Although the euphoria on 2028 polls rents the air, it still remains uncertain whether there would be an election.
The ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) is asking for 2030, that is, an extension of two years, if, at all, there is going to be an election.
Others however call for the implementation of the Tripartite Committee recommendations as the only way out for a smooth political transition with Samura Kamara at the centre. The people of Sierra Leone have made up their minds for Samura Kamara’s presidency either by the ballot or Tripartite Committee recommendations.
Despite the doubt on the polls, senior politicians of the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) have voiced out their intention to run for APC’s flag, and a tempo is being raised although at a low key.
Dr. Ibrahim Banngura, the leading flag-bearer aspirant, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, Bai Mahmoud Banngura, Chernor Maju Bah aka Chericoco, Alhaji Tarawallie, Mayor Yvonne Aki Sawyer, Diana Finda Konomani and Chief Samuel Sam Sumana, among others are on the tight race for the noble post of flag-bearership.
If the political game, as it stands, is read and understood, Samura Kamara will be booted out if the Flag-bearers’ intentions are endorsed by the voters.
Lower-level election is quietly going on, but APC is bereft of its usual crowd although few still spread the red carpet for the flag-bearer aspirants.
But, the messages of the international community, the people of Sierra Leone and the SLPP members themselves urge the Flag-bearers to throw their weight behind one person, Samura Kamara if APC is to come back to State House.
Samura Kamara is APC’s presidential candidate for the 2018 and 2023 general elections.
He lost the two polls as announced by ECSL (Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone), a body charged with the responsibility of conducting and supervising public elections in Sierra Leone.
The 2018 polls was a bit better of in terms of transparency and credibility as the results were accepted by key stakeholders in the electoral process.
It is the 2023 election that has generated one of the hottest topics for discussions and debates within the public.
Much of the public opinion holds that the election lacks transparency and credibility for which the international community and the people of Sierra Leone have expressed critical opinions.
The international community calls for a probe based on reports from local and international election observation missions whose boots were on the ground during the polls.
The 2023 election is considered a travesty of an election owing to criticisms on the entire process from the outset.
The EU report on the election states that “the 2023 presidential election is riddled with ‘mathematical inaccuracy’ and ‘statistical inconsistencies,” rendering the election a mere sham.
EU report also catalogued a number of violent incidents before, during and after the 2023 elections which resulted into fatalities in APC facilities particularly at the party headquarters in Freetown. Such violence is a form of rigging according to election experts and researchers. The social media ventriloquist, Hassan Dumbuya aka Evangelist Samson, Nurse Mahawa and an ardent APC supporter were gunned before the election.
APC headquaters in Freetown came under intermittent waves of gun attacks during the elections to instill fear and panic in the party’s politicians.
Voters in APC strongholds, according to the reports, were targeted for brutality, intimidation, arrest and detention during registration and voting to cut down votes for the opposition party, APC.
Carter Center, America’s tink-tank election observation body captured similar violent incidents in it’s report and called for accountability.
The report recommended that those who played significant role in rigging the 2023 election must be held accountable.
It is strongly believed that the setting up of the Tripartite Committee to investigate alleged irregularities in the 2023 polls might have emanated from the Carter Center recommendation.
The Tripartite Committee, a creature of the ANU (Agreement for National Unity) of October, 2023, has completed its work with 85 recommendations on the desk of the UN Security Council.set for implementation.
The convergent 80 recommendations meant for electoral reforms are currently before parliament for ratification and likely domestication and the divergent five for accountability, the main talking point for US’s former Ambassador to Sierra Leone, David Bryan Hunt.
While in Sierra Leone, Ambassador Hunt would inform Sierra Leoneans that the recommendations came with two baskets: the 80 for electoral reforms and the 5 for accountability.
If the political transition is based on tripartite recommendations, there is no way one can stifle the ascension of Svamura Kamara to power. Credible sources have earlier intimated Nightwatch Press that the RRFs (Result Reconciliation Forms) submitted to the Tripartite Committee showed that Samura Kamara secured 57.15 per cent of 71 per cent votes in the 2023 general elections giving him a first-round victory.
The figure far surpasses the 55 per cent provided by the constitution which a presidential candidate must earn to be declared a winner of a presidential election.
If the international community and government fail to ensure a transfer of power through the tripartite, the people would take a different route.
They would either choose not to take part in the 2028 election or subject the international community to pressure to enforce the tripartite recommendations. It is quite clear that mass apathy in an election will undermine democratic governance in Sierra Leone.
If at all, it is by the polls, the people would still vote in Samura Kamara since he is their preferred candidate at the moment. Current trends in the country’s political landscape Have clearly shown that Samura Kamara is the man of the people, and such popularity has been confirmed by an experienced and credible politician, former SLPP Chairman, Chief Somano Kapen.
In his widely circulated audio on several media groups, Chief Somano often says “today belongs to Samura Kamara in the APC while yesterday belongs to Ernest Koroma and tomorrow could be another person,”Chief Somano’s view on Samura’s popularity has survived the times, and the people are determined to display it either in an election or the tripartite recommendations.
Meanwhile, social and political commentators have also constantly argued that the diabolic plans and unfulfilled promises of the SLPP/PAOPA guys is enough for the flag-bearer aspirants to drop their ego and rally behind Samura Kamara to retrieve the party’s 2023 election victory.
In October, 2023, just three months after the controversial elections, President Julius Maada Bio signed and launched the ANU to which he promised to be fully committed.
But, the implementation had some bottlenecks not until the US intervened.
Bio also promised to implement whatever recommendations that emanate from the election probe, but later turned out to be a mere hoax.
None of the recommendations have been put into effect on to this day although Chief Minister, David Sengeh says work has been completed. Contrary views however remain strong about Sengeh’s claim of implementation.
Bio may however implement the recommendation only when the international community comes again to expedite the process.
All along, President Bio, in most of his public speeches, have made it clear that he would not hand over power to APC not until quite lately when he assured the nation that he was ready for a “transfer of power” to the opposition, APC.
Yet, analysts also say it is also a wait-and-see affair for the promised political transition especially when senior SLPP politicians have kicked against the tripartite recommendations. SLPP scribe, Umar Paran Tarawally says his party, SLPP is not part of the tripartite, a move that shows that they are not ready to easily give up power.
The ruling party is also apparently not ready for an election, a situation that explains why APC flag-bearers must unite and fight for the common good, with Samura Kamara at the driving seat.