By KABS KANU
Since the inception of national politics, no political party has demonstrated a wilful , bamal and ill -conceived capacity to use abrasive behaviour, lies and propaganda to achieve its purpose than the National Grand Coalition (NGC ) , the illegitimate child of the moribund Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP ).
Since the illegimate birth of the NGC after its father, Kandeh Yumkella, could not have his way within the SLPP, the NGC has not unveiled any foolproof , brilliant and convincing blueprint or agenda to move Sierra Leone forward , despite grandiose claims to being prospective so – called redeemers . The only thing that the NGC has showcased and excelled in since its formation, apart from a rash of depraved behaviour to opponents, is deficient, failed, immature and self -deprecating propaganda against its main quarry, the APC, using especially the social media.
When they have not been doctoring still and moving images to make President Ernest Koroma or the APC flagbearer Dr. Samura Kamara look ugly in the eyes of the public , they have been floating fake documents like criminally manufactured passports and self-created purported government files to try to besmear the reputation of the APC flagbearer, Dr. Samura Kamara and party operatives.
THIS strategy by the NGC is a clear manifestation of the fact that the party has nothing to offer our nation, never mind the grandstanding.
Yesterday, the APC in an immaculate show of its numerical power and popularity in the nation, turned the city of Freetown and some regional capitals into a swarming sea of red in solidarity with and commemoration of the provisional nomination at the National Elections Commission (NEC ) of its flagbearer, Dr. Samura Kamara and other candidates. The spontaneous outburst of popular and grassroots support for the APC showed that the party is still a formidable and unbeatable political power in the nation.
Well before yesterday’s mass street rally, market women and traders announced that they will close shop and declare their own public holiday to enable members to come out and demonstrate support the APC. It was a clear manifestation of the fact that rather than lose goodwill from the people, the APC has gained more support and strength going into the March 7 elections.
The APC show of people’s power yesterday drove fear in the hearts of its rivals , especially the NGC. But instead of them acknowledging that they had fooled themselves all along that the APC ‘s popularity and acceptability among the people have waned, the defeat opened the door for more childish and naive propaganda by the NGC.
According to them, each of the over 500,000 people who turned out yesterday to demonstrate support for the APC were paid money and given T-shirts to join the mass street rallies.
Only dim-witted people will contrive such an asanine contention because it is not possible for such a teeming and massive crowd to have been paid. No African political party has the administrative and institutional capacity to reach out to and successfully renumerate such a multitude of people , even within two years. For the APC to have successfully accomplished that feat, it would have entailed diligently going to all the slums, street corners and down and upscale quarters, work places and catchment areas of that massive throng to pay each and every person to come and demonstrate support for the APC. It should be said that no African political party has the resources and organizational capacity to accomplish such a goal, especially at short notice. The NGC is very immature to make sure a claim.
By being so puerile, simplistic, and naive in its thinking , the NGC is not only deprecating itself in the minds of the people, who expect better from it. The NGC is missing the opportunity to become a major partner to the APC and a bulwark of productive influence in elevating national politics to a more serious and nationally- progressive enterprise. By having such an unsophisticated mentality, the NGC seems to have come only to play games with the Sierra Leonean people.
People are now saying that if you want to know whether Kandeh Yumkella has the ability to provide serious, effective and responsible leadership in Sierra Leone, just look at his supporters in the social media.
The people of Sierra Leone want to see a credible and enduring agenda for the socio-economic and political betterment of our nation . They want to know what the NGC will do better than the APC if leadership passes into their hands . They want to know how the NGC would go about springing the change they are promising the people. So far , the NGC has been a massive failure in providing the answers. All they are showcasing to the Sierra Leonean people are rudeness and uncouth behavior towards people who oppose them in the social media , lies, failed propaganda and criminal alteration and photoshopping of still and moving images and documents.
Kandeh Yumkella himself has failed to project a credible persona befitting an aspirant to the highest office in the land . All he has been doing is moving from one controversy to the other or building castles in the air.
