Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) flagbearer aspirant Hon. Alhaji Musa Tarawally has rejected claims that he remains a member of the Citizens Democratic Party (CDP), saying he resigned from the party in 2018 before returning to the SLPP.
The dispute follows a membership verification initiated by the SLPP after Mr. Tarawally began presenting himself as an aspirant for the party’s flagbearership.
The CDP’s National Secretary General, Ibrahim Sorie Sesay, wrote to the SLPP on 3 September saying that Mr. Tarawally remained a member of the CDP and had not formally resigned from the party since joining in 2018.
The SLPP subsequently cited the CDP’s position in a 17 September letter from National Chairman Jimmy Batilo Songa, directing Mr. Tarawally to stop using the party’s logo, presenting himself as an SLPP member or identifying himself as an aspirant for the party’s flagbearership.
Mr. Tarawally disputes the CDP’s account.
In his response, dated 18 September and addressed to Mr. Songa, he said he resigned from the CDP in 2018 and returned to the SLPP. He cited a resignation letter dated 15 June 2018 as evidence.
He said he is a fully paid-up SLPP member, a Grand Chief Patron and National Delegate, and remains an aspirant for the party’s flagbearership.
His supporters have also pointed to his participation in the SLPP’s recent internal activities as evidence of his recognition by the party.
SLPP Chief Patron Mohamed Malaam Janneh has said Mr. Tarawally participated as a Lifetime Delegate at the party’s National Delegates Convention at the Bintumani Conference Centre in July 2025 and exercised his voting rights there. Mr. Janneh questioned how the party could allow Mr. Tarawally to vote as a delegate and subsequently question his membership.
There have also been claims that Mr. Tarawally voted at the SLPP delegates’ convention that elected Jimmy Batilo Songa as National Chairman. That claim has not been independently established in the material currently available and should therefore be treated as an allegation unless voting records or a direct confirmation from the party are produced.
The membership dispute comes against a complicated political history. Mr. Tarawally was previously an SLPP member before joining the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) in 2007. He later left the APC and formed the CDP, under which he contested the 2018 presidential election. He was subsequently readmitted to the SLPP in 2022.
Mr. Tarawally has also challenged the authority of the SLPP National Chairman to determine his membership or terminate his status within the party.
He argues that any disciplinary action should be handled through the SLPP’s National Executive Council and established disciplinary procedures.
He further accused the chairman’s communication of damaging his reputation and described it as cyberbullying.
Mr. Tarawally said he had instructed his legal team to explore possible legal action, including proceedings under Sierra Leone’s Cyber Security and Crime Act 2021, a civil claim for defamation and constitutional remedies.
He maintains that he remains an SLPP member and intends to continue his bid for the party’s flagbearership.
The dispute therefore centres on competing accounts of Mr. Tarawally’s current political membership. The CDP says he has not formally resigned, while Mr. Tarawally says he resigned in 2018 and has since been recognised as an SLPP member.
The question of how his previous political affiliations, subsequent readmission to the SLPP and participation in the party’s internal processes affect his current membership status is now at the centre of the dispute.
