Titus Boye-Thompson, London
In an interview with a close aide to the former President of Sierra Leone Dr Ernest Bai Koroma who is presently residing in Nigeria, it has been revealed that the former President is very disturbed by the seeming disintegration of the political party he once controlled as Chairman and Leader. In the interview which was held recently, the former President was known to have made a very strong appeal to the higher echelons of the All Peoples Congress that order and decorum must be allowed to prevail in the discharge of politics in Sierra Leone particularly at a time the APC must now strive to rebuild its unity rather than become engulfed in internal conflicts for position and power. The former President is currently in Nigeria for medical reasons and away from a treason trial resulting from the failed coup attempt in which he was accused.
The Statesman is said to be very disturbed that the current bad blood being spewed across the Party would result in further electoral failure for the party at the next elections.
Political observers have indicated that the rumblings from within the former President’s political power base, the All Peoples Congress party in Sierra Leone, tend to bring much umbrage to the elder statesman as much as it is damaging any chances of the party getting back power.
While former President Koroma has always been seen as a forerunner in the fight to restore democracy through electoral justice across Africa, the prospect of his party disintegrating on a disagreement on this very issue merely undermines his status and democratic credentials. The concern has been that because the former president has remained silent, it is being taken as the tacit agreement of the actions by some in his party to draw a line under the ills of the past elections and the votes taken as “done and dusted.” The aide further said that the former president has no such support for the “done and dusted” campaign nor would he be in agreement with any act by his party to sacrifice democracy and the prospect of free and fair elections at the footstools of political expediency.