In terms of executive leadership the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) has to now move forward and come to choose a new executive and flagbearer. This is the contention of the majority of the party’s members and supporters. It is also time for the traditional role of a presidential candidate and opposition leader to be abandoned and redefined at the National Delegates’ Conference.
Putting the business of the 2023 presidential sweep behind us and the lukewarm styles of previous party leaderships in opposition, APC members say the new flagbearer must be a firebrand politician. He may not be a Julius Malema but he will have his say, he will be heard. He will not have the old school consideration and respect for the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) party government, and certainly sees himself as the executive’s equal, or even better. He will be concerned with delivery and respect for the rule of law. Manifestos will have to be implemented if you are to make a lasting impression on the electorate from both and all sides of the ideological divide.
Members of the expired Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara executive say for too long opposition presidential candidates and flagbearers have been too quiet. For some reason they are rarely seen or heard in the media, as if shying away from commenting on issues of national importance especially as planned and done by the ruling party government. The next APC flagbearer will be a friend of the media, they said, always a phone call, email, post, tweet away from journalists and media houses.
The past executive allowed for the ruling party government to get away with many of its implemented policies and programmes and even performance flaws or faux pas that are against the interest of the nation and the promises made in their manifesto. The APC party people are calling for a flagbearer that will debunk, expose, challenge, demand, explain, inform and be ready to take on the ruling party government all aimed at keeping the people abreast and adequately informed on party and national issues relevant to the success of the party and Mama Salone.
As the people are not strangers to executive harassment of the main opposition based on orders from above and a captured judiciary and security sector, the next APC flagbearer is expected to expect to spend some time behind bars from trumped up or cooked up charges. Ranking party leaders have said the next APC presidential candidate should be careful with his personal safety. The past flagbearer was almost gunned down at the APC party office on Election Day 2023 so the next should not expect any kinder consideration from captured state security officers. The next flagbearer must have a tight, dedicated and trusted security detail that can handle and effectively repel any security threat to the party leader.
One of the main strategies the ruling party government actively employs is to get top party executives caught up in court cases based on their activity in public or private life so as to not only derail their campaigns but to also destabilize the party and membership. To avoid this trap APC supporters say the next party leader should have a clean slate, should not be involved in any scandal or have skeletons in his closet that can be used against him by the ruling party strategists.
Past leaders of this country including elected and appointed civil servants have not been exemplary when it comes to handling the people’s money and doing things by the rule and application of the law. Corruption and trivialization of the constitution have been the bane of public leadership. The next APC leader must have great disdain and disgust for corruption and corrupting behaviour, plans, and or actions. He is expected to be a respecter and lover of the law and doing things by the book and above the board.
In the past the main opposition has operated in an atmosphere of divisions, bickering, finger pointing, sabotage and other such divisive behaviour, the party will expect the next flagbearer to bring peace to the party’s rank and file. He must operate and lead in front of a unified and dedicated executive and grassroots, and should not be a puppet. He will be a father to the grassroots, where lies his true power. This leader would have started winning the respect and admiration of the nation’s youth before coming to the national stage. The next APC leader will be a reconciler, and will offer an olive branch to ruling partisans not happy with the way things are going in the party or government. As winning elections are mainly based on what you promise the electorate, the next leader will be able to articulate his plans and campaign platform or manifesto with the seriousness of fulfilling them as promised.
In the past the ruling party governments have had their way with decisions that are supposed to raise red flags as being indicative of the start of the rigging process. Since we have an election narrative of captured elections management bodies, the next APC leader should be able to call the ruling party and government out on executive hiring and firing plans and actions.
To round things up the next APC leader should be a man of the people, able to win hearts and minds, even of ruling partisans.
