By: Baimoi I. Kamara
The Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) concluded its 13th National Delegates Conference at the Bintumani International Conference Center at Aberdeen, Freetown, Thursday, 9th February 2023. The Conference was preceded by both the Women’s and the Young Generation Conferences, held only a week earlier in Bo and Kenema respectively.
In addition to the glamor and glitz in and out of the conference center, the event itself was well-reasoned and purposeful. By pulling off such a platform, the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) has distinguished itself as the trailblazer for internal democracy in Sierra Leone.
Speaker after speaker pointed out how the SLPP government under President Julius Maada Bio has followed through on its policy objectives as set out the New Direction Peoples Manifesto of 2018. They were quick to acknowledge challenges where they were existed but also showed how they have tried as a government to either fix those challenges or cushion the effects of these challenges on the citizens of the country. There was candor in the room. No one pretended that heaven came down to earth in the five years of the Bio Administration, but many speakers were eloquent about the giant strides government has taken to better the lives of the citizenry, while laying solid foundations for national development.
FATIMA BIO SILENCES HER CRITICS
The usually lively and friendly style of the Chairman of the Party, Dr. Prince Alex Harding set the tone for what turned out to be an entirely family affair. When it was the turn of the First Lady of the Republic, Mrs. Fatima Bio, she didn’t disappoint one bit. She painstakingly laid out her role as First Lady of the Republic, the Primus Cheerleader of the President and the Presidency, the Chief Advocate for the women and children of Sierra Leone.
She reminded her audience that when she came on the scene as First Lady, the incident of rape was rampant, almost to a point of being a pandemic. At the time, rape and sexual violation of women, including children as young as five years old was a plague, making headlines both locally and internationally.
She stressed that through her Hands Off Our Girls campaign, which was supported by six other First Ladies from across the continent, she has brought public awareness to bear on the issue of rape and sexual harassment of women and girls. She reminded all present that because of her work with the Hands Off Our Girls campaign, she has received several recognitions from the UN, African Union and several other international agencies.
In her short but lucid presentation, the First lady drew a neat nexus between her role as Mother of The National and Principal Advocate for the women and children of the nation to the laudable reforms that government has made to further the status of the women of Sierra Leone. She mentioned the GEWE Act that was recently signed into law by the President, which enshrines 30% quota for women to elected and appointed positions in government as all outcomes of the advocacy of her office on behalf of the women and children of this nation.
In closing, Fatima Bio recommitted herself to working to ensure that the party and her husband, Brig (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio are reelected into office on June 24th, 2023, to a thunderous applause from the party faithful.
THE STATESMAN PRESIDENT
But it was the quietly eloquent presentation of H.E. Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic and Leader of the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) that actually put paid to the discussions. The ever assured President Bio, commonly known as President Tok N Do took the stage late in the afternoon to deliver his keynote address.
The President called for unity and forgiveness within the membership as the party forges ahead towards winning the next Presidential elections on first ballot. He lauded the significance of the national delegates conference as a means of putting the party on its proper footing regardless of whether it is an elective conference. He assured compatriots that he is a strict constitutionalist; not the kind of leader who abuses his powers. He used the opportunity to inform aspiring Parliamentary candidates within the party to note that the party will do its best to recruit candidates who will ably represent the party in Parliament. He assured all that the MP positions within the district block system will be competitive.
He encouraged the leadership of the party to put all shoulders to the wheel and start work in earnest to deliver a resounding victory for the party in the June, 2023 elections. He encouraged the membership of the SLPP to eschew tribalism and violence in all its manifestations, while reminding them that the motto of their party is One Country, One People, and that that’s the beauty and big tent nature of the party that encourages him to work harder for the wholistic development of the country every day. He assured the party that Agriculture will be his flagship program in his second term when the people of Sierra Leone will grant him an opportunity. His pronouncement was greeted with a huge exclaim.
He assured his members and supports of a huge victory come 24th June, 2023, in an uppercut: “APC Nor Able Dis Yagba, Nor to pan Hype”!
MINISTERS ACCOUNT FOR THEIR STEWARDSHIP
The second day of the Delegates Conference was dominated by presentations from sector Ministries. This gave an opportunity to party faithful to hear President Bio’s cabinet appointees account for their stewardship in office at close quarter.
Bearing in mind that the the national Delegates Conference is the precursor to the development of the 2023 Party manifesto, delegates and other observers will critical analyse the cabinet presentations and reports from party officials. This will guide the myriad of technical teams at the behest of the party to put together the issues for consideration for their 2023 manifesto.
Truth be told, the SLPP 13th National Delegates Conference of 8th and 9th February 2023 is an exercise representative of a maturing internal democracy. BRAVO SLPP. We hope others will learn from this.