The fate of Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara is the most trending topic of political discussion in the corridors of power in the All People’s Congress (APC).
Though widely seen as the winner of the 24 June 2023 presidential polls, his failure to ensure that his winning is upheld by the Tripartite Committee probity has left him in the cold political wilderness with no hope of reclaiming his once revered position in the party.
The Tripartite Committee has finally submitted its long awaited report and recommendations to the president, Julius Maada Bio. The report, whose expected day for submission on June 19 rendered the streets of Freetown a ghost town from the fear the people had of it being a day of blood and mayhem, was submitted with the hopes of the supporters and members of the APC dashed as the issue of the widely disputed presidential election announcement naming the incumbent as president was not fully addressed by the committee.
It was widely expected and assured that at the end of the committee’s tenure the real issue of who is the actual winner of the 24 June 2023 presidential election would have been resolved with the expectation that Dr Samura Kamara would be declared the winner and president Bio would have been expected to hand over power to him as the legitimate winner of the people’s mandate.
This expectation never materialised as the committee’s recommendations mainly dealt with resolving all our electoral processes issues going forward to avoid future occurrences of what happened when the Chief Electoral Commissioner – Mohamed Kenewui Konneh announced Bio as the winner. The announcement was widely rejected by the main opposition APC, the international community and those that observed and tallied the day’s voting across the country as not representative of how the voting took place around the country. Among other things those that rejected the announced result said it was full of irregularities and statistical inconsistencies.
The rejection led to a stalemate as the main opposition refused to join the Bio led government and boycotted taking part in the running of the government at the House of Parliament and the city councils across the country. The two sides of the debacle, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) government and the APC, were prevailed upon to dialogue from which a communiqué emerged that established among others the Tripartite Committee involving both parties and the international community (ECOWAS, AU and Commonwealth) to look into the issues of rejected presidential election result.
Despite the hope that the losing candidate Dr Samura Kamara had instilled in his party members and supporters’ hearts it was dashed as president Bio seems well on his way into his second mandate after a year since he was announced the election winner.
APC supporters are disappointed that the Tripartite Committee recommendations failed to address the extant issue of president Bio enjoying and wielding a stolen presidential mandate.
They consider the Tripartite Committee process a win for the Bio led regime which has consequently dashed any hope of Dr Samura Kamara going forward in his political odyssey.
The work of the committee was confusing to most as their expectations went beyond the committee’s mandate, which was to ensure that going forward the nation will never experience the Christiana Thorpe type pronouncement and the Mohamed Kenewui Konneh type refusal in our presidential elections narrative.
The real issue now at play in the APC is the fate of its former flagbearer and party leader, Dr Samura Kamara. Party executives that confided in FORUM said that it will not be advisable for Dr Samura Kamara to nurse any intention or ambition of seeking the party’s flag for the 2028 presidential election cycle after trying and failing twice to win the presidency. They cited the party’s new constitution that limits the number of times one can claim the party’s flag after trying to win the office of the president to two attempts, following which the person becomes an ex officio member of the party.
The APC executive members told FORUM that the only hope Dr Samura Kamara had of going for another attempt as flagbearer was from the position of an incumbent president, which hope has been put to pay with the Tripartite Committee’s recommendations not brining any reprieve to Dr Samura Kamara’s presidential hopes and ambition.
The scramble for power is now on in the APC with the party now looking forward to field a flagbearer that is much stronger, much vocal and much determined to wrestle the office of the president from the hands of the ruling SLPP. This herculean task demands a flagbearer who is fit and equal to the task at hand.
The challenge is now on and the road to the flag-bearership of the APC wide and open for those who think they can take on the SLPP presidential candidate for the 2028 presidential elections.
Meanwhile, the APC is not the only party preparing for a battle of the big guns to take over the reins of the party. The end of Bio’s presidential term limit has also started an internal struggle in the SLPP with several names popping up as possible successor to the exiting president. Vice president Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh aside, names such as Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, Dr David John Francis, Dr David Moinina Sengeh, Ibrahim Brima Swarray, Jimmy Batillo Songa and Dr Alie Kabbah have been mentioned as possible replacements for president Bio. But the issue will not be settled we have been told until after the president has had his say as to his possible replacement at the top of the party’s hierarchy.
Concerned members of the APC have voiced out their fear that with Dr Samura Kamara failing to succeed in having the presidential election result overturned the stage is set for the SLPP to achieve their much trumpeted assurance to their supporters that they will not hand over power to the APC, which threat they inferred to mean that Bio will see another SLPP partisan as head of state instead of anyone from the APC.
It would seem as Dr Samura Kamara has reached the Waterloo of his presidential ambition odyssey as there is no way he can reclaim his position as the party’s flagbearer. This has left the stage open for others in the APC to make an attempt at taking the party to higher heights in 2028.
