By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
Ahead of the forthcoming June 24th General Elections in the country, the Consortium of Progressive Political Parties (COPP) has declared its support for the main opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) party presidential candidate, Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara.
The declaration was held at the Robert Hall at Robert Street in Freetown on the 8 June 2023.
In his opening statement during the declaration, APC Secretary General, Lawyer Lansana Dumbuya explained that the alliance formed by COPP is not between members who have lost fame in the country, but key party executives. He assured that the APC under the leadership of Dr. Samura would deliver Sierra Leone from the hands of the ‘oppressors’.
He said their Presidential candidate is not a magician but a hard worker that understands the dynamics of the country’s economy, having been at the helm of affairs for so long, and that what he will do in his first 100 days in office will prove that he is more than capable enough to move this country forward. He urged Sierra Leoneans to not only vote Dr. Samura as President but also Yvonne Aki-Sawyer as Mayor of the Freetown Municipality.
Former Chairman of the Western Rural District Council, Kasho Holland-Cole expressed joy in welcoming the new members with open heart. He urged the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) to make available the tally software to all Political Parties for transparency's sake.
He noted that with the continuing hardship and unlawful arrests of opposition supporters in the country, it is enough for the incumbent President Julius Maada Bio-led Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) Government to face the exit door come June 24. He accused the SLPP Government of not giving the council’s money for 2022, claiming that the President said they will campaign against him.
The former Western Rural Chairman assured COPP that the APC is their new family and urged them to tell their family members to vote for Dr. Samura for President and Aki-Sawyer Mayor of Freetown.
In her statement on behalf of the COPP members, Leader of the Unity Party (UP) Femi Claudius-Cole explained that the Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC) denied her party to contest for the upcoming elections, citing that they did not conduct lower-level elections. She presented some of her provincial executives from Kailahun, PortLoko, Karene, Moyamba, Kambia to name but a few to prove that the party conducted lower-level elections.
She said the Political Parties that comprise COPP have not just declared for the APC, but will also campaign and sensitize voters to vote properly on polling day, urging everyone to take responsibility by doing what she called a one-teach-one campaign. She denied the accusation that they were declaring for the APC because they have been promised jobs and said they were doing that with all their heart.
In his statement, Dr. Samura said those that have declared for the SLPP should ask themselves what President Bio has done for the country in his five years as President. He urged Sierra Leoneans to come as a united force to build the country from what he said is its lost glory.
He said the declaration marks a real-time partnership between the COPP members and the APC party and that it is the best they can do to save the country from the SLPP. He added that 8 million people are not that difficult to take care of and that the SLPP should at least have ventured to satisfy the ordinary suffering masses rather than their pockets.
He vowed to change the narratives of politicians if elected President of Sierra Leone.
A cross-section of the PDP membership, PMDC, PLP, NDP, ADP, CDP, former NGC executives, and other former C4C executive members declared for the APC.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (07/06/23)
