Awareness Times, Freetown: All five women of the All Peoples Congress (APC) who were recently disciplined by the party’s second highest decision-making body, have accepted to pay the fines levied on them. They also pledge continued loyalty to APC, to His Excellency the President in his capacity as Chairman & Leader of the APC and to entire APC leadership especially in Western Area. According to all five of them who spoke to journalists last evening, they were firm in their love for the party and their respect for the hierarchy of the party.
This newspaper can authoritatively reveal that APC strongwoman Dr. Sylvia Blyden is the one who will be assisting all the ladies to pay their fines today. This was after they reached out to her to request her kind assistance as they could not afford to pay the half a million leones levied on each of them.
At Freetown residence of Ms Alvina Cole-Showers last evening, the five ladies Dora Conteh, Haja Bitar, Mabinty Waterloo, Umu Naomi Barrie and Catherine Hallowell held a telephone conference call with Dr. Blyden who is currently in America. It was recorded in the presence of local journalists including Adikali Bai Daramy of the APC We Yone Newspaper and Mohamed Azonto Kamara of Awareness Times.
Speaking to the ladies on phone line from USA with the speakerphone switched on loud for all to hear, Dr Blyden confirmed to loud cheers from her female APC comrades that she accedes to their requests for her to assist them to pay their disciplinary fines.
She however strongly admonished them that she was assisting them not because she agreed with what they did but because the late Makalay Koroma, a former Vice-President of the APC Women’s Wing, will have wanted her to assist them to ensure they can pay their fines and stay loyal within the party.
“You all were first introduced to me by my late sister Makalay Koroma and so for her sake, I will not turn you down; I will help you to pay your fines but only if you promise me that what happened will not happen again. We need discipline inside the APC and you should help us to maintain the high standards our beloved party is now known for under this great leadership of President Koroma,” Dr. Blyden urged her APC female comrades.
All the five women gratefully promised over the phone that their loyalty to the APC will remain intact. They openly pledged their continued respect and love for the entire APC hierarchy.
Ms. Alvina Cole-Showers who was exonerated by the Disciplinary Committee, described the episode that her other five colleagues got disciplined for, to be an unfortunate and regrettable event. The incident had caused misunderstanding between them and a very senior and respected party official within Western Area. It is all regretted, she said.
It can be recalled that the APC recently embarked on several firm measures aimed at maintaining the party’s admirable continued existence. These measures included expulsions, suspensions, reprimands and fines.
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PHOTO SHOWS: Dr. Blyden with Liberia’s Yvettte Chesson-Wureh Esq. at Harvard University this week. They both delivered presentations at the 2-Days Conference on Powering the African Women’s Dream. In both their speeches the importance of women financially supporting other less-fortunate women in politics was well highlighted. Speeches will be published subsequently.
