July 6, 2021
BY MOHAMED JALLOH
The All People`s Congress (APC) could be counted amongst the oldest political parties in Africa, as it formation dates back to 1960; the eve of Sierra Leone attaining her independence from Britain.
Drawing from Socialist/Communist tendencies from the former Soviet Union, the party adopted red as its colour as is the case with all communist inspired political parties around the world.
After the hotly contested elections in 1967, followed by coups and counter coups, its founding leader Siaka P. Stevens was accorded the task of constituting a cabinet in a parliamentary Westminster model of government.
Despite the so called attainment of independence, Sierra Leone was still under the dominion of the British, given that the queen of Britain was still the head of state represented by a governor general.
The Prime Minister who is normally an indigene sits third in-terms of political importance.
The above political arrangement was thrown overboard when Sierra Leone became a Republican state in 1971 and Siaka Stevens became the first executive president of Sierra Leone.
By perpetuating its prominent 99 tactics, the party was able to monopolize power until it was booted out in April 1992.
After living in political wilderness for more than 15 years, the party made a spectacular comeback in 2007, albeit a political marriage with the (PMDC) People`s Movement for Political Change as a third force then.
Some political pundits have claimed that without the unflinching support rendered by Charles Margai`s PMDC in 2007, the APC could still be hibernating in the political backburner.
From 2007-2018,the government of Earnest Bai Koroma ruled for more than a decade amidst an iron ore boom that propelled Sierra Leone as one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Governments are not short of excuses to churn out to a largely gullible public and the blame for a sudden economic crash was attributed to the Ebola outbreak and the commodity fall in the price of Iron ore in the world market.
The economic boom was not consolidated. The APC Government was largely preoccupied with mineral exploitation.
Economic diversification such as value addition in agribusiness and fish processing was neglected. The country can boast of a comparative advantage in these sectors that are of high economic value, and could have generated employment for the teeming unemployed youths.
Towards the end of the Koroma led regime, the government had to institute austerity measures to keep the economy on life support.
Even the payment of public sector workers was made possible only by resorting to bank overdraft, further bloating the debt burden on the economy.
Since losing the 2018 elections to the incumbent Sierra Leone People`s Party(SLPP),the party has embroiled itself in a seemingly unending fiasco further depleting and dwindling its chances of regaining political power.
The emergence of a splinter group going by the name National Reformation Movement(NRM) are been castigated by ordinary supporters of holding the party to ransom thereby forestalling the convergence of the party members for a national delegates conference or convention.
Initially, the NRM was declared an illegal entity and its members including Sheridan Mansaray were termed as non-members of the APC party.
The intimidation tactics did not materialize as the current APC executive has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NRM to chart the way forward out of the internal political deadlock. The signing of the MOU was meant to unify and solidify the party but it seems as if the chances for unity are becoming farfetched on a daily basis.
Despite accusations from the party`s old guard of fomenting chaos and division, the NRM has repeatedly vowed that there aim is to democratize the internal structures of the party.
As in all political parties, cleavages and factions are a reality but the main crux of the current division could be attributed to an inter-generational struggle.
The old guard, comprising of Former president Koroma and Secretary General Amb. Foday Yansanneh mainly constitutes the national executive and the powerful National Advisory Committee (NAC) which is the second highest organ of the party.
In fact, the NRM has argued that the tenure of the current executive headed by the Chairman and Leader Earnest Koroma has long expired.
A judgment by Justice Fisher has restrained the current executive from playing any organizing role as executive members in any ensuing national delegates conference. Instead, the executive must only exercise their franchise as party members.
After the court decision, there were signs of a thaw between the mainly youthful NRM and the executive old guard. A memorandum of understanding was reached on adopting a new constitution for the party and to prepare for the impending national delegates conference.
In its intransigence to the sinister motives of the old guard, the NRM is determined to see the substitution of the deadly selection clause to election for all national, regional and district positions (including the flag bearer) in the party.
In a tricky change of wording, the old guard altered the selection provision in replacement of consultation in the proposed new constitution, which was also vehemently opposed by the NRM.
According to the NRM, the word consultation is ambiguous and doubtful and could be used to secure the political interest of the APC old guard.
No one knows what constitutes consultation and there is a palpable fear that candidates could be randomly selected in the name of consultation.
The NRM is not oblivious of the cult like personality of the national executive and its influence on the largely gullible and unsuspecting supporters of the party.
The mantra of the NRM has been democracy and legality and it is determined to witness the reigning of these principles in the party. In the event the NRM wants to protest any dubious move by the executive, party marshals could be unleashed as a form of intimidation.
Therefore, the NRM could resort to legal blows to ensuring the appropriation of legality in the conduct of the affairs of the party.
The political wrangling is playing a destructive role to the APC and the ruling SLPP is yielding political dividend out of the internal squabblings of the APC.
Whiles the ruling SLPP is consolidating its strategies to infiltrate the stronghold of the main opposition ahead of the 2023 elections, the APC party is trapped in a quagmire of legal wranglings.
Another Peter Conteh is seeking legal redress for the variation of the orders delivered by Justice Adrian Fisher, ignoring the fact that 2022 is a year away for the conduct of local council elections.
The mistake of selecting a candidate for the 2018 presidential election is still hunting the party, as many factions felt marginalized because their candidate was never selected as the presidential flag bearer.
The blatant act of marginalization engineered a syndrome of voter apathy among some APC supporters in the 2018 elections, who felt the exclusion of their political god fathers.
A fair, open and transparent convention, guided by the principle of election rather than selection could have healed the wounds of the losers.
Simmering tempers could have been watered down for all and sundry to throw their weight behind the democratically elected candidate to face the general voters.
A divided house could neither win an election nor pose as a challenging opposition to the ruling government.
In its present state of confusion, the people are lacking the formidable opposition to hold the ruling SLPP accountable in the implementation of it policies.
With the best of intentions, ruling governments are sometimes swayed by party or regional interest instead of the national interest.
Therefore, it is necessary to have a formidable opposition to keep the ruling governments on it toes so as to always seek the national interest.
In the meantime, the ruling SLPP is capitalizing on the division of the main opposition by winning two bye elections in Kambia and Falaba, the designated northern strongholds of the APC party.