By M.B. Jalloh, Press Attaché, Saudi Arabia
Many Sierra Leoneans see the choice of Hon. Chernor Ramandan Maju Bah (aka Chericoco) as the running-mate of the governing All People’s Congress (APC) Party as a smart and wise decision by His Excellency the President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma. Chericoco is a down-to-earth politician who portrays strongly the grassroots mantra of the APC. Not only is Chericoco being loved by the youths, but he is also a fulfillment of the promise made by President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma to the youths of Sierra Leone that he would dedicate his second term of office to them.
Since that promise, the President has given many appointments to young men in his Government but the latest was the choice of Hon. Chernor Ramandan Maju Bah as the APC presidential candidate, Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara’s running-mate; a perfect combination which political pundits have described as “a magical wand” that will deliver the 7th march, 2018 Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Council elections to the APC. This winning team has already been presented to the people during President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma’s thank you tour of the entire country in appreciation of the opportunity Sierra Leoneans gave him to serve them as president of the Republic for a decade, during which, he transformed the country into one of hope and prosperity, as compared to when he acceded to power ten years ago.
Hon. Chernor Bah is a renowned legal luminary who came to political limelight during the 2007 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. He contested in Constituency 110 in Freetown and won with consummate ease. Since then, the young lawyer never looked back. He made a niche in the temple of fame as a result of his exemplary performance in Parliament that soon gave him recognition in the APC hierarchy.
In his first term in Parliament, Hon. Chernor R. M. Bah served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Account Committee (PAC) as well as member of the Oversight Committee on Mines and Minerals Resources. He excelled himself in those two committees much to the admiration of his colleague lawmakers on both divide. Chericoco was very good at drilling government officials and cabinet ministers who would appear before the PAC unprepared to respond to pertinent questions on the spending of public funds by their respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Because of his outstanding performance in his first term, Chericoco was elevated to the position of Deputy Speaker of Parliament after the November, 2012 multitier elections as a motivation that would drive him towards working assiduously for his party and country.
He was also a Member of the ECOWAS Parliament and a few months ago, he led a delegation of Members of Parliament who were also Members of the ECOWAS Parliament to the border town of Kambia to sensitize people on some of the ongoing activities taking place in the ECOWAS Region. ECOWAS MPs from neighbouring Guinea -Conakry were also in attendance and the MPs from both sister countries used the occasion to strengthen the existing bilateral ties between the two nations.
Prior to joining mainstream partisan politics, the young and dynamic Honourable was one of the youngest vibrant legal luminaries who won the admiration of their colleague lawyers and the public, especially his clients who had benefited a great deal from his legal services. It was such brilliance and popularity among the people that prompted him to have a bite of the political cherry and ten years on, his hard work and popularity has catapulted him to a position he never thought of holding in jiffy but God did it for him miraculously. Just as the APC Presidential candidate, it never crossed anybody’s imagination that President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma would choose Chericoco as the APC running-mate until the pronouncement was made in Makeni on Sunday 15th October, 2017.
Apart from excelling in the legal profession, he is also a socialite and founding member of the All Works of Life (AWOL) Development Association which supports National Achievement Awards, social development, cultural revival, youth development, policy advice, education and health. He served AWOL as its Secretary General for two terms consecutively and during the official launch of the National Achievement Awards (NAA) 2017 at the Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel at Aberdeen Freetown on 3rd November, 2017, AWOL members, including its Global Chairman, Ambassador Anthony Navo paid a special tribute to Hon. Chernor R. M. Bah for the role he played towards the success of the organization over the years.
Another interesting thing about Chericoco is the exuberance of his beautiful and charming wife, Mrs. Hawa Bah to campaign for her husband to become the next Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. According to reports, she was in Kenema in November campaigning for her husband. Mrs. Bah was also reported to have told the Fullah ethnic group in that part of the country to close ranks and support the ruling APC for its development strides. She thrilled members of the Fullah ethnic group in Kenema with her persuasive vibes and the recounting of the exemplary performance of her husband in politics and development in the last decade.
The local maxim that “behind every successful man, there is a woman” is very apt in the case of Chericoco and his wife who has taken up the challenge to persuade the Fullah Community in the country to which both belong to close ranks and wholeheartedly support the ruling APC in the 7th March, 2018 polls – an election she believes, will automatically make her husband become the next Vice President in the Third Republic of Sierra Leone thereby making him inspirational for the youths of Sierra Leone that the impossible can be made possible through diligence, dedication, and sincerity of purpose.
.
