By Winston Ojukutu-Macaulay Jr.
In all my encounters with Dr Samura Kamara, between 2012 and 2019, I have never had the opportunity to discuss his taste in movies or whether he likes to watch movies.
I thought of this a few days ago as I reflected on events in the last five years and contemplated what is ahead for Sierra Leone, but more so for Dr Samura Kamara as the next President of Sierra Leone.
If Dr Samura Kamara is a movie person, he should watch “Star Wars” for personal and political aspirations. The general situation in Sierra Leone would test even the most hardened political operator. With millions of people forced to struggle every day on how to survive, and the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) “Paopa” regime bent on fraudulently winning the next election in June 2023, the power of the Force in the Star Wars movie can be viewed as a metaphor for the faith that resonates and inspire within.
In the coming days and weeks before and after the elections, Dr Samura will need to find his inner Jedi to have the tenacity and extraordinary courage and energy to manage whatever comes to his table, for the greater good of Sierra Leone, without fear of favour.
However, his first consequential decision, who should be his running mate, has generated public interest, and rumours are flying everywhere with names known and unknown. This decision is already challenging because he has to choose someone to “balance the ticket” as the Americans would say. But Wilfred Samuels, a Sierra Leonean living and working in Ghana, disagrees that it is a “challenge” for Dr Samura and the APC High Command. Mr Samuels told this writer that, “the APC has several good candidates” and that it should not be “a big issue” selecting a running mate for the APC Presidential flagbearer.
In today’s scenario, the flagbearer has to submit three names to the APC National Advisory Committee, chaired by Alhaji Minkaliu Mansaray. And we are reliably informed that Dr Samura Kamara has submitted those three names to the APC National Advisory Committee. This swift action by Dr Samura Karama kills the notion carried in certain quarters that the Samura Kamara campaign team has not been doing their homework in terms of identifying, screening, and qualifying names to be submitted for the selection of a running mate.
In selecting the names, the Samura Kamara campaign team was involved in an important political decision. Firstly, the running mate must be of presidential timber, able to step into the office as the “accidental president” at short notice. Authoritative sources close to the Samura Kamara campaign team explained that the selection was highly personal to Dr Samura Kamara and that the people working with Dr Samura in the last five years put in place all the fundamentals of the decision-making process to select the “right person.”
This could be interpreted as looking for “a team player” instead of someone who would forcefully counter Dr Samura Kamara’s policy positions or political philosophies. My understanding is that apart from the geographical and religious considerations, top of their list was arunning mate with the stature, ability, and character to assume the presidency should the case arise. One informed source close to Dr Samura Kamara indicated that all three names are significant because they want voters to judge Dr Samura Kamara’s candidacy favourably.
Widely written off by his APC opponents for the flagbearership in the past four years because of alleged corruption cases brought by the SLPP government, Dr Samura Kamara is suddenly centre page. And if opinion polls are to be believed, and reports of frustration in the South-eastern parts of Sierra Leone have dampened enthusiasm for the Maada Bio government proved reliable. According to political observers outside Sierra Leone, the APC could win a massive victory on June 24th, 2023.
“From what I have gathered, both local and foreign businesspeople and the diplomatic communities in the sub-region, not just in Sierra Leone, it is not daydreaming or preposterous that Dr Samura Kamara could be the next President of Sierra Leone after the elections in June,” says Wilfred Samuels, during a Zoom interview last Friday. Mr Samuels, a registered voter from Calaba Town in the East end part of Freetown, moved to Accra, Ghana in 2021, due to the political and economic instability in Sierra Leone.
For now, however, the political life of the APC has been consumed by the question of who will be Dr Samura Kamara’s running mate. To date, several names have been doing the rounds, but only two names have attracted serious public attention: leading the pack is the present opposition leader in Parliament, Hon. Chernor Maju Bah. Commonly known as “Chericoco,” he is a barrister by profession who many consider incredibly successful, knowledgeable, and skilful in his dealings. And although there were doubts and speculations about whether he will be selected as the running mate, authoritative sources close to the newly elected APC Chairman’s office have told this writer that “Chericoco is still the leading candidate”. The sources went on to say that you can’t blame a young man for being “ambitious,” but that all is “forgiven.”
“Look, what Chericoco has gone through in parliament this past five year shows endurance, which in politics translates to winning,” says a leading Barrister in Freetown.
But for the first time, a woman of substance, Madina Rahman, a former government minister in the last APC government, has challenged the dominance of men in the APC high politics. Madina Rahman has put up a fierce challenge for the running mate position, surprising many within the APC. She is savvy and politically sharp, and in recent days, many women have responded to her call, and their voices are growing louder, but whether their penetrating voices would make a difference is yet to be seen in the coming days.
Another name that emerged for the running mate spot is Diana Konomani, a shrewd political operator from the diamond mining district of Kono. Unfortunately, she is Christian which automatically rules her out of the race because Dr Samura Kamara is also a devout Christian. Many in the Samura Kamara’s campaign team consider Lady Diana a very loyal and dedicated member of the APC. Her friends and supporters say that she has made tremendous sacrifices in the past five years in helpingthe party and its members. But many people fear that her selection would be disruptive because of the continued contagious relation between her office and the former Vice President, Sam Sumana, who was unceremoniously removed from office as Vice President and expelled from the All People’s Congress (APC).
In recent months Sam Sumana, having left the political party he helped set up to contest in the 2018 presidential election, has spent many months fighting to be accepted as a candidate for the flagbearership of the APC. However, his rhetoric and political machinations have proved fruitless, but he has been successful in getting back his APC membership in recent days. Whether this will qualify him to be considered as a running mate to Dr Samura Kamara cannot be confirmed by the APC National Advisory Committee.
Other names making the rounds are the outgoing Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr. Still, like Lady Diana, the Freetown Mayor is a practising Christian and will face difficulties being selected as a running mate. Then there is talk of Momodu Maligie, a former cabinet minister in the last APC government. One senior civil servant who worked with him at the Ministry of Water Resources described him as someone with exceptional mental abilities and who, as a Minister, had a clear-sighted and dedicated leadership approach to work. However, very little is known about him within the APC and the country.
Also hoping to be considered as a running mate is the new kid in the block, Sheik Mohamed Kamara “Jagaban”. He is unashamedly out to buy the running mate ticket. But knowledgeable sources doubt his chances of getting the running mate ticket. However, they also warned that in politics, it is not over until the “fat lady sings.” So, for now, Dr Samura Kamara and Alhaji Minkaliu Mansaray are nursing the voice of the “fat lady.”