PV at 10
Going Down Memory Lane.
Editor’s Note: This article was first published September 5, 2005.
By Our Correspondents
The northern towns of Makeni and Port Loko had been full of excitement over the weekend.Ordinarily, these are quite dull and sleepy towns where nothing nationally significant ever happens.But the last few days were far from dull as the story below demonstrates:
Several predictable elections have taken place over the weekend when the two biggest political parties in the country held their conventions in the northern region.
At the APC convention in Portloko, Ernest Bai Koroma, the ebullient insurance executive, was elected the new leader of the party. He contested the 2002 elections as the APC presidental candidate. He lost to Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the SLPP.Also elected to leadership positions in the party are Victor Johnson (Deputy Leader), Victor Foh (Secretary General), and Foday Kalokoh(National Organising Secretary).
At the SLPP convention in Makeni Vice-President Solomon Berewa (291 votes)trounced lawyer Charles Margai(34 votes) by an incredibly wide margin to clinch the leadership of that party.One of the aspirants,John Ernest Leigh, to the utter amazement of many people, failed to even have somebody among the delegates to nominate him. Ex-Brigadier Maada Bio(33 votes) and Finance minister JB Dauda (28 votes)to almost nobody’s surprise failed to clinch the leadership although Bio managed to come third, closely trailing Charles Margai.
What these choices among the SLPP delegates show is that the SLPP, except for the election of Jacob Saffa the new SLPP Secretary General, is still a very conservative and traditional party that eschews radical and progressive change like that called for by ex-ambassador Leigh.Many believe Leigh sealed his fate with his vitriolic criticism of the party leadership in recent months.Alhaji UNS Jah, the new SLPP chairman, is very conservative and traditional, just like the man he displaced, Sama Banya.
Berewa, the pundits say, belongs to the arch-conservative wing of the party albeit a relative newcomer.He is considered the staunchest disciple of president Kabbah in the present government. Kabbah’s reign many Sierra Leoneans say, symbolises retrogression, economic decay, tribalism and galloping erosion of sovereignty.
For the APC, the election of Ernest Koroma will put an end to the numerous court cases against him by other members of the party. It will also help him to put his act together and prepare for the presidential battle against Berewa in 2007.
Photo: Ernest Bai Koroma.
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