By Mohamed Sankoh (One Drop)
Each time some members from the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) try to paint the All People’s Congress (APC) as a political party in disarray and also assume that it should not be considering forming the next government in 2028 because it appears not to be readily ready to govern Sierra Leone; I always use a commonsensical analogy of a polygamous family to counter that assumption.
Considering how corruption has pervaded the Bio-led administration (Successive audit reports from Audit Service Sierra Leone have shown that grand corruption is undisputedly undisputed under the watchful watch of the SLPP government!); considering how our revered First Lady, Fatima Bio, appears to be imitating the antics of Marie Antoinette (For ease of reference, please read The French Revolution of 1789-1799); considering how most cabinet ministers are behaving arrogantly as if they are custodians of Mount Olympus tasked with overseeing lesser mortals, and considering how the SLPP government appears to have institutionalized all the negative “isms” and schisms that epitomize political incorrectness; there is no way the SLPP will win free and fair elections in 2028.
Except the SLPP plays a sort of sleight of hand as it allegedly did during the 2023 elections. But 2028 will never be 2023 because the APC will use all democratic means to protect its votes, presumably with sweat and blood, even if that will make its rank and file bring down the heavens! Sierra Leone and majority of Sierra Leoneans cannot, and will not, endure another reign of SLPP’s economic stagnation, maladministration, and blatant human rights violations which have all the trappings of bad governance and lack of empathy! The current SLPP government seems to be full of heartless people whose thirst for political power could only be compared to that of Lady Macbeth!
Year in year out, since he stumbled into State House in 2018, President Julius Maada Bio has been promising to “focus on delivering visible, everyday improvements in livelihoods, public services, food security, and economic stability” (These Bio-ian clichés he clichéd in his 2026 New Year’s Day National Address.). Yet, the reality in the country shows that our Commander-in-Chief is high on sound-bites and very low on implementations as majority of Sierra Leoneans are today worse off than they were eight years ago. President Bio appears to be more concerned about his next flight and destination outside Sierra Leone than the welfare of majority of his compatriots.
But there is always an end to every damn nonsense; an end to absolute nonsense; an end to insulting nonsense, and an end to nonsensical nonsense. That end will start in 2028 when majority of Sierra Leoneans will ballot-out the SLPP from power to usher in true national cohesion and progress. But is the APC readily ready to govern Sierra Leone in 2028? Does the APC have the right people to clean up the messy mess which the SLPP government has messed up Sierra Leone with?
That has been the question most non-APCiers are asking considering the current seemingly intra-party squabbling within the APC; the over-crowded flagbearer field in which some people who are not even fit to vie for a councillor’s seat have thrown their hats into the ring, and some of the Judas-like party stalwarts in its fold. My retort, always, to such concerns comes down to the commonsensical analogy of a polygamous family.
In my opinionated opinion, the current APC is like a man with four wives. As expected in such a household, the wives will be jostling and quarreling amongst themselves most of the time unnecessarily. The children will also be having palavers amongst themselves presumably because of the biases their mothers might be feeding them with or because they might feel that some are more favoured than others by their father. And, of course, the countless in-laws will have their own issues with other in-laws because they might feel that some in-laws are more in-laws than others! Added to the potpourri of household politics are the domestic staff and friends of the wives, children, and in-laws who will spice up the household stress with gossips, exaggerations, and downright lies. But in the end, it is the father who holds the carrot and stick. He takes decisions which he thinks will be in the best interest of his family.
So, as I see it, what is happening within the APC now is a sign that the APC is evolving as a modern political party despite its seemingly intra-party squabbles and some of the activities of its Judas-like party stalwarts. It shows that the APC is becoming more attractive because even among some SLPP stalwarts, who currently hold top positions in the Bio-led administration, there is the wishful thinking that the APC is sure to form the next government in 2028 given that the SLPP will be an unsellable commodity like an “okuru” dog! And make no mistake about it; the APC is now undergoing some form of Phoenix-nization (Don’t dash for your dictionaries because it’s another One Dropian word.).
That Phoenix-nization, which the APC is now undergoing, is being captured by the party’s Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Alhaji Osman Foday Yansaneh, who notes in his New Year message to party faithful that, “We may have walked through moments of disagreement, but this New Year calls us to peace, reconciliation, and genuine love. Let us forgive past hurts, soften our words, and put the interest of the Party above personal differences, especially as we move toward our party conventions….” And to further add some ice to the already iced cake; he discloses that, “The National Executive has agreed to meet Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara, Alhaji Chief Sam Sumana and all Flagbearer Aspirants in order to consolidate and ensure the unity that our depressed people are yearning for….”
The above excerpts show that the current APC leadership, like the fabled polygamist with four wives, knows what is good for the household and is steering the house toward the common good. The APC knows that the path to State House in 2028 is unity. And it has started following that path with determination and watchfulness….
medsankoh@yahoo.com/+232-76-611-986