By Kamalo
The All Peoples’ Congress (APC) party has elected its presidential candidate in the person of Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara, who also led the party in the 2018 elections with Hon. Chernor Ramadan Maju Bah aka Chericoco, his then-running mate. They did not lose but rather their victory was usurped from them by regime change agents.

Today, the same Samura Kamara has been elected to battle again in the upcoming elections with the man on whose behalf his victory was stolen. Now, Dr. Samura Kamara is confronted with the task of choosing his running mate in consultation with the just-elected National Advisory Council (NAC) in tandem with what the party’s constitution dictates.

Meanwhile, names are coming up for the running mate place such as Chericoco, Diana Finda Konomanyi, Mayor of the Freetown City Council, Yvonne Aki-Sawyer, Mohamed Omodu Kamara, popularly known as Money Jagaban, and Samuel Sam-Sumana. But while all of these names are forces to reckon with one way or the other, there is no better choice for the APC running mate this time than Chericoco. It only comes off that Sierra Leoneans do forget too soon! We are quick to forget but care to twist the truth when it is about a person we favour for obvious reasons even if it is without merit.

The delegates voted en mass for Dr. Samura Kamara at the just-concluded National Delegates’ Conference (NDC) because they believe that he has faced a lot of trials and tribulations since he was selected in 2017 to lead the party in the 2018 elections. And it must be emphasised that Samura was selected alongside a very humble, forward-thinking, hardworking, and party loyalist. That person in the name of Chericoco has been very thoughtful and supportive to Dr. Samura Kamara during thick and thin in the past five years.

Chericoco is currently the opposition leader in Parliament. Having served as a lawmaker for three uninterrupted terms, he, no doubt, has a proven leadership competence with spectacular records traversing from the days he served as Deputy Speaker of Parliament. Chericoco’s popularity cut across religious, regional, tribal, and partisan lines because of his inborn spirit to interact with people, irrespective of one’s status and belonging. Though it is not a law, it has been the norm in Sierra Leone that in choosing a running mate, political parties have always given a premium to religious tolerance for religious balance in the highest office of the land. Therefore, with Dr. Samura Kamara a devoted Christian, it is all conforming to choose a running mate that is a pious Muslim like Chericoco.

Another benchmark qualifying Chericoco as the most suitable person for the APC running mate over the others that are being rumoured and in the news is the fact that his Fullah ethnic group is deemed the third largest in Sierra Leone, and will make more votes for the party.

Besides, Chericoco’s loyalty to Samura Kamara has been unwaveringly insurmountable. It was him that imbibed the bravery to defy all the bad and ugly that was to hover over his name, and in the face of angry party giants, declared open support and endorsement for Samura’s second coming. In that aftermath, he was condemned and disparaged by the anti-Samuras in every nook and cranny of the political domain. Not only that, is it not Chericoco that was harangued for mobilising all the current APC Parliamentary membership to endorse and throw support for Samura? And should we now only focus on Dr. Samura Kamara, leaving out a man who has offered up a lot for him in particular, and the party by extension?

As stated earlier, when it’s too soon for Sierra Leoneans to forget, we should be reminded of the trends since 2017 when Samura and Chericoco were preordained, through former president Ernest Bai Koroma, to become a presidential candidate and running mate, respectively. And say what you may like, but Samura and Chericoco is a combination that is like sampling in the Arctic Ocean, and no agent that is worth its salt can separate. It’s indeed the compatibility that is destined to redeem Mama Salone from endemic wretchedness, poverty, and squalor!

Should Sierra Leoneans be so two-faced now to call for or accept Samura to choose his running mate someone other than Chericoco?

Let common sense prevail and justice is served! The APC party equally owes Chericoco gratitude and sympathy as did to Samura. This is to say that if Chericoco is not becoming the running mate, it should be by thorough internal arrangements and his hearty acceptance for reasons that best serve the common interests of the party.