Constituency 120 rejects Abu Ball Yai
The people of Constituency 120 comprising of parts of Central Kissy, Cassell Farm, Up Wata, Television Pole, Kissy Mental, Moeba, parts of Kissy Brook and Colbot have said they do not want Mr. Abu Bakarr Mohamed Koroma popularly known as Abu Ball Yai, to represent them in Parliament because he is based in the United States of America and can therefore not be available to them as well as be able to take part in all Parliamentary sittings. (Photo: Mr. Abu Bakarr Mohamed Koroma aka Abu Ball Yai: rejected by his people)
Talking to this Reporter during a perception survey conducted by this paper in the constituency over the weekend, over seventy percent of those we interviewed stated that even though Abu Ball Yai is a fine gentleman yet he will not be able to leave America and relocate to Sierra Leone in order to represent them in Parliament.
They also stated that Abu Ball Yai also has a problem of being a dual citizen as he is now an American citizen as well as a Sierra Leonean by birth, pointing out that the Sierra Leone Constitution of 1991 stipulates that sierra Leoneans with dual citizenship cannot contest elections here.
They also observed that in as much as he has the zeal and passion to represent them he lacks the experience and maturity to effectively and efficiently articulate their issues in Parliament.
They therefore appealed to the delegates and members of the National Advisory Council (NAC) of the All Peoples Congress (APC) to consider these factors when they are awarding the symbol so that they will not use sentiments and give it to him.
“Giving Abu Ball Yai the party symbol will be a very big mistake that will seriously affect us for the next five years,” very staunch APC members in the constituency pointed out. They noted that if he is given the symbol and he eventually wins they, the constituents, will have to endure five long years without proper representation as the man will not be resident here but will have to be travelling to Sierra Leone once in a while to attend Parliamentary sittings.
“This will not be good representation because we need to have out Member of Parliament living permanently with us so that we can always access him or her for consultations and planning,” they further observed.
They concluded that the APC has other men and women who are much more popular, very experienced and who can represent them in Parliament well from which the delegates can choose.
As we were going to press late last night we tried to contact Abu Ball Yai for him to react to these concerns but we were unable to get his phone number. We were also unable to talk to anyone belonging to his campaign team.
By Mohamed Unisa Koroma
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