Friday, 10 November 2017

PRESIDENT KOROMA RELIVED MINISTER DR SYLVIA OLAYINKA BLYDEN AND DEPUTY MINISTER NENEH TURAY FROM THE MINISTRY OF SOCIAL MSWGCA NEW MINISTER IS ISATA KABIA

https://www.facebook.com/pay.wahun/videos/1892782167418329/

I've been relieved of my duties. I Congratulate Ms. Isata Kabia, new Minister of Social Welfare, Gender & Children's Affairs

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sl.issues/permalink/1482094875159629/

‼‼ *SYLVIA BLYDEN CAUTIONS APC, ERNEST KOROMA*

The sacked Minister of Government Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden has cautioned her former boss, His Excellency the President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, to tred cautiously in the weeks and months ahead. According to her, she is not concerned over being relieved of her duties as Minister as she knows none of what has been thrown at her, can ever stick. She however cautioned that the fact that His Excellency the President could openly side with corrupt persons against her own steadfastness in curbing corruption, should be a cause for concern to all who campaigned and voted for the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) exactly five years ago in 2012.

It is a fact that Minister Blyden has stood very firm to protect Government funds and has turned to the Anti Corruption Commission with cogent facts several times now. Those complaints, some of which like the AFCOM Case, have spanned over 15 months being investigated, all had documented evidence submitted. This also included the recent Hajj corruption in which $314,000 was stolen from the Ministry. That one is also under investigation. So many other cases with evidence, some of which were never even publicised, have made many advisers of the President to be jittery.

They advised that Blyden should be removed from office. But how does one remove a popular Minister? That is always a dilemma.

According to widespread belief that is buttressed by documents which this press has seen, the chance came up when the Minister recently defied directives of her boss. The President had asked his now-sacked minister, Dr. Blyden, through the Secretary to President, to turn a blind eye and sign the PETS FORMS to endorse release of money for the Disability Commission to access funds despite glaring evidence of corrupt heartlessness towards vulnerable Disables in proposed use of the funds. Despite documentary evidence such as 200 million leones was planned to be used to pay as rent for a run-down bungalow which was not worth that amount.

In response, the sacked Minister stated in a letter she wrote to President Koroma dated *November 2nd 2017*, that she instead prefers to be sacked by him than betray her conscience and the Oath she took.

President Koroma however realised that the female Cabinet Minister was so popular that if he sacked her over her stance, it may be difficult to defend the sack.

The matter was then cleverly transferred from State House to Parliament with the MPs given the impression that Dr. Blyden was being unreasonable in her refusals to sign. Indeed, on the day she first appeared in Parliament, she initially met a very hostile environment with many of the MPs prepared to guillotine her but with calm eloquence, the Minister was able to make her case so well that even the most hard-hearted person in that Parliament was left with no option but to be convinced that her decision was correct and in the interest of vulnerable Disable citizens.

The next move to embarrass her and create a platform to sack her, was at the Budget hearing for her ministry. Persons unknown had told the staff to submit a mumbo jumbo document to MPs that would naturally get the MPs asking embarrassing questions. Once again, divine intervention stepped in and those who went to embarrass the Minister got thrown out by MPs who knew the diligence of the Minister.

When they appeared again, this time persons unknown got the Accountant who also tried to embarrass the Minister but again, the Almighty stepped in and guided the Minister to speedily swear an affidavit under Oath with the facts of why she had insisted on the Truth to be reported to Parliament. *The elected MPs speedily approved the budget.* 😃

It was now a time of desperation for her detractors. Dr. Blyden needed to be sacked as she was a stumbling block but an excuse was needed. So, heads came together to help the Head of State pull all possible stops to remove the popular Minister.

So it was that the deputy minister suddenly starts to threaten she has evidence of "Corruption" and she goes on radio. Nothing she could say on that radio yesterday morning of November 23rd 2017, made much sense. The deputy minister was just screaming like a banshee. It took eloquence of the Minister to save the day when the radio called her for her own side. Clearly, the stage managed radio programme was done to incite the Minister to serious anger. The Minister once again exhibited calmness and maturity that won her so many more admirers yesterday.

The President however now believed he could relieve the Minister safely and his media team seems to have assured him that they will spend enough money and time to effectively demonize the Minister as being sacked because she went over the radio to defend herself and the government of stupid allegations. Indeed, all over social media last night, ruling APC party operatives and State House staff were busy posting scathing pieces to attack the sacked Minister that she was sacked because when she was called by the radio on the nonsensical allegations, she defended herself.

‼ *But Dr. Blyden is having none of that.*

"Nobody who listened to that radio programme can fault my response when I was called to defend whether 6 billion leones was indeed missing at the Ministry" Blyden explained.

"Sending Neneh to make those outlandish claims and then relieving me of my duties is a game plan but I am assuring them again that I am a Teflon Politician who will surprise my detractors" she boasted, adding "the plans to rub dirt on me did not work and will never work but I want to caution His Excellency President Ernest Bai Koroma and my beloved APC party to be very cautious in how they condone corruption whilst our vulnerable people suffer so much. It is unfair. Let us not take Sierra Leoneans for granted."

PRESS RELEASE FROM STATE HOUSE

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY INFORMED THAT HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT DR. ERNEST BAI KOROMA HAS DECIDED TO RELIEVE DR. SYLVIA OLAYINKA BLYDEN AND MRS. RUGIATU NENEH KOROMA OF THEIR DUTIES AS MINISTER AND DEPUTY MINISTER RESPECTIVELY IN THE MINISTRY OF SOCIAL WELFARE, GENDER AND CHILDREN’S AFFAIRS.

IN CONSEQUENCE THEREOF, IT HAS PLEASED HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT TO ASSIGN MS. ISATA KABIA AS MINISTER OF SOCIAL WELFARE, GENDER AND CHILDREN’S AFFAIRS WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT.

END

STATE HOUSE

FREETOWN 23RD NOVEMBER, 2017

*Radio 98.1 and their headline of SIX BILLION "MISSING" AT SOCIAL WELFARE MINISTRY - Thank God for Sylvia Olayinka Blyden.*

👸🏽

Had it not been for the astute and proactive nature of the Honourable Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs Dr. Sylvia Blyden, the 98.1 Radio Station would have gotten away this morning of Thursday November 23rd 2017, with a terrible act of unprofessionalism. It had been arranged by the radio to get Neneh Turay, the misguided Deputy Minister of that ministry to go live on air alongside the SLPP Leader and Chairman Prince Harding to state that SIX BILLION LEONES got missing during last year 2016 at Social Welfare Ministry.

It would have been a sensational material for the SLPP's Dr. Prince Harding had it not been for the speedy and very admirable intervention of Hon. Sylvia Blyden who maturely debunked the radio's alarmist lead headline of *SIX BILLION LEONES MISSING!*

Hon. Blyden skillfully via a matured and euphemistic exposure of the educational inadequacies of her assigned Deputy Minister seated inside 98.1 Radio Station, ensured that the only thing the SLPP's Prince Harding could end up using against the APC was not evidence of Ministerial CORRUPTION but only to say that President Koroma is unable to run a disciplined government so Deputy Ministers go live on radio to attack the Government Minister.

*This criticism of President Koroma is quite true though.* How can your Deputy Minister get up and just go live on air making such unproven allegations?

Worse of all, it appears to be a totally unprovoked tirade as nothing the Deputy Minister said could explain why she went to attack her boss so viciously. So something fishy smells here. We repeat that something smells very fishy. Who wants to remove the Minister from that seat? Who? Who? Who?

Who stage-managed this morning's show? Who? Who? Who?

The coincidence of producer Asma James disappearing this morning and leaving unprofessional younger folks to handle that kind of SIX BILLION MISSING headline with SLPP Prince Harding seated right there, is interesting. Pray God for long life so you can see the wickedness of politics. We will live to see more!

It is not the first time that same deputy minister Neneh Turay is doing so. Using the same 98.1 Radio Station in January this year, she attacked Abu Daramy of the Office of the Government Spokesman as a liar because he was defending Government over the sacrificial meat issue. Again it was the same Minister, Honourable Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden who saved the day when she called into the 98.1 radio station and maturely put the records straight on the sacrificial meat issue. Immediately the mischief of Neneh Turay that time in January, was also killed by proactive Minister Blyden.

How long will President Koroma allow this kind of GROSS INDISCIPLINE from Deputy Minister Neneh Turay? Will Dr. Sylvia Blyden always be around to call in and save the day for this government?

Today, SLPP could not use the FM98.1 Radio headlined nonsense of *SIX BILLION LEONES MISSING* because of the proactive skills of Hon. Minister Blyden, a dynamic pride of Mama Salone. Blyden has saved the day today - but what about tomorrow?

Something to think about.

As you ponder your thoughts deeply, please listen to the 10 minutes audio accompanying this update. It is of the same Deputy Minister abruptly calling into that same 98.1 radio station to viciously attack the Abu Daramy of the Office of Government Spokesman as a liar. Continue to listen throughout that audio and see how Hon. Minister Blyden saved the day with maturity - *in the same way she did it this morning* as she did back in January this year.

Will Minister Blyden always be around to save the day? Food for thought.

*SEA MEDIA PROMOTIONS*

23rd November 2017.

- please reshare this piece

https://www.facebook.com/radiodemocracysl/videos/1474606945926427/

‼️‼️ SYLVIA BLYDEN CAUTIONS APC, ERNEST KOROMA.

They advised that Blyden should be removed from office. But how does one remove a popular Minister? That is always a dilemma.

President Koroma however realised that the female Cabinet Minister was so popular that if he sacked her over her stance, it may be difficult to defend the sack.

But Dr. Blyden is having none of that.

"Nobody who listened to that radio programme can fault my response when I was called to defend whether 6 billion leones was indeed missing at the Ministry" Blyden explained.

cautious in how they condone corruption whilst our vulnerable people suffer so much. It is unfair. Let us not take Sierra Leoneans for granted."

©️ Awareness Times Newspaper

https://www.facebook.com/radiodemocracysl/videos/1474606945926427/

I will not betray my conscience (Blyden)or the Oath I took!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SIERRALEONENATIONALISTS/permalink/1500714666672620/

Wednesday, 6 September 2017

Sir Albert Margai and the West 1967 Elections

Did Westerners Fool Sir Albert In 1966 , Or Was It Another Dumb SLPP Politicking That Boomeranged ?

By Wilfred Leeroy Kabs-kanu

HERE IS A VERY interesting piece of news I found in the August 18, 1966 issue of the Daily Mail.

Freetown passed a vote of confidence on the PM , SIR ALBERT MARGAI and his SLPP government and assured the Pa that they will support his government in whatever way possible, just 7 months before the epic 1967 General Elections that changed Sierra Leone forever.

SIR ALBERT MARGAI

The vote of confidence was signed by politicians, ministers of the gospel, businessmen , youths and people from all walks of life, according to the Daily Mail.

I can imagine how Pa Shaki, S.I. , C.A, Bangali Mansaray, S.B. Kawusu-Konte and others felt with this development , given that the APC needed to win Freetown to stand any chance in the elections. Did it put fear in them ? Only God knows.

The so-called vote of confidence from the Western Area which the PM valued and believed so much he handed to the Governor-General, Sir Henry Lightfoot-Boston , turned to be a ruse , because in the elections that followed 7 months later, the then opposition APC completely swept the votes in Freetown and the SLPP hardly won a seat there. In fact, it was from the results coming from Freetown that the PM smelt the rat that his world was completely caving in, under his disbelieving eyes.

The SLPP lost the elections with costs and had to invite the Force Commander Brigadier David Lansana, an in-law of the PM, to stage a coup, a development that our country is still suffering from today, 49 years after. The 1967 coup and what followed retarded our country in a way that is unimaginable.

Was Sir Albert fooled by the Creoles or was he lying ?

As a cub journalist then, writing under the pen name SAM BLUNT at the age of 12, on the same year I entered secondary school , I can sill remember what happened. The vote of confidence could not have reflected the true picture of what was going on because it had come to a time in 1966 when the PM was being booed on the streets and even angry women were turning their backs on him and prostrating . The Creoles had disliked Sir Albert like the dirt under their shoes because he had been accused of marginalizing them and putting Mendes in all positions in the Civil Service and MDAs.The opposition newspapers, Shekpendeh, Think, Awoko, Scope and We Yone were slaughtering him like somebody without an owner. So from where did the vote of confidence come when de Pa had become so unpopular?

SHAKI : HE WAS NOT A UNIVERSITY GRADUATE BUT WAS SMARTER THAN THE SLPP

One year afer this vote of confidence, the Prime Minister was in detention at Pademba Road Prisons appearing before the Forster Commission of Inquiry which was set up by the NRC military regime to investigate corruption in his government, and he was being booed to the rafters by huge Freetown crowds that gathered outside the hall every morning to catch a glimpse of him and his ministers being led to the Commission .

Did the Western Area fool the PM ?

If indeed 1966 /67 set the tone for today’s political realities in Sierra Leone, this incident is very important because, fundamentally, it exposes the differences between the SLPP and the APC.

Tuesday, 5 September 2017

DOMBOLO IN THE SLPP- KANDEH KOLLEH YUMKELLA AND OTHERS RESIGN!

WHAT'S THE FUTURE NOW FOR MAADA BIO AND THE SLPP??

https://youtu.be/xiQFjYaQNxc

STATEMENT OF RESIGNATION FROM THE SIERRA LEONE PEOPLE’S PARTY by

Alhaji Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella

5 September 2017

Freetown, SIERRA LEONE

Distinguished Guests,

Representatives of the Fourth Estate,

Ladies and Gentlemen

Sierra Leoneans are not born RED or GREEN.

On 3rd July 2017, I publicly announced my decision to suspend my bid to contest for the Presidency of the Republic of Sierra Leone under the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). On the same occasion, I promised to keep the public informed of the next steps in my political career. Your meeting here today is in fulfilment of that promise exactly two months since that decision.

Permit me to state at the outset that my candidacy for the presidency of our country has always been about seizing an opportunity to reset our people on a progressive trajectory by improving governance, reducing mass poverty, curbing corruption, fostering national cohesion, providing hope and opportunities for them to translate their needs and aspirations into reality and using our abundant natural resources for sustainable development.

I have had profound sentimental attachment to the SLPP since my childhood when my father and family made huge sacrifices as their contribution to the establishment of the Party.

Thereafter, many great men and women each did a little so that the SLPP could survive including, to name only a few, Sir Milton Margai, Bai Farama Tass, Bai Shebora Yumkella, Ella Koblo Gulama, Bai Koblo Pathbana, S.B. Mara, Sir Albert Margai , Salia Jusu-Sheriff, Teacher Lagao, Lamina Sankoh, R.G.O. King, John Nelson Williams, Gideon Thomas, Honourable Mana Kpaka, John Akar, Honoria Bailor Caulker, Pa Sanusi Mustapha.

The SLPP Party to which my parents belonged was a party of these dignified and respectable men and women who, together with my own parents, were committed to working for the progress of their country and compatriots. They strongly believed in the core values of the primacy of rule of law, preservation of unity, guarantee of freedom and justice.

It was this tradition that I felt duty bound to preserve and contribute to with my own talents, time, energy and resources. Regrettably, as you are all aware, that Party is no more. What we have today is a caricature of the SLPP of our Founding Fathers suffering as it is currently under a mis-leadership that continues to thrive on violence, lack of respect for elders, falsehood, betrayal, violation of rules, manipulation of people with messages of division, dark schemes and designs, lack of focus and loss of credibility.

When I announced that I was suspending my aspiration for the position of SLPP Flag bearer, I strongly believed that the conflicts and tensions within the party would be at least reduced if not eliminated since some people had, wrongly though, attributed those tensions and conflicts to my presence in the race. However, the whole country is now aware that since I suspended my bid for the flagbearership, the camps have multiplied, the internecine squabbles have intensified, whilst the divisions have become deeper, and the confusion has continued.

Yet the party mis-leaders are still in denial that they are the real architects of the ongoing conflicts, dysfunctional nature and eventual demise of the party. People who supported me and continue to do so have been marginalized and wrongfully excluded from mainstream party activities while the quarrels over delegates’ lists continue unabated.

Today, the SLPP is in a suspended state of re-animation due to the greed, selfishness and wickedness of a few characters as majority of the people of good conscience in the Party are being led down the path of destruction of a party they have been loyal to and made sacrifices for. There are no red or green Sierra Leone, we are just one people bound by a common heritage in the land that we love.

A political party is a vehicle for contesting elections and attaining state power, but loyalty to party must never take precedence over loyalty to country. Our country must always come first and no interest should supersede national and public interests. Hence, my belief and the mantra of the KKY Movement has always been "Country First".

Consequently, it is with a heavy heart that I hereby publicly declare that with effect from today 5th September , 2017, I cease to be a member of the SLPP. I am not leaving alone. As you can see gathered here with me are many of the leaders of the party (especially the critical leaders at the constituency level), who have felt disenfranchised and share my views about what the SLPP has become, and have therefore decided they can no longer remain on a ship that is fast sailing towards the breakers ahead.

They are men and women who have held high positions in the party for over two decades, and some including former Vice President Joe Demby, and Dr. Momodu Yilla, have served our country in very high positions. And I know that after today, many thousands more will also exit and follow us and we encourage them to do so from today.

I want to recall that when I announced the suspension of my bid for the flagbearership of the SLPP, I also stated that I will continue my bid for the presidency and will seek to work with a Coalition of Progressives. Well, today, I stand on the threshold of a new beginning in my life, when my personal commitment to put my country first takes on a new meaning.

The urgency with which our people are crying for help in Sierra Leone today has compelled me to leave all the negative forces behind and look forward to a positive life of service and dedication to God and country.

Some people have argued that in the politics of Sierra Leone, there are only two parties capable of winning elections and therefore a THIRD FORCE is not possible here. They say that CHANGE is not possible in Sierra Leone because the ordinary people are not intelligent and clever enough to know that they are being robbed and used by their current mis-leaders who have ingrained in them the false belief that the people will always choose to support those who are responsible for their past and present lives of misery and deprivation.

However, we Progressives hear and see a totally different narrative from around the country, especially at the ground-zero of suffering in the Ataya Bases, among the Okada riders, and in the sprawling urban slums around Bo, Freetown, Kenema, Kono, and Makeni etc. They don’t want to continue to suffer because they know now that they have been fooled all along. We Progressives know that no one can fool the people all the time.

Therefore, what the people are looking for now is a NEW FORCE with a totally different political narrative from the ones they have been used to for over half a century and not just a THIRD FORCE that will repeat the same old stories of the past. And there is strong reason to believe that change is coming and that something entirely new is going to happen. The call for change can be heard from the unemployed youth, college graduate who cannot find a job, young girl who dropped out of school because of pregnancy, relatives of thousands of mothers who died while delivering a baby in a dilapidated healthcare system, market women who cannot make ends meet after days of selling; thousands of veterans without sustainable livelihoods, and tens of thousands of teachers without payroll identification numbers.

Everywhere, people are rising, people who have never been political are now getting involved and stepping forward; there is a general mood in the nation today that enough is enough. Furthermore, I can see people belonging to different political parties putting away their party colours in order to work together for the good of the country and our people. When good people stay aloof it is bad characters that fill the vacuum, which brings us suffering, destroys our lives and the future of our children.

Therefore, I feel energised and charged today to move forward and join other people of like minds as part of a New Force of Hope and a Coalition of Progressives. I have been talking to several political movements and parties recently, trying to assess the best approach for us to integrate into existing efforts, and my decision is now to work from within the National Grand Coalition (NGC) as a rallying point for those progressive minds, students, workers, traders, unemployed people, business people, elders, religious people, civil society groups, and women's groups, that I have had the opportunity of meeting in my recent consultations. For this purpose, the global KKY Movement will fully transition into the National Grand Coalition by 31st October, 2017.

Some may wish to ask why the National Grand Coalition? The answer is simple. The NGC is not a political party like other political parties we have known in this country. It is aspiring to be a mass movement of Sierra Leoneans at home and in the diaspora who are committed to real change, and are working to ensure that ordinary people have ownership of the party.

I have been impressed by the NGC’s ability to attract people from every region, religion and other political parties ; the integrity and dynamism of those at its helm, freshness of its outlook, high values and principles on which it stands and the confidence it commands in those who are yearning for a new kind of politics in Sierra Leone. It is indeed a Grand Coalition of Progressives.

I shall be paying a visit to the NGC’s office later today to visit interim Chairman and Leader, Dr. Dennis Bright, and to formally take up my role in the party. The NGC Movement has already received its Provisional Certificate to operate as a political party and as such it is bound by the rules set out in the Political Parties Act, 2002.

Last week the Commissioners of the PPRC inspected the NGC offices around the country, and I am reliably informed that the offices fully meet the requirements to be registered as a full-fledged Political Party.

As we await receipt of the final certificate in a few weeks which I understand to be the on September 23rd, we will respect the PPRC rules of engagement. Consequently, I shall refrain from making political statements on behalf of the NGC for now, but will continue to exercise my rights as a citizen of Sierra Leone and as a professional development expert and continue to speak about development issues and education.

At this point, let me say that I bear no ill-feelings towards any members of the SLPP most of whom will remain my great friends. I hope at some stage in the future we will all agree to work together for the good of our country by sharing the same concerns and solutions to humongous problems our people are currently facing. This applies equally to people from other political parties and persuasions with whom I find common ground. They are all sincerely and genuinely welcome to join me and the National Grand Coalition in our patriotic search for a better Sierra Leone. We need to break away from some old allegiances that were meaningful in their time but which unfortunately have been overtaken by the realities of a changing world and can no longer offer us the solutions that we seek.

We must all rise above ethnic chauvinism, reduce patronage in public institutions, cub corruption among public officials and make the stage work for ordinary citizens. Our new party is calling on all Sierra Leonean – irrespective of party affiliation, region of origin, and ethnic identity and religious affiliation – to join us in taking our country back. At the end of the day, a good leader is someone who leaves his or her state in far better shape than it was when they took over as leaders of their country. Measured in terms of this common sense proxy, the late President Kabba left our state in a far better condition than it was when he took over a war-torn and broken nation in 1996. And when the candidate chosen by the party to succeed him was defeated in the 2007 presidential elections, he gracefully did the right thing by peacefully handing over power to the APC after his party’s defeat, Kabba was clearly putting his Country First ahead of his party.

Let us hope and pray President Koroma will follow Kabba’s example and hand over power to a new generation of leaders in the forthcoming elections in March 2018. To this end, we have full confidence that the National Electoral Commission is fully capable of rectifying the 30,000 missing voters expeditiously from the hard copies of the registration forms. However, we express deep concern over the technical integrity of the voter machines, the software for voting tallying etc. We should learn from the Kenyan experience and capacitate NEC and not undermined it.

Today, more than ever before, Sierra Leone, our country, needs people of courage and integrity and fortitude. So, let us stop sitting on the fence. I call on all well-meaning Sierra Leoneans, all those who truly care about Sierra Leone and want real change to take place, those who want this land that we love to take its rightful place in the community of nations, those who want their children and grandchildren to grow up in a peaceful and prosperous country to join me and become a members of the National Grand Coalition.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my wife and my family, the KKY Movement, our many friends and supporters, at home and abroad, for their steadfast support and continued confidence in my candidacy. With God's grace and guidance, we shall succeed in bringing change to our beloved Sierra Leone.

Long live the people of Sierra Leone !

May God bless us all !

In discussion with President Koroma

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"AMBITION IS THE LAST INFIRMITY OF NOBLE MINDS" [James M Barrie-(1860-1937)]

MAADA! What's the future now?? !

"AMBITION, drove men to become false; to have one thought locked in the breast , another ready on the tongue"

Sallust-[86Bc-34BC] The War with Catiline

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 5 September 2017

Breaking News:

Dr Kandeh Yumkella resigns from the SLPP to join national grand coalition of progressive liberals

September 5, 2017 Abdul Rashid Thomas

Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella – one of the leading contenders for the presidency of Sierra Leone at elections to be held on 7th of March 2018, has today waved goodbye to the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).

The presidential hot favourite has this afternoon resigned from the SLPP along with several high-profile party grandees, including Mr. Joe Demby and former deputy governor of Bank of Sierra Leone – Mr Momodu Fofanah.

His resignation is now likely to trigger a seismic mass exodus of party rank and file members and senior officials, to join the new national grand coalition of progressive liberals that are in and out of the country, poised to take over the running of the country after 2018 elections.

Speaking at a news conference this afternoon, Dr. Yumkella was unequivocal about his reasons for leaving the SLPP, and his hopes for the future.

Dr Yumkella said: “I feel energised and charged today to move forward and join other people of like minds as part of a New Force of Hope and a Coalition of Progressives. I have been talking to several political movements and parties recently, trying to assess the best approach for us to integrate into existing efforts, and my decision is now to work from within the National Grand Coalition (NGC) as a rallying point for those progressive minds, students, workers, traders, unemployed people, business people, elders, religious people, civil society groups, and women’s groups, that I have had the opportunity of meeting in my recent consultations. For this purpose, the global KKY Movement will fully transition into the National Grand Coalition by 31st October, 2017.”

This is his full statement to the people of Sierra Leone and the international community:

On 3rd July 2017, I publicly announced my decision to suspend my bid to contest for the Presidency of the Republic of Sierra Leone under the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). On the same occasion, I promised to keep the public informed of the next steps in my political career. Your meeting here today is in fulfillment of that promise exactly two months since that decision.

I have had profound sentimental attachment to the SLPP since my childhood when my father and family made huge sacrifices as their contribution to the establishment of the Party.

It was this tradition that I felt duty bound to preserve and contribute to with my own talents, time, energy and resources. Regrettably, as you are all aware, that Party is no more.

What we have today is a caricature of the SLPP of our Founding Fathers suffering as it is currently under a mis-leadership that continues to thrive on violence, lack of respect for elders, falsehood, betrayal, violation of rules, manipulation of people with messages of division, dark schemes and designs, lack of focus and loss of credibility.

However, the whole country is now aware that since I suspended my bid for the flagbearership, the camps have multiplied, the internecine squabbles have intensified, whilst the divisions have become deeper, and the confusion has continued.

There are no red or green Sierra Leone, we are just one people bound by a common heritage in the land that we love.

Consequently, it is with a heavy heart that I hereby publicly declare that with effect from today 5th September , 2017, I cease to be a member of the SLPP. I am not leaving alone.

As you can see gathered here with me are many of the leaders of the party (especially the critical leaders at the constituency level), who have felt disenfranchised and share my views about what the SLPP has become, and have therefore decided they can no longer remain on a ship that is fast sailing towards the breakers ahead.

They don’t want to continue to suffer because they know now that they have been fooled all along. We Progressives know that no one can fool the people all the time.

The call for change can be heard from the unemployed youth, college graduate who cannot find a job, young girl who dropped out of school because of pregnancy, relatives of thousands of mothers who died while delivering a baby in a dilapidated healthcare system, market women who cannot make ends meet after days of selling; thousands of veterans without sustainable livelihoods, and tens of thousands of teachers without payroll identification numbers.

Everywhere, people are rising, people who have never been political are now getting involved and stepping forward; there is a general mood in the nation today that enough is enough.

Furthermore, I can see people belonging to different political parties putting away their party colours in order to work together for the good of the country and our people. When good people stay aloof it is bad characters that fill the vacuum, which brings us suffering, destroys our lives and the future of our children.

Therefore, I feel energised and charged today to move forward and join other people of like minds as part of a New Force of Hope and a Coalition of Progressives.

I have been talking to several political movements and parties recently, trying to assess the best approach for us to integrate into existing efforts, and my decision is now to work from within the National Grand Coalition (NGC) as a rallying point for those progressive minds, students, workers, traders, unemployed people, business people, elders, religious people, civil society groups, and women’s groups, that I have had the opportunity of meeting in my recent consultations.

For this purpose, the global KKY Movement will fully transition into the National Grand Coalition by 31st October, 2017.

I have been impressed by the NGC’s ability to attract people from every region, religion and other political parties; the integrity and dynamism of those at its helm, freshness of its outlook, high values and principles on which it stands and the confidence it commands in those who are yearning for a new kind of politics in Sierra Leone. It is indeed a Grand Coalition of Progressives.

As we await receipt of the final certificate in a few weeks which I understand to be on September 23rd, we will respect the PPRC rules of engagement. Consequently, I shall refrain from making political statements on behalf of the NGC for now, but will continue to exercise my rights as a citizen of Sierra Leone and as a professional development expert and continue to speak about development issues and education.

This applies equally to people from other political parties and persuasions with whom I find common ground. They are all sincerely and genuinely welcome to join me and the National Grand Coalition in our patriotic search for a better Sierra Leone.

We need to break away from some old allegiances that were meaningful in their time but which unfortunately have been overtaken by the realities of a changing world and can no longer offer us the solutions that we seek.

At the end of the day, a good leader is someone who leaves his or her state in far better shape than it was when they took over as leaders of their country. Measured in terms of this common sense proxy, the late President Kabba left our state in a far better condition than it was when he took over a war-torn and broken nation in 1996.

And when the candidate chosen by the party to succeed him was defeated in the 2007 presidential elections, he gracefully did the right thing by peacefully handing over power to the APC after his party’s defeat, Kabba was clearly putting his Country First ahead of his party.

Let us hope and pray President Koroma will follow Kabba’s example and hand over power to a new generation of leaders in the forthcoming elections in March 2018.

To this end, we have full confidence that the National Electoral Commission is fully capable of rectifying the 30,000 missing voters expeditiously from the hard copies of the registration forms. However, we express deep concern over the technical integrity of the voter machines, the software for voting tallying etc.

We should learn from the Kenyan experience and capacitate NEC and not undermined it.

Today, more than ever before, Sierra Leone, our country, needs people of courage and integrity and fortitude.

So, let us stop sitting on the fence. I call on all well-meaning Sierra Leoneans, all those who truly care about Sierra Leone and want real change to take place, those who want this land that we love to take its rightful place in the community of nations, those who want their children and grandchildren to grow up in a peaceful and prosperous country to join me and become members of the National Grand Coalition.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my wife and my family, the KKY Movement, our many friends and supporters, at home and abroad, for their steadfast support and continued confidence in my candidacy. With God’s grace and guidance, we shall succeed in bringing change to our beloved Sierra Leone.

Long live the people of Sierra Leone and may God bless us all.

You can listen to a section of Dr Yumkella announcing his resignation and outlining his future:

Audio Player

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Editor’s Note

kindly donate to our Freetown Flood Disaster Emergency Appeal. We’re raising £50000 to help victims of the massive flooding in Freetown, Sierra Leone, which took the lives of over one thousand people, with thousands now homeless.