September 16, 2021
BY KAMAL M BARRIE (KENEMA)
Kenema district SLPP Chairman, Mr. Sorie Koroma has decried the lack of professionalism of the Head of the Sierra Leone Police in the district in providing security for the party`s primary elections.
“I’m disappointed in the Kenema Police based on the display of unprofessionalism during our Party`s Primary election at the Kenema City Council Hall. The AIG has the bold mind telling us to kill ourselves but will withdraw his men of which he did at the height of the conflict”, Mr. Moriba S. Koroma said.
In furtherance the SLPP Kenema District Chairman said on the 11th September 2021 the SLPP Party was having constituency party elections in Kenema District and the Sierra Leone Police was officially informed and asked to provide security of which they initially started but when there was a delegate identification standoff between his group and that of the Fonnie’s group AIG Solomon Mustapha Kambeh was present and requested to prevail on the situation.
Mr Koroma said he declined by not providing security during the standoff and he had to withdrew all his Police Personnel from the riotous place.
Chairman Koroma further alleged that because of the absence of the Police, unscrupulous and unpatriotic party people pelted stones at the ongoing Construction City Hall and damaged materials worth about Seventy Million Leones.
“To my surprised I saw party members in full public view destroying public property because of political vengeance little realizing that our party is in governance and Kenema is bigger than us all. The Chief Administrator of the Kenema City Council has called me and reported the damages caused by my opponents of which he promised to take legal action as enough evidences were captured by the Council’s CCTV camera footage. Damages wouldn’t have occurred if the AIG and team were in presence to take security control”, the SLPP Kenema District Chairman stressed.
He further said they as district executives have collected the constituency results and have sent them to the Party Headquarters for final processing as Saturday coming will likely be District Chairmanship elections.
“We are waiting for the Leader of the party President Maada Bio for a formal complain because the present Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. David Francis did his best to bring peace amongst us but some people don’t seem to embrace peace because they are always in desperate moves to put the party in shame but we will not wait for them in the development platform of the party. I know I’m popular in Kenema and I will win any election. They have maligned me but yet still I’m popular because the people of Kenema have seen the truth”, he concluded.
The Mayor of the Kenema City Council, His Lordship Thomas Baio revealed that he was disappointed at the level at which the party politics is going.
“You may hate me for political reasons but you should not destroy development because of constituency party elections. We are lobbing to government to bring more development to Kenema because we have been far behind and the few ones we have started getting from government people are destroying them. Is this politics or malicious damage? Those destroyed windows and other items worth over Seventy Million Leones, that is not development but a retrogression”, he added.
“We at council have the video footage of the incident. People should realized that we are in governance and Kenema has always been the SLPP stronghold. Why are we always misbehaving in Kenema? The Mayor questioned.
Reacting to the allegations made against him and his personnel, the AIG East Mr. Solomon Mustapha Kambeh said he withdrew his personnel for a simple fact that their mandate as Police is not to conduct election but to provide security to the exercise but when there was a standoff he was asked to provide delegate list of which he did not make the list and that is not his role.
He noted that because of the disunity of party members he has to withdraw his personnel from the conflict zone.
“SLPP members in Kenema should realized that the party is in governance and all sorts of violence with disunity tendencies should be put aside. APC conducted theirs recently without no confusion and why always the SLPP supporters is bent on violence? I’m not afraid of anything and nobody will remove me from Kenema as they are alleging. I’m a police officer with a difference as I’m a Sherbro-Sherbro!”, he justified.
Majority of Kenema people revealed that they are frustrated over the behavior of certain SLPP members in Kenema District and president Bio should intervene immediately or else Kenema is a place that can make and unmake the SLPP. Some disgruntled Youths said the way things are going in the party in the 2023 elections Kenema will have plenty INDEPENDENT Candidates if rightful People Do not get positions.