Sierra Leone’s main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) is apparently entangled in somewhat leadership crisis posing another deadly challenge to the party.
Worried about where the crisis would lead the party, members of the public call on senior APC politicians to solve the crisis and put back the party on track. The people’s hope that, with unity, the party will get back to power exists as they are sure of seeing a revived and revamped Sierra Leone once APC comes to power.
The party was plunged into a transition conundrum following the expiration of the tenure of its presidential candidate, Dr Samura Kamara.
According to the constitution, the term of a presidential candidate expires within six months if he loses an election, and it is the current situation confronting Kamara who lost the controversial elections of June 24, 2023. But, for most of his supporters, the APC’s presidential candidate won the election but deprived of the presidency.
Sources within APC intimated this press that the party’s presidential candidate was recently invited to a NAC (National Advisory Committee) and informed him of the end of his tenure.
NAC is the second highest decision and policy-making body of the party and its decisions are binding on members. Faced with the question of his expired term, Kamara’s reply was short and precise according to those who were there as he accepted to stand down as leader of the party but retains his candidacy believing that that the election is not yet over.
In several fora, Dr Kamara has always maintained that President Julius Maada Bio, and his officials are holding and exercising an illegal mandate.
In strict compliance with the law, Kamara should now step aside, but a back up for his candidacy still exists as none of the international election observers describes the elections free and fair.
International as well as local election observers clearly detailed irregularities and gun violence that dented the credibility of the elections. In its last page, the Carter Centre report recommended, in plain terms, that those who undermined the elections should be held accountable.
At the moment, plans for an all-out election probe is underway as the terms of reference have been launched and a secretariat about to be in full swing.
The Election Investigation Committee also known as the Tripartite Committee will look into the voting, counting, tallying and tabulation of the election results, the appointment of the Chief Electoral Commissioner, use of funds allocated to the commission, and printing of voter identity cards which has been opposed by the opposition as faceless and sub-standard.
As the investigation is about to commence, the people of Sierra Leone including Samura Kamara himself expect that the recommendations would go in his favour: the election results will be overturned and fresh or rerun elections will be recommended.
In a press briefing at the New Brookfields hotel almost two months back, APC’s representative at the Tripartite Committee was blunt to say that the committee would not hesitate to recommend a rerun election if significant election irregularities are detected during the probe.
It is a statement members of the ruling party would not countenance at every given time as such represents a setback for their second term.
An SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) Governance advisor, Dr Emmanuel Gaima was said in naked terms that there would be no rerun election, but did not rule out either a fresh or early election.
It is being mooted at various quarters that either a rerun, fresh or early elections will be the only way to peace in Sierra Leone.
Despite the ensuing controversies, misunderstandings and conflicts, the leadership of the party is currently in the hands of the old guards Minkailu Mansaray and Foday Osman Yansaneh, leader and deputy leader respectively.
Many say the party leaders do not see eye-to-eye with Dr Samura Kamara who is now on APC’s sidelines.
He is rarely consulted on major party issues despite the high status he occupied in the party as seen in the donation of a Le100m to President Julius Maada Bio who recently lost his elder sister.
According to senior politicians, Samura Kamara’s enmity in the APC started in the day he was unilaterally appointed the party’s flag-bearer by former President Ernest Bai Koroma during a National Delegates Conference held in Makeni city in 2017.
The general grumbling in the party has always been that the handpicked successor is not an original member of the party as he comes in as a technocrat.
Kamara who many see as a lifelong technocrat worked with various governments in Sierra Leone as Bank Governor and Finance Minister including the NPRC (National Provision Ruling Council) junta managing the country’s finances.
Despite APC’s backlash against ex-President Koroma over his decision to choose Samura Kamara, APC’s constitution contains a selection clause that permits the leadership to appoint officials of the party in a situation where election cannot work.
In the midst of an ever-growing conflict, Dr Samura Kamara faced then opposition leader, President Julius Maada Bio who was politically weighty at that time. Bio’s effort in the transition of Sierra Leone from Sierra Leone from a military rule to civilian leadership in March, 1996 became one of the much-trumpeted achievements in the election.
Almost invariably, the APC’s presidential candidate also lost the election battle but did not retire to his trench as he came back in 2023 with overwhelming votes at the party’s national convention in Makeni city.
Subjected to the elective principle, Samura Kamara got over 1, 500 votes leaving slightly above 100 for grabs by fellow flag-bearer aspirants. Former Chief of Staff, Dr Richard Conteh got about 100 votes while ex-Works Minister, Kemo Sesay got 10.
The victory also sent his contenders into a frenzy of suspicion and fear that there had been a secret plan between Kamara and the former Head of State, Ernest Koroma who was currently in Nigeria on medical checks after he was arrested for treason-related offences.
Again, amid a deep-rooted grudge, Samura Kamara went to the polls with the same candidate, Julius Maada Bio and the election ended up as a sham.
Although the election is allegedly rigged, Bio still holds on to power despite claims that he does not win.
However his government has been isolated by the international community (the United Nations, Commonwealth, African Union and Economic Community of West African States) owing to the alleged election rigging which others called a “stealing of votes.”
Great world powers especially the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Ireland have also cut off cooperation with the Bio regime which they see as illegal and stopped their financial support to Sierra Leone.
It is no gainsaying that the row between Sierra Leone’s President and the international community is a definite political advantage for Samura Kamara.
It was the Carter Center, a US-based organisation that heightened the call for justice for those whose votes were stolen and also provided the much-needed funding for the election investigators to carry out their work.
On her visit to Sierra Leone, the Ambassador to United Nations, Linda Greenfield donated $1.5m to the Tripartite Committee for work to start almost immediately.
Recently, the United Nations Security Council urged Sierra Leone government to cooperate with the Election Investigation Committee, a body they see as central to Sierra Leone’s peace and stability.
UNSC’s warning was also bolstered by the ECOWAS which called on Sierra Leone government to comply with the terms of the communiqué which they described as one of peace and national cohesion.
The non-recognition of Bio’s government and the ongoing election probe will be capitalised by Dr Samura Kamara, but at APC’s detriment.
By his stance, he will step aside only if the election investigators concluded that Bio is the actual winner of the elections, and the international community recognises and funds his government. This is a real problem the APC leadership must solve if it is to come back to State House.