That ‘four for four’ political message
With elections gone and President Ernest Bai Koroma reelected for another five years term in office, we keep reading autopsies on why the President won, why the opposition flag bearer (not the leader by the way) was defeated and we also keep getting fictitious list of would be ministers in the present political dispensation. Not only that, we also keep reading political theories on why Julius Bio apparently has not accepted that he was defeated (mark you this is not new in the SLPP political dictionary-they are either the winners or they are cheated) and above all what they have resolved at, as the main opposition party, from the viewpoint of boycotting parliament proceedings-something not also new to them and Sierra Leoneans are getting used to it now and then. (Photo: John Pa Baimba Sesay, IA, China)
The Koroma legacies
In July of this year, I wrote authoritatively that President Koroma was going to win the November polls, based on his legacies in five years. I argued that the APC was going to campaign on the legacies of a performing President and government. That, what we achieved in five years, as a country, when juxtaposed what the SLPP did in eleven years, there was no way the people of this country will attempt sacking the President. I wrote at the time, that our development path should be determined by ourselves and that because we have commenced seeing a twist indent Ernest Koroma will be appreciated for this by his people. It finally came to pass and thanks to Sierra Leoneans for their decision 2012.
I followed with apt attention the campaign messages of President Ernest Bai Koroma and his APC party, prior to and during the just conduced general elections. It should be underscored, that President Ernst Koroma’s second term success is predicated on a number of reasons-the legacies he left during his first term in office, especially his outstanding achievements in the areas of agriculture, health, in infrastructure and in job creation. These all helped in his reelection bid. Coupled with the impact that the country made in the last five years in the area of strengthening the decentralization process, we also saw how the Koroma administration transformed the country’s image internationally. So, I was not surprise that President Ernest Bai Koroma was reelected for another term in office.
Four for four
But again, any attempts aimed at discussing the factors that led to the Koroma success in the just concluded elections should, as a matter of urgency take into account the ‘4 for 4’ slogan that was introduced by the governing APC party, especially during the last sixty days to elections. I have been in Sierra Leone for the last eight weeks and four of these eight weeks, I spent in the provinces, precisely in the Kambia with Dr Joseph Sam Sesay, Minister of Agriculture. I recall our visits to Kukuna in the Briamia chiefdom and in Madina in the Tonko Limba chiefdom. There was this ‘4 for 4’ message that was taken to these places by Dr Sam Sesay and other government officials including Saidu Conton Sesay and Dauda Kamara, Minister of Local Government. This was a message that called on supporters and sympathizes of the APC to not just vote for the President, but to ensure, all the other candidates, including the Member of Parliament, District Chairman or City Mayor and Councilors were elected. There was a total of four set of people for the APC that needed the votes of people-The President, MP, Council Chairman and the Councilor. To a very large extent this message made the greatest impact in this election, perhaps, than any other campaign message during the electioneering period. In the Tonko Limba and Briamia chiefdoms, the people understood the message so well, that when the results were announced, we saw how they voted for not just the President but the other three people in the list of APC candidates.
So even as some candidates are still trying to overcome the defeat, there are others who think, they were indeed defeated and the decision on their part to congratulate not just the President but Sierra Leoneans in general. I therefore would want to commend those political parties who have put the interest of the country above all else, by going to State House and congratulate the President on his victory.
Background of ‘4 for 4
Big things start off in a rather small manner. This is what we encountered in the ‘four for four’ formation. My understanding is that this whole ‘4 for 4’ campaign slogan actually got its very beginning in Kissy, precisely a place called Samuels, a place where the APC and President Koroma were voted for overwhelmingly. People like Kholifa Taylor-Kamara of the National Union of Sierra Leone APC Students, Abdul Rashid Munu, a young and promising guy that once contested within the APC family for a parliamentary seat in the old wharf community, Tamba Jimmy and one Suffian Joshua actually were the brain behind this great formation. Barely few months to elections, Hon SBB Dumbuya, Hon Robin Coker of Energy Ministry and Councilor Abdul Salam, now an elected Member of Parliament are all reported to have played a supporting role, by launching the group that today has left a landmark in the country’s arena. Kissy has continued to play a critical role in the sustenance of the governing APC party. KISSY IS THE MOST populous AREA IN THE CITY AND WHEN THEY GAVE THEIR ‘YES’ ANSWER TO President Koroma, we saw what happened.
The collective role that people played made President Koroma to win, including that of the ‘4 for 4’ campaign group. And even as the APC as a political party has won, the four for four campaign group also thinks there is the need to give their thanks and appreciation to Sierra Leoneans for having listened to the call for the reelection of President Koroma, our Members of Parliament, District Council Chairmen or Mayors of cities and the councilors. I had a talk with the Liaison Officer for the group, Abdul Rashid Munu and it was great to hear from him their determination to continue working in the interest of the party. APC as a grassroot party is bound to administer the affairs of this country for the next couple of years but this is based on how its supporters are ready to give their time to the time, an issue I have no doubt it. My appreciation to the campaign group and may President Koroma continue to perform and work in the interest of mama Salone. God bless us all.
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