BY: HAJA HAWA KOROMA
The Former President of Sierra Leone and outgoing Chairman and Leader of the All Peoples Congress (APC), Ernest Bai Koroma has on Wednesday 13th April 2022 at Makeni declared that he will not be contesting for any position in the APC.
According to a press release issued out from the office of the former president it stated that, although the 1991 constitution is very clear on the presidential term limit, there seems to have been some anxiety about a political comeback, which is being fuelled by continued calls from several groups for his active involvement in the party and national politics.
In the early days of January 2022, there was a display of social media campaign with samples of t-shirts and baseball caps calling on the former president to re-engage in national politics.
This display drew the attention of the former president which led to the release of a press statement from his office on 6th January 2022 distancing him from such calls.
The former president restated his decision that he was preparing and looking forward to relinquish his current position at the party’s upcoming national delegates’ conference (NDC) as he has no interest whatsoever in party or national office.
Dr Ernest Koroma stated that he strongly believes that he has been privileged by God and his people, to serve as president of Sierra Leone for two terms and as the leader and chairman of APC for a much longer period.
He added that it is now time for him to leave the political stage and to continue serving Sierra Leone as a statesman, thus he is looking forward to his continued contribution to the promotion of democracy, peace, security and stability in Africa and other parts of the world.
He then thanked the APC and the people of Sierra Leone profoundly for the privileged accorded to him to serve them and for the enduring confidence in him to continue to do so. However, he wishes to reassert that it is time for other comrades to take the APC forward.
