Though delegates of the All People’s Congress (APC) will be going to the APC northern region headquarters in Makeni, this weekend, to vote for their presidential candidate for the general elections on 24 June 2023; it is now apparent that Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara will likely be the party’s presidential candidate considering the countless endorsements he has received recently.
That means Dr Samura Kamara will be challenging President Julius Maada Bio in the June 2023 Presidential Election. In 2018 when they challenged each other, President Bio won by just 92,237 votes after he had promised heaven on earth through his “New Direction” manifesto which has now proven to be a sham. He was able to win after the Coalition for Change (C4C) of Chief Samuel Samsumana, the National Grand Coalition (NGC) of Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella and the Alliance Democratic Party (ADP) of Mohamed Kamarainba were able to get a total votes cast of 11.5% during the first round from predominantly APC strongholds. Now that these personalities will not be on the presidential ballot in June this year; the equation might favour the APC.
And that equation, coupled with the inability of the SLPP government of President Bio to solve the basic economic problems in the country, is not lost on Dr Samura Kamara. During his declaration of intent in Makeni on Sunday to lead the APC in the Presidential Election in June this year, he stated that: “My priority is to take and build back our country, to salvage our economy”.
Dr Samura Kamara noted that, “We are tired with orders from above; we must allow public institutions to function effectively,” adding that, “[Our] compatriots are running away in search of greener pastures, we must create the greener pastures here for our people”.
He opined that history will judge President Bio and members of his administration “for what looks like a terminal incompetence of the Paopa administration”. He averred that, “Mr Samura nor get cabal, all man nar me cabal. We all for wok together for victory en betteh kontri… Good leader nor to tok yap yap, me nor to tok en do; me nar do en tok.”
The major issue for the June 24 election will be the high cost of living in the country which presents the need for a proven experienced leadership to effectively handle the country’s economy. And Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara, with his proven experience in the finance management sector both nationally and internationally, is now seen by hundreds of thousands of Sierra Leoneans as the most fitted politician to fix the country’s economy in the present circumstances.