By Mohamed Kamara
Investigations conducted by this medium has indicated that the number of flagbearers for the 2026 conventions in both the incumbent Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the main opposition the All People’s Congress Party (APC) is expected to hit a landmark history between 45 to 55 aspirants. Despite the Constitutional guarantees which clearly states that all paid up members of registered political parties have the right to vie for any position of their choice in any given political party. Controversy has foretold as to whether their intentions are patriotic or simply hidden intention to rip the Consolidated Revenue Funds.
Respondents interviewed say Sierra Leone lacks constitutional discipline which will provide mechanisms for thorough scrutiny of these mushrooming aspirants from the blues to determine whether they have at any given time being prosecuted for misappropriation of State Funds by the Anti-Corruption Commission. Another big slap to the integrity of democracy is that there are no provisions in the constitution to checkmate these flagbearer aspirants.
Some respondents argue that if really they had put the nation first before self’, a large number of these million or billion Leones worth aspirants would have invested their wealth in private undertakings to create employment, decrease poverty in their places of origin, film industry, music industry, agriculture sector, fisheries sector, transportation and other industrial ventures or trajectories like their counterparts in the sub-region notably Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Ghana. It could be recalled historically that only late Vice President Sorie Ibrahim Koroma in the 70’s who attempted to invest in planting orange, mango and other fruit trees for the manufacturing of local beverages. They contend that there has never been a politician who uses his financial resources in exchange of Socio-Economic development of any kind. They argue that we have witnessed many instances where in people enter politics with little financial resources and end up to be millionaires with no investment back home.
Respondents believe that naturally Sierra Leone is a blessed nation with enough water, environmental advantages of all kind but the self-reliance innovation is far from reality. They say it is now common that for any pending convention between the big two traditional political, new names will emerge to romance with old ones, the promises are habitual and at the end promises are not fulfilled. They fear that this trend could only be discourage if the masses know their civic responsibilities.
