When Dr. Ibrahim Bangura says he was born APC, he doesn’t mean it as a metaphor. No, really, his origin story is so interwoven with the party that if the APC flag had a family tree, you’d find his name etched near the roots.
Let’s rewind.
While some folks met their spouses in church, or perhaps on the dance floor, Dr. Bangura’s father met his wife at the APC office on Pademba Road/Liverpool Street in Freetown. Romance under revolutionary ceilings, you might say. The man was a Youth League warrior, later the Organising Secretary of the party. He didn’t just serve the APC, he lived it. Fell in love in it. Raised a son within it. So when Ibrahim says, “I didn’t join the APC; I was born into it,” don’t blink. That’s not rhetoric. That’s genealogy.
At 15, while most teens were memorizing lyrics or dribbling footballs, Ibrahim was mobilizing Children of the APC, a bold, teenage grassroots outfit that probably had more political sense than some entire campaign teams. By 2000, while people were trying to forget the APC existed, he formed the APC student wing at Fourah Bay College, served as President until 2004, and, wait for it, invited the then Leader, Ernest Bai Koroma, to campaign on campus in 2002.
When Koroma became President in 2007, did Ibrahim stretch out his hands for a political appointment? No. He stretched his legs, to go study abroad. “Capacity over lobbying,” he probably told himself on the flight.
Fast-forward to 2018: the party hits rough tides. Young blood (the NRM) clashed with old guard. Enter Dr. Bangura, not with boxing gloves, but with a peace pipe. He mediated, reconciled, and chose country over career by shelving his own bid for Secretary General just to bring unity. That’s not politics, that’s APC diplomacy with a PhD.
He’s served in constitutional review teams, manifestos, and reform committees. So when anyone asks, “Who’s this Dr. Ibrahim Bangura again?”—you’re either new to the game, or allergic to history.
And if you thought all that was moving, wait till he talks about Petra—his smart, beautiful daughter. She’s not just daddy’s girl; she’s the lens through which he views Sierra Leone’s future. Will she struggle for admission because of her tribe? Ride a bike while in labour, like women do in our rural areas? Or face harassment over unpaid microcredit loans? Not if her father has a say.
So, no, he’s not here to tear comrades down. He’s here to heal, unite and build with, not in spite of them. “All APC members are my brothers and sisters,” he said. And when he wins, he’s not forming a Cult, he’s building a coalition; A movement; A mission: An APC with room for all its children, whether born into it or arriving late to the party.