Esther Panda, one of the people commented on by Mohamed Bah of the "Friends of Solo B" in our recent story, has sent in her reply. Bah said Esther’s resignation from the SLPP has no effect on the party as she has been moving from party to party in her political career.
Esther, who lives in the UK, has replied that she comes from a highly political family and thinks its time to leave the SLPP because it is no loner imbued with some of the things she believes in, namely, honesty and probity. We publish the rest of Esther’s letter below.
Meanwhile the PMDC Chair in the UK, Agnes Dugba Macauley, has explained that the famous Joko Lahai is alive and kicking and will be back soon. Her response follows Esther’s letter.
Having read Mohamed Bah’s letter, I have decided to reply to disclaim his most unfounded allegation. Here is someone who is trying to be a politician, but all he succeeds in doing is to grope in the dark.
His political focus is so obscure that he has reduced himself to that well known level of sycophancy. He has to redirect his political thinking and desist from indulging in discrediting one’s reputation.
Has Mohamed Bah got a political platform? What is his political pedigree? Some of us do not have to strive at all to be recognised in Sierra Leone. It is unfortunate that Mohamed Bah has tainted his credibility because of opportunism. Here is a man, who during my membership of the SLPP in the UK never made an impact in national politics in Sierra Leone.
My family name is synonymous with the SLPP;I was born and bred in it. If I have chosen to become a founding member of the PMDC, it is for the simple reason that the PMDC stands for honesty and probity and for the welfare of the people. My achievements so far have been recognised not only nationally but internationally as well.
Let us ask ouselves the question,what is democracy? Obviously, it is about freedom of choice and association. In my own situation,I had been a member only of the SLPP and no other political party until now. My association with the NPRC, it is Mohamed Bah’s calculation.
My recommendation to Mohamed Bah is for him to implement a national roll-call of the current SLPP members to identify those who were members of other political parties or had associated themselves with a military regime. His findings will be so amazing that he will definitely refrain from casting aspersions on anyone!
Self-esteem and honesty are virtues which are of great significance. One should not allow oneself to be used.
Grovelling is very demeaning indeed!!
Esther Panda,
PMDC,
UK and Ireland Branch.
Agnes Response
Joko Lahai is so real there is no need to unmask him - Worry about the complete unmasking of SLPP:
When the fox does not have the grapes, he says it’s sour anyway .....Bah says ‘Agnes Macauley has only been in the party for three years - what have we got to lose if she goes’? A lot and Bah knows that says Agnes.
Sycophantic SLPP members like Bah and all Friends of Berewa will continue unmasking the SLPP by driving away honest people from the party. They are never honest to themselves. Bah says that I was irrelevant to the SLPP UK branch, and his National Secretary General JJ Blood Saffa claims that we in the diaspora are not, in fact, SLPP members as we are not listed on his ‘database’ in Freetown. Listening to what they (Bah and JJ Blood) have to say or have said, it seems both of them are not only contradicting themselves and exposing their foolishness but that they are also living in cloud coocoland. We are tired of their sycophancy, false and deceitful life, and we have moved on and with NO REGRETS.
PMDC is born to stay with a vision, philosophy and ideology. The movement has its own unique identity and will live forever. PMDC has presented itself as a credible alternative to both APC and SLPP; it offers itself as a clear choice to the people of Sierra Leone. Every Sierra Leonean knows that the interim leader of PMDC Charles Margai is more efficient, honest, forthright, eloquent, capable, patriotic and visionary than the whole of the SLPP leadership put together.
Bah and the odd bunch of friends of Berewa claim that PMDC is just about one individual or a single personality. Would they then tell us what they mean when they say their campaign is wholly and solely to ensure that Berewa becomes president? It is very clear that their aim has nothing to do with the country or the SLPP but one man and one man only - Berewa.
Bah and others in the SLPP may decide to live in their terrible state of denial but that is entirely up to them. Since its inception, it is clear the impact PMDC has made in the four corners of Sierra Leone and the effect that impact has had on the SLPP. It is even becoming clearer how SLPP is constantly struggling to keep apace with the inroads PMDC is making in the country but yet, Bar and JJ (Blood) Saffa think all is fine within the SLPP and go on to dismiss former formidable and hard working members of SLPP as insignificant. We are not surprised for that is what they have done to Chief Norman, Charles Margai and many more SLPP members. SLPP is good at eating its own eggs and we know this.
PMDC is united behind their interim Leader and this shows that we are organised and focused. Did Mr Bah want us to present 4 interim leaders and 5 assistant interim leaders? No organised group will create a fight before they even start functioning. What we have demonstrated is real maturity in choosing a base to start from and be rest assured that PMDC will live forever.
Esther Panda is a respectable lady who has the right to choose which party to support at any given time. Esther has the right to cling to SLPP in the name of ‘my father was one of the founding members so no matter what I will die SLPP’. Esther has seen the light and like many others has moved on. This is for real. Esther would want you to prove that she has been supporting ‘political parties’ or jumping from party to party or are you confusing her with some other Panda?
It is interesting why Mr Bah should be so concerned about unmasking Joko Lahai. One would think that Mr Bah has more important things and duties to think about and perform than worrying about unmasking Joko Lahai. Why would Bah want to unmask Joko Lahai anyway? He cannot be unmasked because Joko Lahai is Joko Lahai so there is nothing to unmask in the first place.
Joko Lahai has been away for a while but he is due back soon, and I am sure and promise you will hear from him personally on his return. I can tell you this for free that Joko Lahai is neither APC nor SLPP or PMDC. He is just a sensible and rational person who has a lot of sympathy for PMDC. I want to believe that Joko Lahai will join PMDC at a point in time because I know that he believes the movement has the potential to deliver better than APC and SLPP put together. Therefore Mr Bah, Joko will meet you on the campaign trail to 2007.
To all friends of Berewa - if you wish to be recognised and compensated for bootlicking please do so without dragging the names of very committed citizens through dirt - and hopefully when you have competed for this reward among yourselves - one of you may be employed to carry his bag around campaigning for State House in 2012 when PMDC would have been in office for past 5 years.
Agnes K Macauley, Interim Chair, PMDC, UK branch
21st February 2006
Photo: Agnes Macauley
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