By Septimus Senessie in Kono
As the nomination of candidates for various political parties came to a close for the November polls, a staunch but aggrieved former district youth chairman of the governing All People’s Congress party in Kono, who ran and failed to secure a symbol to run for parliament in Constituency 21 in Tankoro chiefdom is running as an independent candidate.
Sahr Ansumana Bonsu told Politico that he had taken hundreds of other party supporters with him and assured that he would win.
“I will win this race [as] I am the fittest among them and my people love me and know that I am fit to go as an independent candidate“ he said, sounding jubilant.
The former district youth leader said that he took “this bold step” after consultating with his people in the constituency and claimed that “the district executive of the APC hid the aspirant’s brochure away from me after paying Le 5,540,000 to the party as candidature fee”.
He described the district executive of the party as “deceitful, treacherous malicious and inhuman” in dealing with the rank and files of the party. Bonsu said that there was “serious infighting” going on within the executive of the party in Kono district which he said had brought about “a divide and rule policy in the party”. He accused the party of marginalising them in favour of Diasporans because “we don’t have money to bribe them”.
On his position on the OCTEA mining group in his constituency he said that after winning the election he would engage the company on their roles and responsibilities to their workers and the people of Kono as well as ensuring that they respond to their corporate social responsibilities to the community they are operating in.
Responding to the allegations of the former youth leader, the district APC Secretary General denied that they hid aspirants' brochure from any one. Tamba Richard Fillie pointed out that there was a brochure that had been reserved for Bonsu but he could not show up at the party office to make payment. He said he had no body to blame but himself given that he did not fulfill the criteria of the party.
Fillie told Politico that Bonsu applied to the party’s secretariat in Freetown and not in Kono. He said they selected the parliamentary candidates in consonance with Article 5 of the party’s constitution which provided that in the case where election did failed, selection would be used. Therefore, he said, they should not be blamed for anything pertaining to the selection of those candidates, denying that there was any division within the party.
