One of Sierra Leone's most respected local nongovernmental organisations, Campaign for Good Governance (CGG), has criticised President Ernest Bai Koroma’s re-appointment of Chief Samuel Sam-Sumana as running mate for the 17 November 2012 presidential elections.
CGG Coordinator, Valnora Edwin, told Politico in an interview yesterday that they believed in transparency, accountability and good governance and were therefore concerned about the choice of the Vice President by the governing All People's Congress party.
She said the choice had failed to clear his name from the many allegations such as the cocaine trade and illegal timber logging that were brought against him while he was vice present in the last five years.
“As an independent organisation, we want to see people with integrity and clean record in our governance system,” she said.
Meanwhile, campaign coordinator of APC, Leonard Balogun Koroma, said there was nothing wrong in the re-selection of Sam-Sumana on the ticket of President Koroma’s 2012 second term bid.
“The reappointment of Chief Sam-Sumana is a wise decision by the President,” he said adding that he had shown “love and patriotism” to the people of Sierra Leone in the last five years.
Balogun, who was Minister of State in Sam-Sumana's office until his unexplained sacking by the president, said the “Vice President is loved by the Konos” and people of Sierra Leone because of “his development and clean records he exhibited in the country.”
He said with him as running-mate, President Koroma would win the elections at first round.
In his native town of Kono the announcement of his reappointment was greeted by thousands of his people who poured out on the streets of Koidu, the headquarters of Kono district jubilating.
(c) Politico 04/10/12
