By Abdulai Mansaray
As Sierra Leone’s politics oscillates between the SLPP and APC, it sometimes takes a lot of effort, reflection and in most cases honest humility to come to terms with losing an election. It is gnawingly more difficult when such results are mired in controversy against yardsticks of credibility.
The recent political cycle has been tortuous. Since the end of our senseless rebel war, (stop calling it “civil war”, there was nothing civil about it), this was the closest we came to the total collapse of law and order in the country. We were painfully reminded with echoes of the rebel war and the ensuing interregna of the past.
Thankfully, Sierra Leone still has a “few good men” who recognised that for evil to triumph, it takes the good ones to do nothing. Many would subscribe to the notion, belief and hope that it’s time to move on. It’s time to collectively learn the lessons from the past. This is especially so, for the opposition APC party. However, it is the recent headline reportedly from National Reformation Movement, a scion of the opposition APC party that has not gone unnoticed.
According to the article, “NRM demands APC Leadership adhere to 2022 Constitution or face serious repercussions” (thesierraleonetelegragh.com 11/09/2024). The National Reformation Movement (NRM), is taking a firm stand against the leadership of the All People’s Congress (APC), demanding strict adherence to the party’s 2022 Constitution”. The Chairman of the NRM Philip Milo Kamara, makes specific reference to the party’s constitutional mandates outlined in section 47 (A and B(iv), which requires the party leader and deputy leader to resign within six months after the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone(ECSL) announces election results, irrespective of court petitions”.
It is now over a year since the June 23 elections were held. If the article is anything to go by, and if these leaders are still in situ, why have they not resigned by now? It is safe to say that this is an internal APC matter. However, the side effects of such a situation bears tremendous significance for every Sierra Leonean. Therefore, one does not need to be a member of the APC or SLPP to qualify for a view on this issue. Party honesty is party expediency, which brings a lot of questions into focus.
Why have the APC Party leaders not resigned as per the constitution?
It is an open secret that the APC party has been embroiled in political gymnastics and tug of war in the events leading up to and since the June 2023 elections. Thanks to the controversial nature of the results, the ensuing impasse has been a long drawn out marathon affair. We saw the boycott of parliament, orchestration of protests, riots and many attempts at civil disobedience become regular past time occurrences. The initiation and recommendations of the Tripartite Committee (TC) are expected to provide us with the necessary guardrails for our electoral process and democracy at best.
Understandably, the thought of being in opposition for another 5 years is can be plausibly difficult to accept, especially that loss is not proven beyond ALL REASONABLE DOUBT. Nevertheless, and now that the controversies, injunctions, legal challenges and anything or everything that culminated into the outcome and recommendations of the TC are set for implementation, maybe, and just maybe, is it time to move on? It might seem like a long way to 2028 but it is not.
With the national political gridlocks seemingly out of the way, the NRM chairman reportedly expressed the “NRM’s commitment to upholding the party’s constitutional mandates” as a mark of accountability. While recognising that due to the deepening existing fractures that prevent the party from being a unified opposition, the NRM expressed its dedication to ensure both electoral fairness and adherence to the constitution. It gave a hazard warning that non-compliance to the above could lead to further “electoral injustices”, the very injustice that the APC purports to fight against with the government.
The NRM further gave a prescription for the APC, that “the route to electoral success demands unity and respect for our constitution”. In summing up, the NRM urges all party members to uphold democratic values and foster messages of reconciliation, as it notes that the collective strength of the party lies in its ability to unite and pursue its shared objectives. How adorable. Now that we have finished parroting the NRM’s position, let us look at the issues at hand here.
These days, the APC’s fashion statement is “”Electoral justice”. That is exactly what is required in this day and age. Justice however comes with fairness, honesty and equality under the law. If the APC is to pursue electoral justice, should that not start at home? How can the APC preach about upholding the tenets of the National constitution if it cannot uphold its own party constitution? How can one remove the speck of dust from another man’s eye while having a plank lodged in your own eye? This is exactly what happened again following the June 23 elections.
It is irrefutably true that the June 23 elections results lacked credibility beyond reasonable doubt. Equally, proof that the election was won by the APC was not provably presented beyond reasonable doubt either. What we had was a stalemate of both parties claiming questionable victories. Our CONSTITUION makes provision for political parties to take legal action and routes to seek redress in these circumstances. Unfortunately in this case, the APC disregarded the constitution and the courts out rightly. Even though party legal minds like Mr Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara (JFK) advised the party to seek redress though the courts, not only was he ignored and dismissed, but he was abused for his troubles.
There are those who might want to dismiss the NRM as mere political irritants and trouble makers. The NRM is making a salient point here. Since the apparent completion of the TC meetings, the APC has been chanting another song about Electoral Justice. Can anyone tell us what this electoral justice really means? We agree with your search for electoral justice, but is it not time to start implementing the RECOMMENDATIONS of the TC alongside? Is the APC going to seize this opportunity to champion electoral and political reforms as recommended by the TC, or is it going to spend the rest of this election cycle feeding its supporters with another diet of distraction?
Why has the APC not started with some house cleaning? How can it conduct a national electoral cleaning while its own house is clogged with hoarded political materials? How can the APC convince the nation that it is a party in waiting while it is saddled with such internal drawbacks? If the APC ever needed a dose of UNITY, there has never been a more demanding need for it in its history. It is time the APC sees “unity as an act of strength, power or coming together to achieve more”. Even though some satirists describe the concept of political unity as “organised hatred”, the constitution should serve as the bloodstream through which its ideologies, dreams and aspirations should flow as its plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. It is through the constitution that the party can transport and utilise its oxygen and nutrients to its lungs and tissues. Forgive the biology lesson but I hope you get the picture. Like blood to our body, the Constitution encapsulates the very essence of a political party. That essence is usually lost when the constitution is side-lined or dismissed as just a parchment of imagination, to fulfil personal expediencies.
No one needs to remind the APC that it needs a reboot, reform or die. Mistakes were made along the way and the old grand party should be honest enough to admit and address them. One of the most glaring mistakes the APC made was its failure to read the room on geopolitics. We all saw how the party became heavily dependent on the foreign community and especially the USA to seek electoral justice on its behalf. In politics, there is always the question of moral flexibility Vs political judgement. The USA was the most vociferous in its condemnation of the manner in which our June 2023 election was conducted. In several press statements, it threatened to bring all those responsible to account.
With over enthusiastic political exuberance the APC beat the gun and started naming those who will be barred from visiting the USA, including the President Maada Bio. The last time I checked, he represented Africa on the Security Council and has since visited not just the USA but specifically Washington and New York. Such an over reliance on the USA to address our political stalemate, at the expense of our own legal routes, irrespective of the perceived imperfections might have proved costly. The APC’s over reliance on the USA fed into the narrative from the other side that foreign elements were trying to unseat Bio by “unconstitutional means”. The aborted November coup did not help to allay those fears.
Let us look at this further. The APC rightly or wrongly did not accede to Bio’s victory, which to all intents and purposes looked pyrrhic to the opposition. Instead of using the courts, it boycotted parliament in protest and continued its election denial. The APC looked up to the Biden administration, whose whole tenure in office had been marred and dogged by former President Trump’s election denying. Sounds familiar? Did the APC expect the Biden administration to OPENLY give its blessing to the APC’s sidestepping the courts and give succour to its election denying stance without tangible proof of vote rigging, while Biden had Trump on his back in his backyard? Really?
Despite several warnings from the American Ambassador against boycotting parliament, did the APC expect America to openly give it its blessings for such an act, after publicly ignoring its warning and advice? Does the APC know that one of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors? Did the APC just fail to understand the concept of diplomacy, which can be another way of “telling someone to go to hell and they look forward to it”? What the APC seemed to have done there, was looked for trouble, diagnosed it incorrectly and applied the wrong remedies. With the insidious rise of China, Russia and apparently members of the BRICS family, America and its allies are slowly losing their grip on their strangle hold on countries. It is now using soft power. Did you notice how quickly Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger aligned themselves with China and Russia after threats of sanctions from ECOWAS and France in particular? Did you notice how many trips President Bio made to China after the USA threatened his government with the sabre rattling about the withdrawal of the MCC award? Tell me which reforms have taken place to restore it. One of the few reforms is China becoming too close to Sierra Leone for America’s liking.
Our democracy is relatively young. However, if we are to succeed in protecting, defending and maintaining our democracy, we would need every ounce of our collective efforts to have a vibrant and viable opposition party, irrespective of our political persuasions. Democracy demands an opposition party, and in the absence of a viable opposition, the risk of having autocratic governments increases. Some would recall how docile and comatose the SLPP was, especially during the second term of former President Ernest Bai Koroma. During that term, a constitutional review was conducted with recommendations. How many were implemented? It came to nought. EBK dismissed his constitutionally elected VP and it was buff case. The SLPP was so inactive and ineffective that EBK even toyed with the idea of a Third Term. That idea was not killed off by the opposition slumbering SLPP then, but by the voice of the people. You remember “after Gbagbo na Gbagbo?
These are just some of the risks of having an ineffective opposition party. It is less than 40 months to the next election. Both parties are bound to face their respective leadership elections or selections, and these would not be easy as both seek new directions (pardon the pun) for their parties. The last thing each party would need is a semblance of DISUNITY and the APC could do with a break from the infighting that distracted it in the last cycle. Just think of what the SLPP or better still Maada would do in the face of a disunited or headless APC party. Imagine if the boot was on the other foot….same difference? APC needs to press delete buttons and reboot in the interest of party UNITY. In doing so, the members must remember that “some men change their party for the sake of their principles, others their principles for the sake of the party” (W. Churchill). Take your pick.
The NRM’s clarion call for the APC to “uphold the party’s constitutional mandates, particularly those outlined in section 47 (a and b (IV)” is laudable. However, the NRM could be best advised to seek a more reconciliatory and inclusive tone of language. Headlines like “NRM demands APC leadership adhere to 2022 Constitution or face serious repercussions” tend to take away the shine from its reformist central message for reorganisation and reconciliation. The time for “gbagbati” politics which seemed so evident the last time should be over by now. Try Kailahun barray and don’t start a row in the opposition camp because you don’t have anything in favour of your side. The APC should try and rid itself of “my way or no way” stance, if it is to broaden its church and tent.
By the way, if you think the APC has a problem with leadership, just wait for the open season in the SLPP camp. Unlike the APC, the SLPP has a leader who might just get away with another dose of PAOPA. In case you missed it and after his recent photo op at the Pujehun Correctional Centre, the Chief Minister Sengeh spoke about President Bio’s new Justice Reform Strategy 2024-2030. He emphasized key principles such as inclusive justice, fairness, accessibility, support for marginalized groups, and addressing poverty, as well as the government’s commitment to supporting the Legal Aid Board, the Ombudsman Office, the Human Rights Commission, and reforms in the justice sector (thesierraleonetelegraph.com-16-09-24). So, this was not just a photo op but a precursor? Looks like MIT politics is applied here with some AI intervention, right? I’m with you. Meanwhile, the opposition leader Dr Samura Kamara also addressed the nation’s economic and political difficulties with a message of hope to build a better Sierra Leone. I told you all is not lost. Our politicians are all gearing up to save our Mama Salone. You sef do you yone.
Don’t forget to turn the lights out when you leave the room.
Abdulai Mansaray.
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