By PV staff writers.
A former military officer and head of state Brigadier General (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio, pictured, has been elected leader of Sierra Leone’s main opposition party, the Sierra Leone People’s Party over the weekend in Freetown the capital. He got 238 votes.
Bio’s victory took many people outside the SLPP with surprise, especially supporters of the ruling party, the All People’s Congress (APC). An APC government headed by the late Joseph Saidu Momoh was overthrown in April 1992 by a military junta, the National Provisional Ruling Council of which Bio was a member.
The APC Secretary General Victor Foh, in an interview with Awoko, a Freetown newspaper, could not hide his anger and surprise over Bio’s election and hinted that Bio might one day face the courts for his role in that coup but this is unlikely considering the still urgent need for peace in the country nine years after the end of a brutal and senseless civil war.
Many SLPP supporters are however happy over Bio’s election for one main reason which is that they think he is the only politician among the 19 that contested for the leadership that can confidently and fearlessly face the ruling party in any election because of his military background. Elections in Sierra Leone tend to be full of machismo and violence.
Osman Boie Kamara, an engineer and businessman, came second in the polls (186 votes), followed by another professional engineer and businessman, Andrew Keili in third position (58). The fourth position went to lawyer Alpha Timbo(44), while Dr. Kadie Sesay, a former minister and university professor came fifth (28). The other contestants were Alhaji Momodu Koroma who was sixth (12 votes) and Francis Obai Kabia, a former UN employee was seventh (9 votes). The rest got less than 9 votes with some getting only one or two votes.
The new Secretary General is Sulaiman Banja-Tejansie and the new national chairman is John Oponjo Benjamin.
Comments