The ruling Sierra Leone People’ Party has adopted the party structure of the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) albeit slight modification. The transformation of SLPP into an APC model is seen in the current hierarchical structure of the party which was made possible by naked political manipulation.
President Julius Maada Bio and his Deputy, Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh are now leader and deputy leader of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) respectively. The Chairman Dr Prince Harding has been rendered weak, docile and dormant.
He is no longer the highest authority in the SLPP administrative structure. Dr Prince Harding, one of the oldest politicians for not only SLPP but also for the country was expected to have opposed the arrangement, but he is tied down. He is now the Chairman of the National Commission for Privatisation (NCP) and his wife is Deputy Minister of Mines and Minerals, one the most lucrative ministries in any government.
The two crucial appointments came from the throne and it appears as a way of silencing the SLPP Chairman. It is extremely difficult, and almost impossible to criticise such a situation when the most expected critic is enjoying the greatest political largesse. By virtue of the political structure, President Julius Maada Bio is both Head of State and party.
As the party’s highest authority, he can now manipulate the party unchecked. He would be consulted on major SLPP issues when he shall have left the stage of national politics. A dangerous manipulation of a party of intellectuals has commenced.
The manipulations of SLPP by President Bio runs contrary to the promise he made in 2018. The promise indicated that he would have no business with the running of SLPP when he is manning the affairs of state. The President initially seemed to have actualised the promise by not offering ministerial appointment to those who form the party leadership.
The most vociferous Public Secretary, Lahai Lawrence Leema was nearly deprived of his deputy ministerial appointment on the basis that he held a post as SLPP spokesman. He was appointed later after a bitter row with top government officials. Dr Prince Harding too was deprived of a ministerial appointment since he was the chairman of SLPP.
He was later consoled when he got appointment as Chairman National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM). Not too long, he was removed from NATCOM and left without a government agency to man. He was quite recently brought in again as NCP Chairman in what apparently appears a plan dictated by the political game.
Most SLPP members do not seem to have completely agreed with the plan as it hinges on the party’s future in the 2023 polls. The move has been seen by many SLPP as a betrayal of trust and party ideology.
President Julius Maada Bio and team were quite critical of President Koroma for holding the post of party Chairman and Leader while he occupied the presidency.
SLPP government initially was of the firm conviction that a political party would die if party officials are allowed to have a stake in governance. Government justified his stance of non- appointment of party officials by comparing it to the APC style.
The President made the comparison at a time the defunct Commission of Inquiry was at its height. It succeeded in indoctrinating the people that almost all APC ministers held critical posts in the party.
The launch of the COI was almost equal to sounding the APC death-knell of APC as all those ministers who were highly placed officials of government had to appear to render account of their stewardship to the nation. Any minister who fails to account properly will land either in court or have his property confiscated or banned from active politics for years.
It was the situation at that time. SLPP succeeded as their message resonated with the thinking and perceptions of the masses.
However, critical politicians have started smelling the rat about the current SLPP structure. Some have started to see it as a sinister move embarked upon by the two leaders, and worries about the future of SLPP are high.
An experienced politician narrated that the plan of tight party control adopted by President Julius Maada Bio was no difference from the APC’s. Towards the end of former President Koroma’s second term, he maintained tight control of APC in a manner hardly be seen anywhere. Assurances of a continued stay of APC in power were frequently made by the former President.
In most of his public appearances, the then President Koroma would assure party stalwarts and opposition strongholds that APC will not be left in the political wilderness. His most favourite saying was: “I will not repeat the mistake former President Tejan Kabbah made by leaving SLPP in opposition.”
The glittering assurances plunged former President Koroma into a celebrity status fondly called in the popular language of the youths-‘WORLD BEST.’ The youths, especially those in APC would popular call former President Koroma as Messi, the world’s greatest footballer.
The celebrity status enjoyed by President Koroma made APC stalwarts to accept any plan that came from the then President. APC members did not hesitate to accept any proposal put forward by the former President owing to his bright promises.
It was widely reported that former President Koroma masterminded the injection of a selection clause in the 1995 APC Constitution. Veteran politicians including the likes of Alpha Khan, Kemo Sesay, Alimamy Petito Koroma and others never opposed it and it remained sacrosanct.
Almost all of them individually hoped to succeed former President Koroma, but the apprentice, Alpha Khan was the most highly hopeful. The flag-bearer aspirants went to the North-eastern headquarters of Makeni with such hopes not until it dawned on them that a reserved and quiet man among them would be nominated for the top job.
The atmosphere in a town hall in Makeni was sombre and later violent. The euphoria which the delegates and flag-bearer aspirants went with was lost owing to the emergence of Dr Samura Kamara at the helm. Most flag-bearers wailed as their dreams have been shattered in a manner seen as the most disgraceful.
Some threatened to quit the party while others nearly went into scuffle with the former President who seemed not bothered as a goal has been scored. Samura Kamara and other flag-bearers returned to Freetown greeted by jubilant crowds. The then APC flag-bearer went into the 2018 elections with the highest hope and confidence. He was determined to capitalise on the incumbency status of the APC.
But most importantly, he heavily relied on the popularity of former President Koroma. The then President had been assuring the erstwhile APC flag-bearer that President Julius Maada Bio would not only face him alone Samura Kamara but he, Ernest Koroma. Dr Kamara fought hard, but the outcome did not favour him.
The APC supporters and Dr Samura Kamara were not happy as they have been left in the cold. Ernest Bai Koroma too may not be a happy man, but his he had realised his objective of ensuring a smooth democratic transition from a ruling party to an opposition. Former President Koroma’s name will go down into the annals as a man who administered the country twice devoid of any major threat to peace and security.
The flurry of international assignments he now enjoys has been linked to the smooth democratic transition he ensured in post-conflict Sierra Leone. Former President Koroma did not succeed in doing so by a sudden flight, but he laid that foundation for years.
In many respects, it is the same foundation President Maada Bio is laying under the watchful eyes of SLPP stalwarts. The only difference in the two foundations is that: former President Koroma laid the foundation in the second term while president Bio laying it in the first term. It is too early. President Bio’s foundation is a high-sounding bell that the One-Term-Presidency is real. Make no mistake about it.