Ex-President Koroma’s Peace and Unity Speech as APC Delegates Voting Continues in Makeni
By Abu Shaw in London (19/02/2023)
Former President Ernest Bai Koroma has stolen the show in Makeni after admonishing everyone to unite for the betterness and future of Sierra Leone.
The veteran Statesman was addressing the nation during the much-maligned and procrastinated All People’s Congress APC National Delegates Convention NDC going on in Makeni in northern Sierra Leone. Taking the podium amid a thunderous welcome from the admiring crowds at the APC Convention and after having been given fitting welcome along the packed streets of Makeni City en route to the conference, Ernest Koroma told the APC audience that this would be the last conference he would attend without an invitation. During the former Head of State Ernest Koroma’s speech at the Convention yesterday, he called for peace and unity and embraced our differences for the good of the APC Party and Sierra Leone in general. (Photo: Ex-President Koroma gave a historic speech yesterday in Makeni).
Ernest Koroma buttresses his historic message: “Next time I will only attend such gatherings if I am invited. If you invite me I will surely come. But for now, I want to concentrate on other peace projects in Africa and around the world. I would not be at peace if I were ushering peace in other countries when my own beloved APC party is not united and peaceful. That is why I am appealing to everyone to come together to unite for the betterment of the party and Sierra Leone. This is the purpose of this APC National Delegate Convention. For those who have won congratulations and for those who will win, please make sure you give out the olive branch to the losers because no one is a winner or a loser. Our APC party comes first and our country comes first. Only unity and peace would help our APC party to take power and restore dignity for everyone in Sierra Leone.
“What I am saying here is something I have experienced myself. When I was elected to lead this party, many people got annoyed at me when I decided to allow people who had taken me to the courts earlier to work with me. I did it because of unity and peace in the party and for the better good of all Sierra Leoneans. The first mission I did out of this country included the current President. Maada Bio was in that delegation, Prince Harding was in that delegation, and Charles Margai was also present. Some of my people were not happy with me. I remember some of my party members were vexed asking me why should, I include these people. I said I came to be the President of Sierra Leone. I said I did not come to be President of the APC alone. (Photo: APC supporters in Makeni).
“And I knew, we have just come out of the civil war, we needed to continue to consolidate the peace. And this is why I am very proud that by the time I left office Sierra Leone was the most peaceful country in the sub-region. Sierra Leone was the third most peaceful country in Africa. So as APC people these are records we should be proud of. These are records that can make you stand tall and not allow mere propaganda, mere propaganda to make you feel bad. So please this is a moment we should all be proud of ourselves. This is the moment we should all be proud of the APC. This is a moment we believe we have a responsibility to deliver for Sierra Leone.
“We have challenges and how can we solve them as a party? As a party, we must know that democracy and the rule of law must be foremost. As a party, we must accommodate everybody. We must accommodate the young, the women, and the old. We must accommodate the disabled, and we must accommodate all ethnic groups. We must not say APC is a Limba man party or Temne Man party or Mende man party. APC is All People’s Congress. And we should stand by that, work on it and we know that when we all commit to that we will go forward. Today, the party is in a transition. Today I am glad some years ago when I went to Port Loko and told them goodbye, people said No, No, No…But today, when I said goodbye, nobody said No again.
“So the reality is here. I must go. If I do not go, people would stand up. If I do not go, people would not grow. That is what it is. That is the only way we would see the future of the party. I must go. The old people at the party must go. And the young people would step in. New faces will come. So this is transition. We must manage this transition well such that everybody takes their place. For the ones who are going, you must not push too far and do not push them suddenly. We who have agreed to go, we will go the go. But those who still have the energy to serve will continue to serve. Those who are coming in must know that you need time to learn. This game is not easy. This game is not easy. (Photo: Left to right – Freetown Mayor Aki-Sawyerr, Madam Massah Samura Kamara, Dr Samura, and Chericoco).
“Some members who were ordered by the court to run this party, when they entered confessed that they never knew how difficult it is. I said no, I do not want to be contemptuous to the court. Please carry on. But you see, we must accommodate each other. It is a transition for the party. We thank God that we have given the opportunity to the people of this country to see the difference. We have gone through challenges, difficulties, and things you cannot imagine would happen in this country and it is still happening. So the resilience we have as a party, we must continue with it. But we must know that in the transition, two transitions will take place. Transition inside the party will take place in a different environment.
“Now everything has changed. Advocates are there for other issues, we have the youths agitated, I have one friend who calls them a name I will not mention but all of it is part of the transition. We must manage it well. We must also have to manage the transition of governance. I know by now we have all known that by June we will have a new government. But it is not all about the noise of getting a new government. The expectations of the people out there they want the new government to come and deliver and play magic. If we are not united as a party and if we are not together as a people, it would be difficult. So the transition in the party we will see new officials. Those who have won, I say congratulations to you all. For those who have lost, it is not loss, nobody has won, it is the party’s movement we are after.
“It is the responsibility of the winners to give out the olive branch for peace and unity to prevail,” Ernest Koroma concludes amid thunderous applause yesterday in Makeni. Meanwhile, the voting of National executives to run the APC party is going on. The delegates who were elected during the Lower Lever Elections i.e. Ward, Constituency, Regional, and Diaspora are the ones who will cast their votes to elect the National Executives in Makeni. The voting is ongoing and hopefully, everything would be concluded today and tomorrow as ordered by Justice Adrian Fisher’s ruling. For now, the delegates from the Southeast, Northwest, Western Urban and Rural have all decided to vote for members of Team A. That is the team including the APC old executives and Dr Samura Kamara’s camp.
