One of Sierra Leone’s oldest political parties, the All People’s Congress (APC), which has been caught up in internal feud in the wake of the 2023 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, now requires an honest group of peace makers to restore party peace to effectively take up the political challenge to come back to power come 2028.
The people and friends of the country count so much on the APC for delivering constructive national development as it did during the past APC tenure of ex-president Ernest Bai Koroma and his predecessors.
Instead of the APC, a party known for its all-inclusive transformative national, radicalism and grassroots support, really challenging the Julius Maada Bio-led failed Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) regime on the emerging drug scandal that is threatening the good name of Sierra Leone, not to talk of the appalling economy, the main opposition APC stakeholders are busy fighting themselves.
The APC stakeholders seem to have forgotten their primary aim of coming back to power through legitimate mandates of the electorate, constructive criticisms of this country’s involvement in the narcotics drug trade that is ravaging mainly youths and giving this country a bad name internationally.
The divisions which have infested the party are largely as a result of a misunderstanding of the issues related to the outcome of the 2023 Presidential election.
The APC problem, which has been divided into the National Executive and the Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara camps, germinated as a result of different appreciations of the outcome of the 2023 elections as the APC National Executive argues that even though the APC holds the view that the APC won the 2023 Presidential elections, the party should go ahead to prepare itself for the 2028 election, allowing President Bio to complete a second term in office.
The Presidential candidate of the APC however has a followership which hold the view that Dr. Samura Kamara should be declared President of Sierra Leone to replace President Maada Bio.
The National Executive, which has not accepted Dr. Samura Kamara’s electoral justice campaign, goes with the thinking that the 2023 electoral outcome is ‘done and dusted.’ And the APC should prepare themselves for the 2028 presidential race and the general election.
The division itself has given social media fodder for intense gossip, dividing the party into camps.
The acrimony within the opposition APC party is not good for the party’s future activities; and if the APC continues to remain divided, the chances of winning the 2028 Presidential election are non-existent.
APC needs power brokers to resolve the APC crisis as Dr Samura Kamara’s camp should not be ignored and should be seen as an important part of the APC party, just as the National Executive should be given the necessary support that will strengthen the party in readiness for 2028.
The APC as a party should forget about its differences and unite to particularly expose the SLPP shortcomings of a rapidly deteriorating economy and a shameful national drug scandal, making this ‘New Direction’ regime unpopular and not fit to win at least the next Presidential election.
