Spreading the Political Message Abroad

As political tension in Sierra Leone starts gathering momentum ahead of the 2018 presidential and parliamentary elections, many prominent Sierra Leoneans have already declared their intentions to lead their political parties into the elections. The main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) which is fragmented because of intra-party squabbles and lack of strong party leadership and structure has more than a dozen members as flag-bearer aspirants with Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio and former UNIDO Director General Alhaji Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella being the leading contenders. The problems in the SLPP are so monumental that if the national elections were to be conducted now, the party would lose woefully because of disunity among party stakeholders and the chronic ethno-regional tendencies of its Southeastern supporters who are in the majority.

But it is quite a different kettle of fish in the governing All People’s Congress (APC), a grassroots political party that is united, well structured, organized, disciplined and has maximum respect for grassroots people including petty traders, drivers, Okada riders, legal hustlers, fishermen, hand cat (omolanke) pushers, you name it. Whereas the literal political battle in the SLPP over who should become the next presidential candidate flag-bearer has almost reduced the political party to a regional club, the APC takes predilection in conducting itself with great political maturity as a ruling party. For now, only two members of the part have declared their intention to become standard-bearer for the 2018 presidential election – Vice President of Shandong Iron and Steel Company, Moseray Fadika popularly known as ‘Super’, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sierra Rutile Limited (SRK), John Bonnoh Sisay. Both gentlemen command respect among party supporters because of their wealth, influence and contributions to national development.

As I write, the popular business magnate and philanthropist, Moseray Fadika, is at present on meet-the-people tour of the United States of America (USA), Canada, Germany and other European countries to consult with APC members on the choice of flag-bearer for the 2018 elections. And according to reports, ‘Super’ has so impressed Sierra Leoneans in the Diaspora that even some blue-blood SLPP members have declared for the APC. The town hall meetings that were organized for him in the countries he has toured attracted massive turnouts of Sierra Leoneans of all tribes, regions, religions and political affiliations. The good gestures he received from Sierra Leoneans during the consultative tour will surely motivate him to push forward with his desire to take the APC into the next presidential election when President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma would have ended his second term of office. He was even mobbed in Germany by exuberant APC members after his brilliant, eloquent speech had moved the entire hall. Most of them opined that APC deserves a dynamic and robust leadership in the person of Moseray Fadika, who they described as another political ‘Messi’ in the making.

The philanthropist cum politician will continue his consultative tour in the People’s Republic of China and Austrailia where he is expected to consult with the Sierra Leonean community on the leadership of APC and listen to their various opinions before he will return home at the weekend. But one thing that came out clearly during his consultative tour of UK and Continental Europe is that he won the hearts of not only APC members but even SLPP members that declared for the APC after they had him speak about his plans for the party and country if given the opportunity to lead the APC.

Since Moseray Fadika declared his intention for the flag-bearership of the APC, he has exhibited some amount of political maturely by consulting APC members from both within and without on the leadership of the party. His comportment gives the impression that though he is an affluent politician and man of the people, he regards the APC as being bigger than anyone else. Super has so humbled himself to the party hierarchy that he will definitely maintain the status quo if given the opportunity to lead it. Moseray Fadika is therefore a man to watch because of his sudden rise to fame and compassion towards people especially the grassroots and vulnerable Sierra Leoneans.

By Ensa Gondor Konneh

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