag- bearer.
Election for flag-bearer has remained the most passionate, controversial and contentious for months. The flag-bearer aspirants wanted those elections happen now, but their hopes, wishes and dreams must be subjected to the passage of time. The law which comes first over everything else, should be respected as it is no respecter of persons.
APC would not embark on internal elections without the court’s permission although it desirously wanted to. At the centre of the litigation is Alfred Peter Conteh who, through his lawyers, filed a petition that the mandate of the current executive has expired, and that way must be given to a new one.
Conteh whose contention is to see another set of officials take over from the current executive is an ardent APC member resident in the United States.
He sued for a compromise plan after the party requested for it knowing fully well that time and tide waits for no man. To fully implement the plan, a 21-man committee was formed to elect five delegates each in 132 constituencies that will adopt the reviewed constitution, vote in a new executive and address membership issues.
Party members have already resolved that a sigh of relief has been breathed and that APC was on the path of progress. Contrary to high and wide expectations, the party went back to court since the order was not fully complied with. Elections were conducted in only 125 constituencies while those in the remaining seven constituencies were selected, and membership was also left unaddressed. The omission rendered the party vulnerable to contempt of court.
The constitution which was also adopted by 660 delegates was contested by aggrieved APC members. It lay for days if not weeks at the Political Parties Registration Commission, an institution that regulates political parties in Sierra Leone. The lapses opened another big Pandora’s Box in the courtroom preying on the party’s time. The stalemate may end today.
The quagmire into which APC has been trapped could be traced back to January, 2020 after the court slammed an injunction on the party restraining members from holding a mini convention in the north-west regional headquaters of Port Loko. If the convention were held, the reviewed1995 APC Constitution would have been adopted contrary to wishes of many.
The move opposed by a breakaway group called the National Reformation Movement (NRM) poised to ensure that the constitution is sanitised so that it meet the times. NRM is appalled by certain clauses in the constitution that was going to be adopted. Two clauses stood out for a bitter NRM’s resentment: the ‘selection’ and ‘conduct of elections by the executive.’
Arguments advanced for the bitter opposition to the clauses seemed water tight. The clause in question confers power on the party leadership to choose officials of their choice for elective posts in the party including a flag-bearer and to represent the party in elections.
This clause was invoked by ex-President Koroma in the selection of the 2017 flag-bearer, Dr Samura Kamara who lost to President Julius Maada Bio by a narrow margin. It is today argued that the clause immensely contributed to APC’s defeat in 2018.
Then main opposition, SLPP now in governance would bitterly rebuke the incumbent, APC as undemocratic. A popular argument held that if a party cannot maintain internal democracy how can it uphold the country’s democracy.
A greater majority of APC members including Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden accepted NRM’s view that the selection badly impacted on the APC in the 2018 elections. She wasted no time in adding her voice to the call for an expunge of the clause.NRM also contested the executive’s power to conduct elections. To them, such power is wrong to the core.
They argued from the stand point that a referee cannot be a player at the same time. This means those executive officials who conduct elections might want to contest for posts as well. To forestall such waves of confusion and conflicts of interest,
they demanded that such powers be transferred to the party’s Elders Council who are no longer qualified to stand as candidates for elections. From the outset, these constitutional reforms have been NRM’s firm position within and outside the court.
It was indeed a choking grip for a party whose only motive was to have the new constitution. After months of legal wrangling, the party left the court owing to an out-of-court settlement. Most of NRM’s demands were met as the selection was done away with and other reforms effected. The judgment today means APC has started a long journey, but hopeful because a bright light is seen at the end of the tunnel.
The party’s main rival, SLPP has held all internal elections, and now ready for 2023 presidential, parliamentary and local council elections. SLPP is beating the gun by embarking on secret campaigns in the provinces before parliament is dissolved.
Despite challenges confronting the party, APC is going in for a victory in 2023 even if it is just a month to elections. SLPP’s unparalleled weakness is a campaign tool for APC. Time will tell.