Trouble is brewing for the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) at Constituency 91 in Pujehun District over the selection of a candidate for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
Two of the six candidates, Melvin Rogers and Ibrahim Kawa, have petitioned the candidacy of Sidi Yayah Tunis, a former MP who is fighting to regain the seat he lost in 2007.
In his petition, Rogers accused the former MP of “failing to implement” projects meant to improve the lives of the people in his capacity as a
contractor.
He said that led to the “total disgruntlement of our party youths and several stakeholders” which, according to him, caused the SLPP to lose that constituency to the PMDC in 2007.
According to the petition, Tunis abandoned the SLPP following the party’s defeat in 2007 and developed a “strong relationship with the president [Ernest Bai Koroma] and his APC government for which he was made a member of the board of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority.”
Rogers described Tunis’ “personal relationship” with president Koroma as “a political risk to the SLPP.” He said Tunis had been having “secret meetings” with people “to lure them with money and gifts.”
In his petition letter, the other candidate, Ibrahim Kawa also accused Sidi Tunis of refusing to publicly associate with the SLPP for fear of damaging his relationship with president Koroma and the APC party.
In an interview Melvin Rogers told Politico that he was patiently waiting for the party’s Electoral Management Committee to rule on the petition before he considered another line of action. He said the SLPP should be “absolutely sure about the loyalty of every candidate to the party and its leader before putting them forward.”
Meanwhile, a senior party source told Politico last night that they were dealing with petitions from Kailahun before they got to those from Pujehun.
“We have a legal team that looks at petitions on case by case basis. We will only take evidence of criminality brought against a person if we
have a proof from the court that a candidate has been convicted for such,” said the source, adding that they were yet to look into petitions from Rogers and Kawa.
The SLPP source also confirmed that Sidi Yaya Tunis had assured the party that he was going public on his loyalty, or not, to the SLPP.
When we contacted Tunis, who said he was talking to us from the border with Liberia, he said “weak contenders should stop complaining to media and go on the ground to fight.” He would not confirm or deny ascertions by some members of his party that he would be on Radio Democracy 98.1 FM to make a public statement on his loyalty to the party.
