CHARLES MARGAI IS NO SLPP BUFFOON

CHARLES MARGAI IS NO SLPP BUFFOON

Tuesday September 27, 2005

First_Name:  Sorie I

Last_Name:  Kamara
Email_Address:  [email protected]
Comments:  CHARLES MARGAI IS NO S.L.P.P. BUFFOON.

I do hope that Cocorioko publishes this opinion which is a response to the letters sent by the UK Branch to both Solomon Berewa and Charles Margai.

First and foremost I want to refer that UK branch to my articles “The S.L.P.P. does not want Charles Margai in its midst” of September 14, 2005 and “Shaki did to the Temnes what Kabba is doing to the Mendes” of September 15, 2005.
Now I know there are intellectuals in the S.L.P.P. but where were they when democracy was dealt a serious blow in 1995 when Charles Margai’s election figure was switched to Kabba in order to kill that wonderful APC propaganda that the S.L.P.P. is a Mendeman party? Where were they? What transpired after that pushed Charles Margai to leave the Party albeit for a brief period. Didn’t he come back in a grand style? Yes, of course, as I was a physical witness to it.

Where were all these intellectuals when the S.L.P.P. was looking for money to register the party, had it not been for this Charles Margai?

During the days of Momoh and the return to multiple party democracy, Charles Margai went on a revival or reawakening campaign in the South as he was S.L.P.P.Chairman for the region and lost the most precious gift the Almighty God could give to a human being apart from his/her life, a child/son. Who felt the loss more than anybody, Charles and his wife Vivat. The
S.L.P.P. has totally forgotten.
Charles had been described by the elders of the party especially late S.B.Marah, Tarasid Tarawally and R.E.S.Largwo as being arrogant which means ‘fityaye.’ These very intellectuals bought that nonsense and helped to spread it. Charles was hence villified and demonised to the degree that no well-meaning S.L.P.P. wanted to be seen with him or rather associate with him.

In 2002, again where were these S.L.P.P. intellectuals when Charles tried single-handedly to force the S.L.P.P. to obey its own constitution? What did these intellectuals, who are writing today for Berewa to recognise them, do? They all hid themselves under the guise that they never knew what was going on. In the end justice was perverted when I saw my former school teacher, then a Supreme Court judge Joko Smart enter the High Court in Freetown while in session to whisper in the ears of the presiding judge, Bankole Raschid, who hitherto sat quietly listening to Charles’lawyer Brown-Marke. At the end of that case Charles Margai was declared a non-member of the S.L.P.P. and stripped of that membership. Did these intellectuals riase a voice? They nevetr did because Charles Margai had not become a threat to the S.L.P.P.

In 2002, during the convention in Bo,   the S.L.P.P. decided to hold the next convention in two years,2004, in Makeni. When it was two years the rank and file raised a lot of noises but nobody listened to them as Kabba and the hierachy had no respect for the very constitution they handed to the then INEC. These intellectuals all of them kept quiet when democracy was being bastardised within the S.L.P.P. The only thing that interested them was how to position themselves for big posts hence to chop money and money without regard for the masses.

When R.E.S.Largao – Teacher Largao, came with his now famous statement about Berewa that “we have tried to sell but nobody would buy, we tried to sell but nobody would buy but we have our son Charles Margai,” these very intellectuals both in Sierra Leone and in the diaspora expressed annoyance that he was bringing Charles back to cause trouble. Trouble meaning that should Charles Margai win the leadership hence the presidency then majority of them who do not have the interest of the people at heart would lose out.

Why couldn’t these intellectuals have exerted much needed pressure on Kabba and the hierachy to let things take their natural cause. Without Kabba berewa was a nobody within the S.L.P.P. as he was never a part of it.

Before the convention, the people expressed their opinion all the time on radio talk shows that if the S.L.P.P.should give the leadership to Berewa they, the people, would vote APC instead. Didn’t these intellectuals in Britain hear the cries of the people? In Britain when Tony Blair refused to heed the cries of the people they reduced his majority in Parliament. Now these intellectuals in Britain sat there whilst Kabba was bastardising our democracy because the majority of the people are illiterate? The majority of the people may be illiterate but they do understand what is going on and they are the ones calling on Charles Margai today to form his own party since the S.L.P.P. does not want him. From the heartland of the S.L.P.P. to the north and to the capital, with one accord they have told Charles Margai to go ahead and form his own party so that they elect him as thier leader.

Is is now that the S.L.P.P. is awakening to the fact that they have made a serious blunder and all these intellectuals want Berewa to get to power riding on Charles Margai’s back. How crazy!!
This is a ploy to kill Charles Margai politically for good and Charles will never, repeat nevr fall for that ploy.

The S.L.P.P. under estimated the popularity of Charles. It is when a horse is in captivity that one should shout to keep it intact not when it has fled away. The S.L.P.P. has finally cut its nose away to spite its face. Charles will never go back. If the S.L.P.P.feels Berewa is that popular let them leave Charles alone and fight for the 2007 elections. Afterwards Kabba has put Christiana Thorpe as NEC chairman to fix the results for Berewa as Jonah did for Kabba.

Charles Margai not only recalls that the new leader, Berewa, has extended a hand of brotherhood but also realizes that Berewa won the leadership in dubious conditions with the conspicuous presence and pressure of Kabba.

The S.L.P.P.has all the time been referred to as a religion in the South-East i.e. in Mende heartland. In Europe the Catholic Church was the religion of Europeans. When Martin Luther started calling for reform, nobody listened instead the dispute was allowed to  heighten till he broke away from the church that has led to its fragmentation today. The S.L.P.P. had to listen especially, after those 20 gruelling years of APC misrule. People like Dr. Sama Banya could not allow that to happen and now there is Dr. Sheku Sesay of APC fame who is one of those advising Kabba. What would anybody expect?

Berewa’s followers were saying before the convention that they knew Charles had the people but they had the delegates. That is fine now let the delegates vote to make Berewa president. No permutation would make Berewa president except Christiana Thorpe cooks the figures and we all know where that would lead Sierra Leone to. The S.L.P.P. only needs Charles to help Berewa to the presidency then dump him once again. What a ploy.

Finally, to these S.L.P.P. intellectuals, Charles Margai would never fall for your ploy. He is too clever and experienced than you estimate. He has suffered a lot within the S.L.P.P. and you people had made it clear to him that you do not him as your leader, so let the people of Sierra Leone decide. Leave Charles Margai alone.