By Kabs Kanu
The APC is a very unique political party. While other parties make no bones about destroying and casting away the backbones of their vanguard, which is why they never flourish, the APC has a sterling quality that will always make it the creme-de-la- creme of the Sierra Leone political dispensation.
The APC has moved to the height where it has now become more expedient than ever to tap on the wisdom , strength and popularity of its veterans and one of the biggest and the best decisions it has come up with is making President Ernest Nai Koroma the Chairman of the party after the 2018 elections.
The opposition do not want to hear it, regarding it as undemocratic, but they fail to realize that every political party has its own principles, methods, values and strategies it holds dear , which must continually change with the times.
The SLPP, especially , would gain from the knowledge that politics is dynamic and political methods and structures change and evolve, based on the circumstances and the times.
Political parties must change their winning strategies as new situations emerge on the political stratosphere. A good political party will not remain static but will continue to establish specialized structures , different from traditional structures, as time moves on.
B.C. Smith , in his UNDERSTANDING THIRD WORLD POLITICS (2003 ) postulates that “Structures…become more specialized and differentiated as societies become more modern. ….As societies develop, structures become less multifunctional. ”
Yes, in the past, it was traditional political practice for the President to also be the Chairman of the party. But if a political party believes that it will serve its best interest during the maelstrom of changing times if the roles are separated and somebody with an effusive and winsome political charisma, character and public acclaim can move the party to higher heights by serving as Chairman while the President concentrates on the nitty gritty of national governance , it is well and good for that party.
If the SLPP want to remain traditionally a tribal and regional entity, with Mendes at the helm , because what they seek are tribal and regional hegemony , it is their business. If they shun change in a world that is ever evolving, that is their business too. But the APC is not the SLPP and it will never be. It will serve them well if they remove their mouths from the affairs of the APC. The politics of the APC will always be different from their own . APC politics transcend tribal, regional and traditional barriers. The APC is a party always in metamorphosis, based on the passions and the demands of the times and that is why since Independence in 1961, the APC has enjoyed a lion’s share of political dominance in Sierra Leone.
In an era of increasing bitter rivalries among political parties and more increased participation from the people, as more socio-political awareness evolves, thanks to the new democratic landscape and the influence of the social media, there is a dire need for a much stronger and a much popular political party.
While it is not being suggested that the political aspirants , when they become Presidents , would lack the charisma to maintain the party’s strength and popularity, the fact that cannot be denied is that the APC has now been presented with the golden opportunity of possessing a political giant who has excelled on the national and international stage and the party needs him to solidify and concretize its dominance in Sierra Leone.
President Koroma’s unending popularity with the people, his salacious and far-sighted leadership and the political promise he presents will help propel the APC to an even higher echelon of dominance if he stays back to serve as Chairman of the party. He will present an additional edge that the opposition would find difficult to eclipse.
President Koroma is the biggest nightmare of the Sierra Leone opposition. They loath and fear him because he talks less and accomplishes everything. He is the man who will always tower head and shoulders over them because of the fascinating craftsmanship of his politics and the undeniable and deep- rooted power of his achievements in the minds of the people. If the constitution had allowed it, he could have contested a third time and still beaten the pants out of the opposition.. It was no accident when Salone Donald Trump – one of the emergent political leaders surrendered to him and held his feet in HUMBLE capitulation, after captivating the airwaves and the media with his populist outbursts and sermons that were beginning to sit well with the people.
Nobody throws away a priced gem. Rather, the gem is treasured and utilized for the ultimate benefit of its possessor. THIS IS WHAT PRESIDENT KOROMA IS TO THE APC- A PRICELESS GEM THAT MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO SLIP OUT OF THEIR HANDS INTO OBLIVION.. He has everything to offer the party when his term of office as President ends next year and it will bless the party ‘s future endeavours when he becomes the Chairman .
READ PART 2 VERY SOON.
