Is Maada Bio already losing
the plot?
Austin Thomas
5 October 2011
 |
|
Election they say is a game of numbers,
as every vote counts at the end of the
day for victory. In Sierra Leone's
politics, every president - past or
present, has won the Western Area of the
country.
Any candidate who fails to win in this
hot spot, loses the election, and to win
- the candidate must have a powerful
media team to work with.
Maada Bio wants to emulate Michael Sata
of Zambia, who kicked out Dr. Banda
after one term. That can be done if
Maada Bio can understand what he is up
against. In reality, Sierra Leoneans are
suffering and will want change. |
But is Maada Bio ready for Sierra Leoneans to trust
him, as it seems the SLPP is more divided now than
before with the spate of resignations taking place
in the party, especially in the Western Area,
coupled with the constant bombardment from the
pro-APC newspapers and websites?
It seems that Maada Bio has started losing out even
before the game starts, because he has allowed
himself and his advisers to create unwarranted
divisions within the party, as well as failing to
organize a powerful media team to work with.
What ever the differences that may have occurred,
Maada Bio - you should embrace every one of the
failed candidates and their election team, for you
to form a broad-based campaign team.
Abass Bundu may not have all the ideas you need to
win, but working with the other candidates very
closely, will enable you to meet with their campaign
teams and start positioning them for an all out
offensive, when the whistle blows or even now, by
planning and preparing for that all important
campaign offensive.
I am pretty sure that if you had maintained a close
contact with the Western Area executives - who I
guess where supporting Usman Boie, the spate of
resignation would not have taken place. But just
concentrating in the South and East will never take
you to State House.
You should correct the mistakes Berewa made and not
to continue with them, if you want to win and most
especially to improve our lives after 2012.
Election as I have said in my opening paragraph is
about numbers, and these resignations do not auger
well for you and for us. If I were you, I would
definitely try to get all of those that have
resigned and talk with them - face to face - so we
can iron out all differences.
 |
|
If you want to be the next president,
this is the right time to make amends in
the Western Area. Think of all the
presidents that we have had and see
which one got to State House after
losing the Western Area.
Please Maada, I am appealing to you to
retract your steps and push for all
former executive members in the Western
Area, to reconsider their position and
come back onboard to help you win
Western Area.
Time is of the essence. You have been
dealt a serious blow by the police as
they have banned all public political
meetings and rallies. In the meantime,
you do need to consolidate and put your
house in very good order, so when the
game starts, it will be an explosion in
a positive manner that will propel you
to the throne. |
I know you have lots of advisers, but remember that
you yourself should be able to think squarely and
positively for your own good. I repeat: push very
hard to reconcile with all the aggrieved members
from the Western Area.
Do not listen to advisers who think the opposite,
nor get someone else - an SLPP executive to do this
work. You must meet and work with them yourself, in
order to find a solution to the impasse at the
earliest opportunity. And the same goes for the
candidate - Dr. Soyie. You must also open dialogue
with him - one on one, and make amends before it’s
too late.
Whether the APC is behind those resignations or not,
it doesn’t matter. Let the world see how you have
tried to get them to return to the fold for success
- come 2012.
It is obvious that there will be rumours of the
ruling party fighting to jeopardize your success.
But that should not hinder you in any way to get the
western area executives back. The south and east for
you - are assured. But the final key to victory is
Western Area. More effort is needed by you and your
team to create a positive impact in this region and
to get it done.
Having delved into the numbers game, I want to again
implore you to take the media very seriously, as no
candidate can win an election without the media. The
media has been very instrumental in every election
all over the world, and Ernest’s victory in 2007 was
down to the media. He had a very good propaganda
machine that sold him locally as well as
internationally.
The number of negative articles published daily
against you is alarming, and you need to rethink
your media strategy. Many candidates across the
world have employed or contracted Public Relations
Company to help market them. They do so because they
know how important it is for them to succeed.
Reading ‘Letter from Freetown’ written by my big
brother in the profession - Winston Ojukutu
Macauley, I totally agree with him that you failed
in putting together a media team that would have
recorded every event that took place in Bo. By now
the world would have seen how you were stoned and
those responsible for burning down the APC office.
Maada Bio – please, your advisers are really not
working or giving you proper advice. This is the
time for you to sit up and organize your media team,
which will be very effective in disseminating
information from your camp on a daily basis through
the newspaper, the radio, the internet and
television.
Every move you make should be recorded, because you
need to replay the day’s event and see where you
went wrong or where to improve or the kinds of
questions that were asked, by whom and how you will
be able to prepare for the next day. This is the
reason why you need a consultant to package you
successfully for the throne come 2012.
Many newspapers at home, I am sure are still opposed
to you and the SLPP, and you need to strengthen the
pro-SLPP newspapers, and make sure you have regular
paid columns in the independent papers as well as on
radio and TV.
Your propaganda machine is not up to the task, and
it seems you have started to lose the plot already
by sidelining the media, hoping that the few
pro-SLPP newspapers and reporters can give you
victory.
Ernest Koroma won in 2007 because of what the media
did for him. This is why he has repaid most of them
with positions of foreign embassy press attaches,
and appointing others as ministers.
You’ve got to look beyond your nose to see what’s
there and this is the right time to do it and set
your strategy for 2012 success.
Obama became the first black president of USA, not
only because he is the first social media president,
but because of the rigorous online campaign by his
media team, using blogs, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook,
YouTube, Skype, MSN, Yahoo etc., sending out the
message of change, the message of hope. This indeed,
created a massive impact on the voters.
You and your team should be planning on how to
attack the voters through SMS, social media,
newspapers, radio, TV etc. You can achieve this by
assembling a powerful and strong media team from
all sections of the profession.
The citizens of Sierra Leone should see your face,
listen to your message and read about you, listen to
your messages everyday in many different news organs
for them to understand your desire and determination
to change their lives.
The fact that the economy is in shambles and that a
mockery has been made of us by the president
visiting NASDAQ, at a time when his government keeps
lying to the teachers instead of meeting their
demands - for example, will certainly help you to
send out strong messages about the kind of leader we
have.
You will win on the merits of this platform, your
ability to lead and inspire confidence in Sierra
Leoneans, who desperately need to have trust in
someone after five years of Ernest Koroma - the same
Sierra Leoneans who once believed in his vision for
our country. The media will help to communicate
these issues to the people where ever they are at
anytime of the day.
Ernest Koroma might be the favourite, but if you are
serious in using the media to its fullest - then you
are bound to succeed and cause an upset. He did it
against Berewa and you too can repeat the same,
especially as he has increased our suffering.
I will delve more into the strategies you need to
win the election next week, but as I close this
piece I once again would like to remind you that you
will never get to State House if you fail to win the
Western Area.
Also, if you continue to fail to put together a
formidable media team that will disseminate
information on a regular basis as well as keeping
records of every move you make to help you improve,
then you are wasting your time; and most of us
Sierra Leoneans yearning for change - will not
forgive you.
Remember you can be second time lucky if you take my
advice.
Back to main list of
articles
|
