By Ibraheem Daramy
I find recent events in the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) too tempting to ignore. They are like the opaque global super star signings of Manchester City Football Club – only a tiny fraction of the figures involved are actually made public. By the way, my loyalty lies on the red side of Manchester. The estranged relationship between Honourable Alhaji Musa Tarawallie and the bureaucrats on Wallace Johnson Street has unsurprisingly become everybody’s business. With both parties digging into their heels and refusing to cede an inch of territory, I wouldn’t know how long they’ll be able to hold up.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO), Moses Sellu Mambu, followed up on a release signed by his chairman, Jimmy Batilo Songa, strongly denouncing the former Internal Affairs Minister’s association with the SLPP. As the shrewd politician he is proving to be, the chairman of the ruling SLPP addressed a letter to his counterpart of the Citizens Democratic party (CDP), the one founded by Alhaji Musa Tarawallie upon which he ran for president in the 2018 general elections – enquiring about his status. Whether it was predetermined or not, let’s just say the reply he got didn’t disappoint him either. It said their former flag bearer is still formally registered with the CDP. However, the secretary general and the regional chairmen of the CDP held an entirely different opinion to that of their chairman. According to them, Honourable Alhaji Musa Tarawallie had formally resigned from their party few years back.
One of the releases from the SLPP even went further to warn its members there would be severe consequences if found identifying with this man carrying dual party membership. One of the notices bearing the signature of the party’s spokesperson also went further to threaten litigation if Honourable Alhaji Musa Tarawallie fails to keep to the terms of the warning. The PRO was also heard across various media outlets calling on the Sierra Leone police to arrest this renegade, his words, If he returns to the country. He’s currently on holiday abroad. I don’t know what the role of our chief internal protector would be in an exclusively partisan matter. Yes, reacting to the SLPP’s position on his eligibility, Honourable Alhaji Musa Tarawallie singled out the president, Julius Maada Bio, as his lone target. Sympathisers of the beleaguered former ruling party strongman are saying his targeting of the state’s Chief executive is because he is the leader of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
But there is something quite interesting about this impasse – the loud silence of the head of the secretariat, Honourable Umar Paran Tarawallie. His quietness is noticeable because he is such a chatty guy there is no record of silencing him wherever he has been. Word is, his spat with his colleagues at the Unity House is connected to his undiluted loyalty to the First Lady, Fatima Bio. As if that is not enough of a wrestling for influence and control, he took to the media to dissociate the party from an unguided statement made by his chairman during a meeting with party supporters in the southern city of Bo. The chairman encouraged his audience to be patient, and that the president is going to decide who carries the torch for the party in the next polls. That statement got people questioning the democratic credentials of the SLPP. So in a bid to limit the damage, I suppose, the secretary general engaged the media and said his chairman’s comments were personal. The other day I was watching a TV interview where the Public Relations Officer (PRO) was responding to questions about the pecking order in their party’s executive. He mentioned the Leader, and described the chairman as head of administration. However, on purpose, he skipped the position of the secretary general and never said a thing about what his responsibilities are – even when the interviewer kept on prying.
When a former Member of Parliament of the SLPP on a TV interview said Alhaji Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkellah is not qualified to run for flag bearer, the PRO did a video few minutes later refuting that claim in its entirety. He said the former United Nations executive is a bonafide member of the party with no arrears whatsoever. The head of communications at state house, Myk Berewa, also joined in defending the eligibility of the man leading the Presidential Initiative on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security, known by its acronym (PICREF). Word in the street is, the former UNIDO man is being ring fenced as a successor to the president. I also saw John Oponjo Benjamin on TV, once chairman of the SLPP, saying the chief minister, David Moinina Sengeh, is not even a member of the Sierra Leone People’s Party.
If the SLPP would want to be considered worthy of retaining political power in the next polls, they must learn to fix their internal differences through the use of party structures. I might not be able to put a name on those who bear the greatest responsibility in these squabbles, but I think the party leadership should admit to their mishandling of this matter. Even if Honourable Alhaji Musa Tarawallie has mutated to a contagious virus, and must be sent to the incinerator, the SLPP must handle that process with caution, so others don’t get infected. I want to recommend an immediate end to the throwing of tantrums. Other than soothing your egos, there will be no take aways of note for either side. In recognising that politics is a number game, calling for a truce is the only option available to the belligerents.
daramyibraheem@gmail.com
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