By Tony Konomanyi
APC, and the battle for ascendancy.*
Events at the funeral of Madam Admire Sesay, the late sister of former President, Ernest Bai Koroma, have led to political drama the kind of which we have not witnessed since the 2018 General elections.
To my knowledge, it all started when a fractured Kono contingent presented their burial contributions to EBK.
It was alleged by Ambassador John Yambasu that Madam Diana Konomanyi had gone ahead of Sam Sumana and his entourage, which included the Ambassador, and given burial contributions with and on behalf of the APC Kono executive.
Subsequently, it all led to much animosity and furore which culminated in a national political storm, when Madam Konomanyi publicly endorsed Dr Samura Kamara for the flag bearership of the APC at the 2023 elections.
Madam Konomanyi’s endorsement of Dr Samura Kamara was hailed by others, but decried by some who cited betrayal of her tribesman Sam Sumana, a flagbearer contender, or inappropriate timing by her, a NAC member.
Either way, Madam Konomanyi’s endorsement opened the floodgates to a deluge of endorsements for Dr Samura Kamara, and Sam Sumana.
Politicians, ever eager to gamble on a winning side, hurriedly made their preferred flag bearer known.
Strangely enough, there doesn’t seem to have been any other endorsements or expressions of interest besides Dr Samura Kamara and Sam Sumana.
Amidst all the palava over Sam Sumana, or Dr Samura for flagbearer, it became clear to this author that the real battle hadn’t yet begun; and it wouldn’t be over the flagbearer.
The real fight for ascendancy will be for Running mate to the flagbearer, and Madam Konomanyi had unwittingly fired the first shot.
Earlier, it was my view that she’d acted out of anger, which she had, and because acting out of anger is reactionary and unwise, it appeared that Madam Konomanyi had made a mistake.
However, as luck would have it, the many endorsements which followed hers have made her look very good, and have shown her as a bold , fearless and loyal leader who isn’t to be trifled with.
All’s well that ends well; or so it would appear.
It should be understood that most of the APC senior politicians who have thus far endorsed either Samura or Sam Sumana are doing so to position themselves for a reward, should their candidates become flag bearer, and win the next General elections.
Many would want cabinet posts, but a few would hope to be running mate.
And that is what makes the running mate so attractive.
It is anticipated by some that, because of his age, should Dr Samura Kamara win, and become President, a bargain can be negotiated for him to stand down after one term, and allow his Vice President the ticket for the 2028 elections.
Sam Sumana may himself be cajoled into ceding to Dr Samura Kamara, if the flagbearer can be guaranteed to him for 2028.
This scenario, if agreed upon, would then pit Sam Sumana and Madam Diana Konomanyi against each other for running mate, one would think.
However, it is worth remembering that the running mate to Dr Samura Kamara at the 2018 elections, Hon Chernoh Maju Bah, aka Chericoco, is yet to openly express an interest for the running mate in 2023.
From my observations, calls for the “same team” by respected APC members are an early indication that Chericoco may soon declare his interest.
And if the Honourable leader of APC in Parliament, Chericoco, does declare his interest, what justification can there be for his exclusion from the 2023 APC ticket?
There are many others who would soon put their hats in the ring for the running mate position, but I shall stick with these three for now.
So what advantages would each bring to the table?
*Madam Diana Konomanyi*
Madam Konomanyi’s strongest selling points are that, she has remained steadfastly loyal to her beloved APC, despite previous disappointments during the last government for a shot at the VP position.
She’s also very popular amongst the grassroots nationally, even more so than Chericoco and Sam Sumana.
Even more significantly, she’s the only woman to have run for running mate in 2018, and now.
It is crucial that the APC courts the female vote in 2023.
This would break tribal and religious boundaries.
Madam Konomanyi’s main disadvantage is her continuing fall out with the former VP and present Flag bearer hopeful, Sam Sumana.
*Sam Sumana*
The former Vice President’s trump card, were he to accept running mate, is the return of C4C to APC.
This will undoubtedly bring votes in Kono for APC.
In his own words, as a muslim candidate he’ll bring religious balance to the APC ticket.
Sam Sumana does, however, face the prospect of a fractured C4C; we now have an unofficial C4C-APC, and C4C-SLPP.
So it should be made clear that Sam Sumana will not bring back as many votes to APC as he took away in 2018.
He has lost a complete control of C4C.
As in the case of Madam Diana Konomanyi, Sam Sumana also has a continuing fall out which will be a headache for APC Kono.
Furthermore, Sam Sumana is viewed as disloyal and unreliable by many within APC.
*Hon Chernoh Maju Bah*
Should the former running mate, and now leader of the parliamentary APC declare his interest, he could be said to be an alternative to the toxic Sumana/Konomanyi debacle.
Some may argue that, unlike Dr Samura Kamara, he’s not been actively consolidating his position since our election loss.
But it can also be argued that, unlike Dr Samura Kamara, he’s been quite busy with parliamentary business.
Chericoco also has the tribal advantage.
Which is that, as a fulani, he would help the party bring in votes from a tribe which is already strongly represented in the governing SLPP party.
However, it can be said that Chericoco didn’t bring us the fula vote in 2018, so how can he do so now?
They’ll point to a centuries old rivalry within the fulani tribe which has led to the Jalloh and Bah clans often opposing each other.
So, it would appear that, irrespective of whether the APC has a Fulani on the ticket, many amongst them would never vote for a Jalloh.
This tribal rift and analysis may appear unpalatable to some, but it is what it is.
In conclusion, the APC has a tough choice to make, and this must not be taken lightly, or made in a hurry.
The party must not run from a “fight”.
To make a choice that may at first appear less controversial could lead to a greater headache.
There are solutions and options which I’m loathe to discuss here, as this piece is for general consumption.
Further conclusion:
There might be a curve ball, a surprise candidate, that will hope to unify the party, I suspect.
I will reserve my opinion on that, for when this case arises.
© *Tony Konomanyi*
*Analytics*
