The nation of Sierra Leone has come full circle. Since the announcement of the June 24 elections results the nation has been at a crossroads with many hoping that the road less travelled would have been taken as all other directions taken before had not been good for the progress of the state and people.
After another opposition MP has defected to the one sided ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party – SLPP House of Parliament to join lone opposition All People’s Congress (APC) standout Hon Mohamed Bangura, it would seem as if the APC stance to stay out of the governance is shaky, with many saying the nation will soon return to its business as usual politics of spending money outside their intended purposes, ‘electoral fraud,’ ‘manipulation of the constitution by passing bad laws, taking administrative decisions outside the scope of the set procedures, capturing other state institutions and the like that have been the bane of our governance footprint.’
The return this week of Western Urban APC MP, Hon Alfred Ayodele William Thompson to subscribe to the oath of office has left many in the APC, the regime and international community questioning how stable the boycott alliance and how many people is are willing to see it through if this situation continues until the 2028 elections.
The return of the second APC MP has been viewed as the beginning of the end of the party’s unified stance to stand up to ‘electoral fraud and tyranny.’
This FORUM NEWS SL was informed that the boycott alliance is not holding up because of a lack of money, which has been testing the resolve and commitment level of the 215 councillors and mayors and now 52 MPs. Hon Ayodele Thompson’s action which is a clear breach of the APC’s alliance stance has casted serious doubts over the representatives’ belief in the righteousness of their party’s cause.
‘The SLPP has been doing some clandestine work in the background trying to convince APC members elect to return to parliament and provide representation for their people and party. All these backdoor moves are aimed at maintaining the status quo in how elections are won and how we form our government of Sierra Leone. This is an obvious case of a lack of money to fund the alliance now seriously affecting these people’s resolve to keep the APC party’s protest action against the disputed presidential elections result.
Does the party have the money to foot this stay-at-home campaign of theirs? What if this persists for the next five years, are they financially prepared to pay the rest of the protesting elected public servants?’ they asked rhetorically.
Speaking to a member of the APC executive he threw doubts over the party’s capability, ‘their financial cache (store) and plan’ to continue with the protest.
‘Do we have the money or support to pay all these people? Do we have money to pay them for a year to start off with? If you can pay them for a year, not considering their perks and immunities as public servants in the House and councils or their assistants and staff, then we can be looking for the rest of the term’s payments while still maintain the protest aimed at not giving credibility or recognition to Maada Bio’s illegitimate second term regime,’ said the APC executive.
Speaking frankly, the party stalwart said he feels sorry for first time MPs, saying what is obtaining with their situation is a sad story as they have made a name for themselves as being the first set of MPs as Sierra Leone returns to a one party operated national government of discord.
‘Some of these young people that we have elected to represent us may be eager to get to the House and councils. They never imagined coming to a one sided or divided House. Some of them paid huge sums of money, sold personal properties including but not limited to land and businesses, left their jobs and lost loved ones just to raise enough money to fund their campaigns. Now that they have won their way into government, I won’t hold it against them for being eager to get to work, meet and be seen rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty, to provide effective representation and oversight functions. We must consider all this as the APC boycott alliance is slowly chipping away,’ he added.
Some APC members of the Fifth Parliament have said that the problem with the APC is that it is not known as a party that can be relied upon to be unified behind a particular cause. The party, she said is not known as one that works together, adding that there are too many factions and interests in the party that always leave it in a merry-go-round of internal and external court cases before every election cycle that always affect the party in the worst way.
‘Like despite all the money people in the party at home and around the world and the party’s reserve, they are presently failing to unify and provide these protesting sons and daughters of democracy with the support they need to maintain this very critical protest action aimed at changing this nation’s democratic and electoral credentials from where President Julius Maada Bio and the SLPP have taken us. They failed to rally behind Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara in 2018 and this past election, even though the APC won the 2023 presidential elections. But we can see that throughout the last term the party was caught up in so much confusion that kept them in such a tailspin that they neglected campaigning and instead focused their attention on using the people’s displeasure with President Bio’s poor performance to win the elections.
Too much was left up to chance. We don’t see a party with a history of planning and executing their plans as a unified front. All we see is a short-term commitment before issues beneath the surface start popping up. This leads me to ask, how well prepared is the APC to carry out this boycott? Because from Bangura to now Ayodele Thompson. Who is next?’ asked the ranking female APC politician.
The concerned partisans that spoke to this medium wanted to know where the APC expects to get their funding and ‘for how long they can maintain the boycott’ because what is presently going on with the return of the second MP to the House has once again broken the people’s heart and faith in democracy and the rule of law.
They no longer believe that our elected governments will ever be the will of the people, saying it will always be the will of the incumbent president and party over that of the people’s. They see their leaders, especially those elected to the Sixth Parliament as crazy, thirsty for power and to be in parliament, and desperate to exploit the nation. They are looking up to the APC and international community to ensure that the nation does not accept the indignity of the Maada Bio victory and his unpopular appointment of a cabinet with a Speaker of the House “selected” by a one-sided parliament. They now see the APC resolve eroding and a slow streaming of the APC side of the aisle back to the House and councils.
‘We were hoping that the APC would stand their ground and not give in, despite the money and all other issues. Maintaining this protest is much bigger than money or personal ambition. It is about the future of democracy and the credibility of elections mandates based on electoral disputes. We were hoping the APC would not allow a return to business as usual or maintaining the status quo as Bio is doing. But we know that events in our neighbourhood, with all the military governments overthrowing incumbent regimes not willing to respect the constitutional order, will soon make the world forget about Sierra Leone, although we are in the same positions as the countries in the Sahel regarding our president. We are now arresting soldiers and former police brass.’
‘We expect the international community to mortgage our hope for our rescuer from a violent regime and divided opposition trying to keep up a boycott protest action alive,’ said a trader at the busy Guard Street market.
This is a game of money and influence. The APC is lacking both at present while the SLPP is in both. They believe money has now become the deciding factor in how elections are won and governments are formed.
‘Winning by the ballot box is just textbook stuff. Our reality is a government of compromise and dialogue not one that is run on the will of and mandate from the people. Yes, it is business as usual in government in Sierra Leone. We should expect if the APC returns back to government for us to always be like this every five year elections cycle,’ they concluded.
