UNPP CRISIS WORSENS AS PROF. ABDUL KADI KARIM IS REJECTED
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By Joseph Kamanda
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Barely a year afterΒ a United States -based University , Professor Abdul Khadi Karim,Β was electedΒ leader at aΒ United National Peoples Party (UNPP) Delegates Convention at the Atlantic Hall,Β National Stadium, to fly the partyβs flag to the August presidential and parliamentary elections, a row has off late developed within the membershipΒ of the former executive and that of the new leaderβs camp . The former Executive is calling on him to surrender the leadership of the UNPP to a coalition.
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The call on Prof. Karim to give up the UNPP mantle of power to the former toΒ Haja Memunatu Koroma has come under the political spotlight atΒ this eleven hour of theΒ elections. It all started as a new wrangling shortly after Prof. Karim returned from the United States with the hope of putting final touches on plans for electioneering campaign He was shockingly confronted with Β the sad news the illegitimacy of his leadership.
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Though the UNPP,Β by every indication,Β does not seem to be prepared for the August political contest, Haja Memunatu Koroma has on the instruction of the founder of the party,Β Dr.John Karefa- Smart, told Prof. Karim to pack his belongings and quit the party as she has been told by the her boss to take the UNPP to a grand coalition as theyΒ haveΒ no money to run for the elections.
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UNPP under the leadership of Prof. Karim and his national executive, since June last year, haveΒ not been heard fromΒ ever sinceΒ the elections fever started blowing .Hon. Ernest Bai Koroma of the All Peoples Congress ( APC), Solomon Berewa of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP)Β Charles Francis Margai of the Peoples Movement for Democratic Change(PMDC) have been sensitizing the people and making headlines everyday. For Haja Koroma, despite the long sabbatical stay in the United States of Dr. Karefa-Smart,Β without funding the party, sheΒ still believes Dr. Smart isΒ the leader of the UNPP andΒ therefore has more than a right to question the leadership of Prof. Karim.
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AboutΒ the protracted clamour for the legality of Prof. Karimβs leadership to take the party to elections, the Public Relations Officer at the 2002 National Convention, Salami Barrie has travelled from the U.S. also on the directives of Dr. Smart to lead the UNPP to a grand alliance comprising theΒ PDP, PLP and other smaller political parties in a effort to ensure a democratic change in Sierra Leone. βAs far as I am concernedΒ as the National PRO ,Β Prof. Karim is not the leader of the UNPP.Β Dr. Smart is still the substantive leader and Chairman of the party and has directed me and Haja Koroma to merge with other parties,β said Barrie andΒ he continued; βDr. Karefa-Smart does not really know Prof. Karim as a member of the UNPP or asΒ a leaderβ.
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Mr. Barrie said; “Tthe convention that elected Prof. Karim last June as leader of the UNPP did not inform the partyβs national executive before conveying the conference. You canβt hold a national convention of a whole political party without consulting the executive or its leader so as far as we are concerned, the leadership of Prof. Karim is totally illegitimateβ.This illegitimacyΒ is the reason, according to Mr. Barrie;Β that Dr. Dr. Karefa-Smart has written a letter to the National Electoral Com mission and the Political Parties Registration Commission informing them that the UNPP should merger with other parties. He said when Dr. Karefa-Smart was about to resign from active politic, the United States Chapter of the UNPP begged him to stay and prepare himself and the party for 2012 general elections as Prof. Karim is just a new man in the party andΒ does not deserves the credence for head the party.
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The one time UNPP spokesman believesΒ that Prof. Karim might lead himself intoΒ trouble if he bulldozez his wayΒ to lead the party , stating that Karim is misleading the public about his acclaimed leadership. Mr. Barrie disclosed that the UNPP does not have the required resources to contest in the coming elections βBecause of this,Β we have decided to join a coalition until after the whole elections ”
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On the contrary, UNPP leader elect, Prof. Karim has fired back describing Haja Memunatu Koroma as a false leader and that should not misconstrueΒ the fact that as t a former running mate in the 2002 elections to Karefa-Karim , she is entitled to be the presentΒ leader of the political party. Prof. Karim saidΒ that Dr. Kerefa- Smart has resigned as a leader of the UNPP for failure to win the 2002 elections andΒ he claimed to have been elected through a national convention .HeΒ pointedΒ out thatΒ Dr. Kerefa-Smart was an unelected personality and does not have the power to determine the direction of the UNPP.
