All smiles and handshakes as peace and reconciliation return to APC-NA

By KABS KANU :

It was all smiles, hugs and handshakes in the hall as the All People’s Congress North America Branch last evening ended a very successful convention that saw a new spirit of peace and reconciliation born in the once strife-thorn Branch.

Delegates , participants and spectators all commended the peaceful nature of the Convention and its successful conclusion and praised the 8-man Peace Delegation from Freetown, Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the U.S, Mr. Bockarie Stevens and members of APC-NA and stakeholders for a job well done.

AMBASSADOR YANSANEH MAKING HIS STATEMENT

Even the outgoing Chairman of APC-NA, Mr. Aziz Turay , speaking with COCORIOKO , appealed for the new spirit of peace and reconciliation to be sustained. He appealed passionately for an end to all negative posts in the APC forums .

HON. MINKAILU MANSARAY GIVING THE KEYNOTE ADDRESS

SOME OF THE DELEGATES AT THE CONVENTION

The APC National Campaign Coordinator and Minister of Transport and Aviation, Mr. Leonard Balogun Koroma , told COCORIOKO that the whole peace process went smoothly and he and members of the delegation from Freetown have restored peace in the Branch. He expressed thanks to other members of the delegation, Ambassador Stevens and APC-NA for making it possible for the convention to end peacefully and successfully.

THE CHAPTER PRESIDENTS AT THE CONVENTION

Mr. Koroma said that APC Secretary General, Ambassador Osman Foday Yansaneh, read the communique signifying peace and reconciliation , which was then signed by Chapter Presidents , aspirants for leadership in APC-NA and members of the peace delegation, who were moral guarantors . The following members of the delegation signed the communique : Ambassador Yansaneh, Hons. Minkailu Mansaray , Allieu Pat-Sowe, Elizabeth Mans , Bai Mahmoud Bangura and Mr. Logus Koroma himself.

THE CHAPTER PRESIDENTS

Mr. Koroma told this newspaper that the presidential mandate given to the delegation by President Ernest Koroma covered not only the U.S. but the United Kingdom, Holland and Germany (Where they have already restored peace ) and branches in Guinea, Gambia ,Liberia etc.

Also, according to Mr. Koroma, the APC-NA Branch will now be known as APC-USA as a new branch is about to be opened in Canada.

DEPUTY INTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER SHEKA TARAWALLI ( FAR RIGHT ) , A MEMBER OF THE PEACE DELEGATION, WATCHES AS A CHAPTER PRESIDENT SIGNS THE COMMUNIQUE

MEMBERS OF THE PEACE DELEGATION : FROM LEFT HON. MINKAILU MANSARAY, LOGUS KOROMA , LIZ. MANS AND MAHMOUD

What the team has achieved in the U.S. and Europe will be replicated in other parts of the world . According to Mr. Koroma, the decision of the APC in Freetown is to maintain a cohesive link and association with all its branches in the diaspora. “We will no longer leave them on their own ” , the Minister promised. Consequently, the Secretary General of the APC, Ambassador Osman Yansaneh, announced that Mr. Logus Koroma’s position will now be known as the National and International Elections Coordinator because of the international dimension of the party’s new engagement with its diaspora branches.