Former Vice-President Sam Sumana whose ouster is no news has again bounced back into new and questionable prominence after the results of the last elections.He cannot be easily wished good riddance from Sierra Leone politics without ripple effects across the political spectrum.
Before his advent into national politics he was known to have been highly involved in the timber export trade from which he partly bank-rolled the APC that was cash -strapped before the 2007 elections .It is well known that he borrowed money from an institution in the United States that had been threatening to sue him .The populace were therefore chagrined that after a couple of years Sam Sumana for all his efforts could be sacked from the Vice-Presidency and subsequently from the APC he helped to prop.
It was while Sam Sumana was acting as President that he banned the innocuous SLPP Unity Radio which was an exercise in raw power. It portrayed the character of a man who would have been a dictator limiting freedom of expression and the media.
Even after his expulsion from the party he was still stressing his APC-ness stating that he remained a member of the party .As a result some APC members thought he would have accepted the fait accompli of his removal until he benefitted from the recycling syndrome of the party. It would appear however that he was determined not to accept any position less than the Vice –Presidency and so he took the matter to the ECOWAS court .
Mr. Sam Sumana challenged his wrongful dismissal by ex-President Ernest Koroma on March 2015.He later threatened unrest in this country if he was not given the justice he deserved but it turned out to be a vain threat. After the verdict awarding him hundreds of thousands of dollars he was tantalized until he formed his C4C party amid frustrations.
During the trial period the then opposition media gave him a favourable coverage thinking that he would eventually throw his weight behind the SLPP but it has been a forlorn hope from the sly Sumana confirming the suspicion that he is still APC at heart .It was perhaps due to extreme frustration over his dues from the ECOWAS Court that he despairingly formed the C4C.
In the last days before the March elections while the SLPP was angling to get his support for a coalition partner but he proved to be elusive .Meanwhile the APC was also trying to assuage his gripe shamefacedly. He kept them guessing.Up until a few days before the elections he promised to align with the APC if he was paid an agreed sum. The sum was not received from the equally crafty APC and so there was no coalition .The result of ‘’yiba barb yiba’’ is well known.
The falseness of Sam Sumana’s position presented to the Kono people is now well known. He is not likely to receive the same protest votes he got in the last elections in future.He has just succeeded in feeding his own ego. Sam Sumana will suffer the fate of his fellow politician in disaster –the abominable Charles Francis Margai.