By: Saidu Jalloh
The Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) has strongly rejected allegations made by the All People’s Congress (APC) in a press release dated October 20, 2025. The APC had accused the ruling party of posing “threats to democratic governance and the neutrality of state institutions.”
In a statement issued by its National Secretary General, Hon. Paran Umar Tarawally, the SLPP described the APC’s release as “full of distortions and falsehoods,” accusing the main opposition of “irresponsibly sowing division” and misrepresenting remarks made by the SLPP National Chairman, Mr. Jimmy Batilo Songa. The ruling party labeled the APC’s claims as “baseless, misleading, and deliberately intended to incite public fear and confusion.”
According to the SLPP, Chairman Songa’s recent address at the party’s handover ceremony was “motivational, political, and democratic,” not a call to undermine state institutions, as alleged by the APC. The statement clarified that Songa’s reference to a “Political Army” was a figurative expression symbolizing “the SLPP leadership, grassroots supporters, marshals, bloggers, and affiliate groups,” working democratically to prevent the APC from regaining power in 2028.
“The APC’s claim that Chairman Songa called upon the President, the Army, Soldiers, and Marshals to stop the APC in 2028 is a complete fabrication,” the SLPP said, calling it a “desperate attempt to mislead the public.”
The ruling party further accused the APC of engaging in “a long-standing tradition of negative political propaganda and deception,” aimed at distracting the public from what it called “the opposition’s internal disunity, political failures, and lack of credible leadership.”
Hon. Tarawally emphasized that the SLPP “remains unwavering in its commitment to peace, inclusivity, and democratic governance,” stressing that the party “believes in the power of ideas, not intimidation; in ballots, not bullets.” He dismissed the APC’s petition as “an act of deceit and political desperation,” asserting that the SLPP “will not be drawn into toxic politics of distortion.”
The statement reaffirmed that the SLPP’s “Political Army” stands for “unity, democracy, and national progress,” describing it as a movement of patriotic citizens committed to defending Sierra Leone’s peace and prosperity against “the forces of deceit and regression.”
“The APC may shout louder, but the truth speaks clearer,” Tarawally concluded. “The SLPP will continue to lead with integrity, inclusivity, and an unshakeable belief in democracy.”