Titus Boye-Thompson, Communications ConsultantThe pressures of political indecision and the reverberations of an unrelenting future is beginning to show cracks in the APC. As observers have lamented that senior party activists, Ministers and Officials fail to exhibit the temperance and political suaveness of the Party Chairman and Leader, President Ernest Bai Koroma, the choice of a successor is becoming even more difficult to predict.
For a political party founded and grounded on the melting pot concept, representing those less fortunate in society, established on firm socialist ideals of constructive nationalism, the All People’s Congress is facing an uncertain future with the prospect of a changing of the Guard and the imminent departure of its Chairman and Leader from the position of President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. What should be a period of focus on the legacy of one of the greatest dispensations in this country’s history is slowly being turned into a charade of misgivings and indiscretion.
TITUS BOYE -THOMPSON
Adding to the inordinate issues raised at such times when political succession looms, the semblance of political disagreements and open confrontations between Ministers exert unnecessary pressure on the President as he contemplates an orderly transfer of power, admittedly to a member of his own party. It is for this reason that the continuing brouhaha between various Ministers and their deputies, the arrogance of certain Ministers and the lack of compassion by people in high office operate in direct contravention to the President’s agenda.
It is unfortunate that what is being played out as a scuffle between two senior Ministers at State House recently spread like wild fire over the weekend, on social media and culminated in a tabloid wash on Monday. Most papers carried the story with such prominence so as to embarrass the office of the Highest authority in the land, not in any attempt to understand what one of the protagonists referred to as “a personal emotional discussion.” The details of what transpired called into question the judgement of His Excellency the President in appointing both men in as much the same way as it indicts Parliament as being pressured to pass off a Presidential appointee who is alleged to have presented forged educational documents. On the whole, the aftermath of such a public squabble is much too distasteful to be wholly ignored.
For a while now, these open attacks, wanton snipes and irreverent accusations portrayed a picture of dissension and internecine struggle with the APC. There are those who have deliberately opened up wounds of discord under a dubious guise to destabilize the campaign or prospects of opponents. Political adversaries have been created in an environment where such frictions should not exist. Dr Mohamed Gibril Sesay, Minister of State I in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is himself an astute politician as well as an erudite scholar. He has expressed disaffection at the myriad tinctures of discordant sentiments bandied about in the name of political grandstanding. He has written on the topic on such stern but clear terms. He has admonished that such behaviour may tend to make an eventual reconciliation difficult when in the final analysis, a single candidate would be chosen as standard bearer for the APC. He has advised that opening up such gaping wounds now would make rebuilding fences or galvanizing support behind a single candidate difficult when a decision is made in the very near future. The APC must not allow itself to go down the road of the party on the other side where infighting has forced its factions into perennial litigation and destabilization. The semblance of conflict must be managed in such a way that an eventual successor to President Ernest Bai Koroma would be vindicated because he represents the best choice for another APC victory. Ambassador Alimamy Koroma, Kelfalah Marrah, John Bono Sesay and others have, in various utterances, called for an adherence to such principles of respect and high regard for others in this political race, even though some others persist in allowing their supporters to be aggressive and belligerent. As Ambassador Koroma and others have particularly maintained a non-aggressive, non-confrontational and non-belligerent policy, epitomizing the sentiments echoed by Dr Gibril Sesay, it is expected that others and their teams would follow suit. This is not the time for politics in the APC as the Chairman and Leader has expressed in no uncertain terms. As this time when the focus should be on the voter registration drive, to continue a policy of creating enemies within the party would be not only dangerous but also futile. While Dr Gibril Sesay has set the pace, Ambassador Koroma and others of his ilk must remain committed to those ideals of statesmanship and transparency in their relationships with colleagues. Other aspirants are encouraged to pin their names on that very same mast of decency. For now, all attention should be on helping our people to register to vote and with that for them to be engaged in the political process to come.
When one considers the inordinate amount of effort that has gone into the achievements of President Ernest Bai Koroma, it would be unfortunate for his government to be remembered for such mundane acts as public fights, internal disagreements and a general environment of discord amongst his Ministers. LONTA!!
