The All Peoples Congress (APC) party is at serious loggerheads as senior members of the party have thrown in their hats into the ring of fighting for the national chairmanship of the party.
While key members like Ambassador Alimamy Coleson Turay have long declared themselves interested in vying for the position and he is hopeful of winning or getting the national Chairmanship, other big guns in the party as former party National Deputy Chairman, Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray and former secretary general Ambassador Alhaji Osman Yansaneh have reportedly expressed strong interest in vying for the position with equal dexterity of capturing the chairmanship when the whistle is blown to kick-start the race.
Reports and news from within the rank and file of the party and their grassroots supporters are giving an inkling of ramblings and squabble among its leading figures, who are vying for key positions in the party, particularly the chairmanship hopefuls as Minkailu Mansaray and Ambassador Alhaji Osman Yansaneh. Both are reportedly intensely seeking the position although some influential members in the party would really want them to reason with each other and see eye to eye in order to settle on who should assume the enviable position in the party after its upcoming National Delegates’ Conference and party primary elections slated to be rolled out in the following weeks and months.
“These people were key figures around former President Ernest Bai Koroma and in the APC party who were expected to be friends, united and likeminded,” a party insider told Forum, adding: “They should really show understanding and let one of them vie for the position.”
Few weeks ago, the duo reportedly had a tête-à-tête in Makeni where they were coaxed to reason with one another and decided on who should vie for the position. Reports have it that no sooner they returned to Freetown than they foiled or made the agreements from the parley redundant. Hence all or both are now treading their own paths towards making it for the APC National chairmanship come the lower level elections, the delegates’ conference and the flagbearer tussle.
Just few days ago, a report on the former deputy party chairman headlined: “WE WANT MINKAILU MANSARAY TO LEAD US’ – Supporters Demand” described him as “The Game Changer”.
The report, authored by Mohamed Kallon, stated: “The Game Changer was one of the most trusted APC party Lieutenants under President Koroma, which is why he was held in a very high esteem by all and sundry. Given his time and ambition to serve the party, one could hardly notice the absence of the national leader whether he was around or not because he was always around ready and willing to sacrifice his time, money and energy for the progress of the party without complaint.
“He always made sure things go right. That kind of commitment and selfless services the soft-spoken politician made was undeniably one of the major reasons the APC secured victories in the 2007 and 2012 general elections that saw the inning of his boss, ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma to power more so when he stoutly controlled the Western Area as the party’s regional chairman.”
The report says Minkailu Mansaray “always identifies himself with people irrespective of their status, tribe, politics, region or religion and shares their concerns together”, which had “undoubtedly” given him the “edge over others who, without emphasis, often run away from the very people they claim to represent”.
Quote:
“It is only a house in scheme that divides. So APC party officials and big guns must stop the feud and loggerheads and go in for their primaries in dignity, integrity and oneness prior to the 2023 national elections.”
