𝐒𝐋𝐏𝐏: 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐀 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

In May 2002, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the SLPP was re-elected President for another five-year term, after defeating the APC Presidential candidate Ernest Bai Koroma in a first ballot. Kabbah received 70% of the valid votes cast. His party won 83 seats in Parliament out of the 112 seats contested for in the Parliamentary election.

During his swearing-in speech, Kabbah thanked the people of Sierra Leone for reposing confidence in him to govern the country for five more years. He however made it very clear that, he would not be running for public office again in his lifetime at the end of his second and final term in 2007. He kept to that promise.

During his second and final term as President, Kabbah was eager on who succeeds him as leader and flag bearer of the SLPP.

Kabbah had a soft spot in his heart for his Vice President, Solomon Berewa. He had a great deal of affection for Berewa.

Even though he did not stop anyone in the party from expressing their interests in the leadership of the party, his support for Solomon Berewa was implicit. He helped raised funds for Solomon Berewa’s campaign and he introduced him to important world leaders and helped open doors for him.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐀 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞

On a private visit from London in May 2007, I met with President Kabbah at the Presidential Lodge at Hill Station in Freetown. The issue of running mate to Solomon Berewa was becoming a distraction for the SLPP. I asked Kabbah whether he was aware that the delay in naming a running mate was affecting the party greatly. With his usual trademark smile Kabbah said “No, there is no problem at all…Solo and I had agreed on Momodu Koroma…I need to remind him to expedite the announcement of Momodu Koroma as his running mate to avoid the distraction you just mentioned to me…It’s a done deal”.

After my meeting with Kabbah, I visited Kanja Sesay at his Hill Station residence, as a matter of courtesy. He is always very accommodating and cheerfully willing to help.

I could not have visited Kanja without raising the issue of running mate with him. He was reluctant to discuss the issue of running mate. He only said that, it was a matter for Pa Berewa. He was clearly Berewa’s choice for the post of running mate in 2007.

As usual, I did not disclose the outcome of my meeting with Kabbah to him. I only told him that, Kabbah would surely have a hand in that decision-making. We both agreed on that point.

On 7th July 2007, Momodu Koroma was named as the Vice Presidential candidate of the ruling SLPP ahead of the August 2007 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

𝐄𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐚𝐢 𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚

After his re-election as President in 2012, for a second and final five-year term, Ernest Bai Koroma appointed an eighty-member Constitutional Review Committee headed by the highly respected Hon. Justice Edmond Cowan to review the 1991 Constitution.

Around 2014, President Koroma secretly provoked a third-term discussion across the country. There was absolutely no need for that. The outcome of public consultations had shown that, the country was not prepared for a third-term debate. Angry reactions to a third-term discussion were easily perceptible.

Justice Cowan’s report submitted to the Ernest Bai Koroma government in January 2017 contains 134 recommendations. The government in November 2017 published the much-awaited Government White Paper. The government rejected a total of 100 recommendations out of the 134 recommendations.

Justice Cowan made it very clear that, any attempt to change term limit in the 1991 Constitution would be extremely bad for the security of the state.

In a face-to-face interview with Justice Cowan at his Malama residence in Freetown in 2017, he pleaded with me, to join other “patriotic forces” to condemn any attempt to change term limit in the 1991 Constitution. He said even some senior APC politicians were secretly opposed to a term extension or alteration.

President Koroma was desperate to extend his term in office by changing the 1991 Constitution. He later realised that, even within his own party, there was no appetite for a term extension or alteration.

Koroma’s Vice President, Chief Sam Sumana, made it very clear that, he was sacked by his boss for refusing to support his secret third-term bid.

Koroma’s third-term bid became a major distraction for him during his second and final term as President. He kept losing focus on governing the country when his attempt to change the term limit in the 1991 Constitution was openly resisted by the country. Throughout his second and final term in office, infighting within the APC for leadership succession derailed the party’s Agenda for Prosperity. Koroma left office disappointed that he did not fulfill his manifesto commitment under the Agenda for Prosperity.

The APC lost the Presidential election in 2018 due partly to disagreement and conflict within the Party. The decision by Koroma to hand-pick a Presidential candidate for the APC in 2018 led to the party’s demise.

Succession Debate

Just eight months into President Julius Maada Bio’s second and final term, some people in the SLPP have started discussions bordering on leadership succession. It’s too early!

The President has spelt out his agenda for the development of the country under the Big 5 game changer. Those who love the party should support the President and the government to succeed in the implementation of the Big 5 Agenda especially the agenda to “Feed Salone”.

Printing posters and banners, holding secret meetings across the country and splashing money in support of any potential flag bearer aspirant is not in the best interests of the party. Let us support the President to succeed in the implementation of the Big 5 Agenda for the development of Sierra Leone.

Provoking public discussions around leadership succession in the SLPP is not helpful at the moment. The way to go is to support the government in the successful implementation of the Big 5 Agenda.

There is a feeling of sulking discontent within the party. But let us unite to defend our common interests. All that glitters is not gold.

Some of us have strong reservations about certain decisions that are being taken at some higher quarters. But we have to ensure that, in 2028, the SLPP succeeds itself in office.

This is not the time for a succession discussion. This is the time to support the govrnment in the successful implementation of the Big 5 Agenda for development.

May common sense prevail