By Nelson Adebayo Johnson*
The road to State House in 2028 may have just found its clearest path, and it started not in Freetown, but in London.
In a move that has stunned many and inspired many more, Ambassador Omrie Golley, one of the leading flagbearer aspirants of the All People’s Congress (APC), made a surprise appearance at a major London event organized by fellow aspirant, Dr. Ibrahim Bangura.
The event was the official launch of the *DIB Iron Ladies UK*, a powerful women’s wing of Dr. Bangura’s campaign, held in a fully packed, decorated banquet hall in London. The hall was filled with APC stalwarts, women leaders, youth, and members of the Sierra Leonean diaspora.
While Dr. Bangura took to the stage to preach his now-famous message of “Heal, Unite, Build,” all eyes turned when Ambassador Omrie Golley walked in – not as a rival, but as a brother.
*No Rivalry, Only Kombra*
Rather than using the occasion to push his own ambition, Ambassador Golley’s intervention was short, powerful, and focused on one thing: the APC.
His message to the APC is becoming increasingly clear: the party cannot return to governance in 2028 by allowing personal ambitions, grievances and internal disagreements to become greater than the institution itself.
For Ambassador Golley, the APC is the “Kombra” to which all its members belong, and its survival, unity and restoration must therefore come before individual interests.
Standing before supporters at the London gathering, Golley emphasized that every genuine flagbearer aspirant has a role to play in healing the party. His presence was not about declaring one aspirant superior to another, nor was it surrendering his own ambition. It was proof that political competition must never become political hostility.
“If the APC is to have a clear and unassailable opportunity to return to governance in 2028, that opportunity must be built upon the settlement of outstanding grievances, meaningful dialogue and the deliberate rebuilding of relationships across the party,” he told the cheering crowd.
*The Peacemaker’s Philosophy*
This is not new for Ambassador Golley. For months, he has been actively reaching across political lines within the APC family — making calls, holding meetings, attending events organised by fellow flagbearer aspirants and engaging comrades wherever opportunities arise.
His central call remains: withdraw internal court cases, embrace dialogue, and choose negotiated settlements. His argument is simple and profound: the courtroom may settle a legal dispute, but dialogue can heal a political family.
The pictures from London tell their own story — Ambassador Golley standing among fellow APC comrades, shaking hands, smiling, reaching across lines of aspiration rather than building walls around them.
*Two Leaders, One Stage, One Party*
On that same stage, Dr. Ibrahim Bangura laid out his vision for Sierra Leone. The Associate Professor at Fourah Bay College, PhD holder from Germany, and former consultant for ECOWAS, AU and UN, reiterated his core doctrine:
“That is why we carved our campaign into three words: HEAL, UNITE, and BUILD. We must heal first, then we unite, then we build this country.”
On one side, Dr. Bangura – the technocrat with a healing message. On the other, Ambassador Golley – the original peacemaker from the Lome Peace process, now the APC’s internal reconciliator.
Together in London, they signaled what many in the APC base have been craving: that aspirants can share a stage for the sake of the party.
*What APC Needs Now*
Political commentators say the APC needs more than loud political declarations at this sensitive moment. It needs bridge-builders, listeners, negotiators and peacemakers.
Ambassador Omrie Golley’s philosophy is now clear for all to see: *compete, but do not destroy; disagree, but do not divide; aspire, but do not forget the party.*
If the APC is to make 2028 a realistic pathway back to governance, Ambassador Golley believes the journey must begin not with victory over one another, but with unity among one another.
Road to 2028 has truly begun in London. And it began with unity.
Ambassador Omrie Golley — the Peacemaker, the Bridge-Builder, and an APC Party “Pekin” determined to see the family united, strengthened and ready to return to governance in 2028
