Sierra Leone Telegraph: 14 October 2017
Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella was in Southeast London today, talking to hundreds of Sierra Leoneans in a town hall style meeting. He spoke about his determination to change politics in Sierra Leone, from a two-horse race to an open competition – with progressive liberals at the heart of that contest in March 2018.
For many Sierra Leoneans in and out of the country, there are several questions awaiting answers from the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC), as to the rationale behind their decision not to grant Sierra Leone’s new political third force – the National Grand Coalition (NGC) their registration certificate this week.
Was their decision politically motivated? Were they leant on by the ruling APC?
No matter the PPRC’s answers to these simple questions, the expectation now is that next Tuesday , 17 October 2017, they will do what is right- issue the NGC their registration certificate so they can start organising for the 2018 elections before its too late and costly.
This is an Op-ed by a concerned Sierra Leonean:
No doubt it is difficult watching the two main political parties in Sierra Leone host their conventions this weekend, while the National Grand Coalition (NGC) party’s registration application to function as a political party has been stalled. Aside from the snags of the current moment, I submit to the public that it is a blessing in disguise.
Some may ask, how can an apparent misfortune eventually yield good results? It is obvious that the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) has a tendency to fluctuate, at the command of unseen hands.
No need to continue beating a dead horse. Even little children now know that ‘power from above’ is making desperate attempts to stifle democracy in Sierra Leone.
Irrespective of the frantic tricks to choke the NGC, every unfortunate event will result to unforeseen positive outcome in favour of the NGC. Only the NGC has the propensity to upend the rotten political establishment in Sierra Leone.
Currently, the political climate in Sierra Leone is really tensed. There are ample reasons to suspect that the APC and SLPP conventions will not end cordially. Despite the President’s attempts to smooth things out before going to Makeni, fractures within the APC are now showing.
The semblance of unity and inseparability between APC members is phony and exaggerated. Just as the SLPP left their ‘conbention’ in Makeni 10 years ago divided, the APC would come out of theirs with daggers drawn at each other this weekend.
If all that glitters are diamonds and timbers for the ruling party, why did the President relieve his Chief of Staff just before their October gathering? The cracks within the political establishment will become more visible in the coming days and weeks.
Well, I have deliberately avoided discussing the SLPP, because convention fallouts are now part of their party’s official agenda.
The PPRC’s postponement of NGC’s registration decision will in due course make the NGC even grander. Unlike the past when convention splits led to APC gains, the dynamics this time are completely different. First, the ripple-effects from the SLPP’s sad choice of Bio would benefit NGC.
We branded them the ‘Satanic Lasimamy Peoples Party’ (SLPP) leading to 2012; they’ve incessantly shown they need political cleansing. Perhaps after their 2018 defeat, they’ll wake up to the understanding that Bio is unelectable.
Also, the wave of discontent against a turbulent ‘Always Planning Conflict’ (APC) party would drive ashore many new members to the NGC.
Someone compared the APC selection of their candidate to how the catholic selects their Pope. Yes, a smokescreen (ruse) will come out of Makeni this weekend, designed to mask the real intentions of the APC. So, after all the quibbling about NGC’s colors and symbol, the Coalition stands to gain from the various ends of the nation’s political spectra.
The NGC stand to gain from resentful members of the ‘Always Planning Conflict’ party (APC) and the indignant members of the ‘Satanic Lasimamy’ Peoples Party (SLPP). These aversions for the Red and Green would consolidate the NGC’s position and lend credence to Kandeh Yumkella’s message of transformation.
A mass influx of ‘informed’ patriotic citizens from the APC and SLPP to the National Grand Coalition is in the making. This upcoming influx would also push many small parties to join forces and unite with the Coalition.
The PPRC’s decision this week is not a stumbling block on the pathway of Kandeh Yumkella’s journey to State House, it is a stepping stone to a transformational change of the political landscape of Sierra Leone.
Isaiah 40:31 reads: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strengths; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Stay the course and let time prove that NGC is the only alternative to the misrule of the APC and SLPP.
Hahahahah KKY. Wait upon the Lord like you said. Don’t follow in the foot steps of Margai or else your political career is finished. This is over-ambition. Wait on God’s time just like you quoted.
Dear Mr. KYK,
You are quoting Isaiah 40:31 which reads: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strengths; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.” ‘WHY DID YOU NOT WAIT?’
IF THE NATIONAL GRAND COALITION COULD NOT ELECT YOU AS THEIR FLAG BEARER, WILL YOU FORM ANOTHER COALITION? YOU ARE DESPERATE FOR POWER AND MANY OF US CAME TO KNOW YOU AS A DIPLOMAT-MEANING YOU NEED TO EXERCISE PATIENCE AND WAIT FOR YOUR OWN TURN.
YOU HAVE LITTLE RECORD IN THE POLITICS OF THE SLPP YET YOU WANT TO LEAD BUT YOU DO NOT WANT OTHERS TO RULE. YOU HAVE NEVER VOTED FOR ANYBODY IN THIS COUNTRY ACCORDING TO YOUR STATEMENT LAST YEAR AND NOW WANT OTHERS TO VOTE FOR YOU. YOU COULD HAVE BEST FIT AS A RUNNING MATE AND UNDER-STUDY THE POLITICS OF THE SLPP AND THE NATION AND WE WILL HAVE CONFIDENCE TO MAKE YOU FLAG BEARER IN SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS.
PADDY MAN YOU HUNGRY FOR POWER-OO-OO. I AM AFRAID. YOUR FATHER WAS NOT LIKE THAT. I ADVISE YOU BUILD A SMALL HUT IN YOUR MOTHER LAND FINTONIA TAMBAKA CHIEFDOM, BOMBALI DISTRICT AND HELP THEM REPAIR THEIR BROKEN FERRIES, WHILE WAITING FOR THE MANTLE OF POWER