By KABS KANU AND PASCO TEMPLE :
President Ernest Bai Koroma has told the All People’s Congress ( APC ) – USA that he is proud of them and he challenged them too to be proud of the APC because it is the only political party capable of transforming Sierra Leone for the better.
President Koroma thew this remarkable challenge during a major meeting with the branch , which was followed by a solidarity dinner, at the residence of Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the U.S . in Washington DC , on Tuesday night.
COMRADE IBRAHIM KAMARA GIVING THE OPENING REMARKS
President Koroma, who was feeling elated and in good spirit , thanked APC-USA for standing for the party and the government , an apparent reference to the support he has been receiving from the branch since the recent events in Sierra Leone, not forgetting the successful counter-demonstration they staged at the White House last Saturday , in response to opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP ) demonstration at the same venue.
ABIE KANU ( CALIFORNIA ) , UNISA KANU ( FROM GEORGIA ) , BEATRICE CONTEH FROM DC AND SOME OF THE ATTENDANTS
President Koroma said there will continue to be issues in APC-USA but he advised the branch to always handle them in a mature fashion and remain united as a party. He admonished them to continue to build on the unity now in the party .
President Koroma said that the APC is a party of achievements and asserted that the records of the APC Government are there for everybody to see and that the social media can never erase it. He said that the national development of Sierra Leone will continue , even under the man who will succeed him, “under the APC of course”, a statement that brought loud cheers and laughter.
UNISA KANU, ALEX MANSARAY AND ABIE MANSARAY
NEW YORK APC PRESIDENT SAM KOROMA, NEW JERSEY WOMEN’S LEADER NAMINA KOSEY AND NEW JERSEY PRESIDENT PAVI JALLOH
Touching on what he described as the most recent issue , which he said people want to blow out of proportion and distract the government, the President said that the decision the party took to expel the former Vice-President, Alhaji Samuel Sam-Sumana, was within the provision of the party’s own constitution. He accused the ex-VP of engaging in anti-party activities that were fully investigated for months. He said that the National Administrative Council, after the investigations , came to a unanimous decision. The former VP will appeal and the national delegates conference will meet on it and decide.
With regards to his relieving the one-time VP of his post, President Koroma said he did it constitutionally , and if anybody thinks he did not , they are free to bring out their views in the Supreme Court .”I took the decision with the authority of the constitution” , he asserted and drew more cheers and laughter when he said : “I am the one with the constitutional mandate, not the few ones making noise in the social media .” Dismissing it as an unnecessary distraction , President Koroma said : “My constituency is not the social media .”
Earlier, the Interim Chairman of APC -USA , Comrade Ibrahim Sanfa Kamara ,welcomed President Koroma on behalf of the Branch .He described APC-USA as one of the most formidable branches of the party and thanked President Koroma and the government for the honor accorded the branch when they were given certificates for their role in the ebola fight. He informed President Koroma that there is peace now in APC-USA since the interim administration was set up and he appealed for the diaspora to be represented in the NAC because they do not want to be knowing things through the social media. He also asked that the diaspora be incorporated into the APC Constitution as the 5th district of Sierra Leone and while expressing thanks for the new membership cards appealed that the term “ordinary members” be removed from it so that membership will regard themselves as a more useful component of the party.
Mr. Kamara thanked Ambassador Bockarie Stevens and Minister Plenipotentiary Leeroy Wilfred Kanu for the financial and moral support given the Branch during the recent demonstration and stalwarts , especially Messrs Osman T. Conteh, Mohamed Fornah ( otherwise known as Pa Yamba Lawyer ) , Madams Beatrice Conteh, Queen Abie Bangali-Mansaray, Margaret Lowe-Bangura, Fynda Fillie -Faboe and many others for their commendable role in the staging and execution of last Saturday’s demonstrations at the White House.
In giving the vote of thanks, the President of the Washington DC Chapter, Madam Beatrice Conteh thanked everybody for coming and said that Mr. Pasco Temple , the Press Attache at the Sierra Leone Embassy in DC was instrumental and was among those who originated the idea for a counter -demonstration at the White House last Saturday.
