By Abrah Tee Jay
What is common prior to the Muslim Fasting season is the prevalence of marriages across the country to enable the fiancées of fasting men to get their preferred women to cook for them during the entire period, albeit a marriage of convenience. It is this marriage of convenience that the SLPP and NGC are said to have engaged in for a Bio second term.
However, this marriage of convenience has been interpreted by the KKY camp in the NGC as a ticket for Hon Kandeh Yumkella to replace President Bio as flagbearer in the 2028 Presidential Election for the SLPP. This new found hope of the KKY has been dealt a huge blow, as other contenders for the position are coming up, with the likes of David Sengeh, the blue eye boy of President Bio being a regular name coming up in SLPP discussions, both among grassroots and top members of the party.
Furthermore, there has been skepticism that the likes of John Benjamin may not favor a KKY Flagbearer of the party. Many are of the view that there are other prominent SLPP stalwarts competent enough to lead the party to the 2028 elections, than to throw support behind a man that had left the party and formed his own, only because he is desperate to become President. They believe that, like others, KKY should go through the ranks and rise like the others. Many believe that the party needs a man that is committed to the ideology of the party, and not someone who will desert it when he fails to get the ticket of the party to be its flagbearer.
According to some observers, Chief Minister, David Sengeh, whose commitment to the party has been unquestionable, poses a serious threat to a KKY Presidency, as he has been seen as a young progressive youth that the country needs. Sengeh’s actions in various sectors, has been highly praised, and has been seen as a loyalist and an innovator, who had championed President Bio’s Free Quality School Education program. Unfortunately, KKY lacks any tangible project that he could point at as his contribution to the development of the SLPP government’s successes in the current dispensation.
Some social commentators say that for David Sengeh to cut off his dread that he had kept and nurtured for the past 20 years, is an indication of how determined he is to replace His Excellency. They maintained that Sengeh could not have cut his dreadlocks, had it been for any ordinary matter, but as a sign of being prepared for the future position that he may have to take in the party. Furthermore, Sengeh is among those that people call ‘fresh blood’ in governance with fresh ideas that would resonate with the development trajectory of the SLPP for Sierra Leone, and not an old archaic brain that will simply inject old blood into the affairs of the governance system. Many Sierra Leoneans believe that the country needs fresh blood and new ideas to take it forward, especially in the current industrial revolution that President Bio has said that Sierra Leone should not be left out from. For many in the SLPP, the likes of KKY represent the old school of politicians, and has lost his relevance.
Critics say that KKY is like the proverbial saying that “you dream riches and die poor”. They maintained that KKY was lured into believing that he will replace Bio, but the goings on in the party speak otherwise. The marriage of convenience between Bio and KKY has hit the wall, with the latter becoming the victim in the crash, while Bio emerges unscathed. They believe that KKY does not command the kind of respect that Sengeh and other contenders have in the SLPP, as a result his bid for the flagbearer of the party is going to fail.
However, there are those who are questioning whether the marriage between the SLPP and NGC was worth it. KKY, they believe has been adequately compensated and should leave the political scene for fresh blood to take over and bring development to the country.