Port Loko Residents Call For Unity
Residents of Port Loko town have called on the two main political weights, Alhaji Ibrahim Kemoh Sesay, Minister of Political and Public Affairs and Alhaji Alpha Kanu, Information and Communications Minister to unite for the development of the township and the entire District, the closest to the capital city. (Photo: Hon. Kemoh Sesay)
The township has lacked basic amenities such as paved roads, electricity and pipe-borne water supply for the past thirty years.
According to the residents, they could not comprehend the cause of the disunity between the two individuals that has contributed to the backwardness of the township, one of the strongholds of the party.
The division has resulted to even the youths following suite by forming two factions with either side not attending the function of the other for which some residents are referring to the two Ministers as demigods.
Abdul B. Kamara, a youth activist in Port Loko, admonished his colleagues to breakaway from this menace and work together for the development of the township and the district as a whole.
He further implored his colleagues to learn from the mistakes of the past when politics divided them and recalled that after the late S. I. Koroma, who pioneered the construction of the Bai Bureh Memorial Hall and the APC Port Loko District headquarters, which are now in a deplorable state, no other politician has contributed to the development of the township.
Const. 049 Convention Petitioned
Although the All Peoples Congress (APC) mini-convention elections in Port Loko District conducted on Thursday 21st March, 2013 at the Bai Bureh Memorial Hall were peaceful, some dissatisfied members of the party in the District have in a letter petitioned the conduct of the elections to the APC Secretariat and other stakeholders.
The petitioners accused the Chairman of the Oversight Committee, Alhaji Ibrahim Kemoh Sesay who is also Minister of Political and Public Affairs, of manipulating the elections in favour of his candidates, especially in Constituency 49
The letter titled ‘Protest Against Election/Selection of Constituency 049 Executive’ further states that one of the candidates of Alhaji Ibrahim Kemoh Sesay, Gbassay Kamara, aka GK, who was declared Chairman of Constituency 49, had since abandoned the party and employed by the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
According to the petitioners’ letter dated 21st March 2013, the Committee failed to adhere to the rules governing the conduct of the constituency convention elections such as the category of delegates which clearly states that serving Councilors/Chairmen/Mayors of the APC within the constituency are the only ones entitled to vote.
The others who are entitled to vote are five Ward representatives from each Ward within the constituency, including a youth and a female, holders of APC NAC, National, Regional and District Executive positions within the constituency and ex-MPs, Mayors/Chairmen and Councilors within the constituency.
The letter further states that the action of the Minister of Public and Political Affairs, Alhaji Ibrahim Kemoh Sesay resulted to the cancellation of the process, especially for the position of the Chairman for Constituency 49 as only the eleven-man constituency executive committee members voted disenfranchising the other categories of delegates, including the sitting MP and the other eligible voters.
Concluding, the letter reveals that objections and corrections raised by delegates and contestants for clarification were not encouraged by the team, especially the leader, Hon. Ibrahim Kemoh Sesay.
By Abdul R. Bedor
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