By Kemo Cham
Alpha Timbo will have building institutions and capacitating Sierra Leoneans to man them as his top must priorities, the presidential aspirant of the opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) has said.
He said well functioning institutions were relevant to nation building and that those who managed them were also crucial, hence the need for human capacity development.
Timbo was speaking as he presented his plan for the nation and party as campaign for the flag bearership contest for the SLPP hits up.
“When you build institutions and you capacitate the people who will manage them, that is one sure way of progress,” he said at a special interactive dinner with editors and media owners on Saturday at the Hill Valley Hotel in the west end of Freetown.
“Without abundance of capacity, institutions will mean nothing,” he added.
The SLPP has not yet set a date for its convention. But already about half a dozen names have come up for its presidential ticket ahead of national elections expected latest 2018.
As always the contest for the presidency of Sierra Leone is expected to be a wto-horse race, pitching the candidates of the governing All Peoples Congress (APC) and the SLPP.
Besides the APC`s advantage of incumbency, the SLPP is having to deal with serious intra-party issues for any chance of regaining power after nearly 10 years in opposition.
But Timbo is convinced that the opportunities for his party to win were there and that all they needed to do was putting the right candidate forward. He said his experience as a teacher, a unionist and an activist in the civil society, as well as his stint in government, positioned him at an advantage over his opponents.
As a teacher for about 10 years, Timbo came to the limelight as Secretary General of the of Sierra Leone Teachers` Union between 1990 and late 2000. He later served as Secretary General of the Sierra Leone Labor Congress and helped co-founder and served as coordinator of the civil society movement which was instrumental in negotiating peace for the country. He went on to serve as Minister of Labour, Social Security and Industrial Relations under late President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, when he prominently oversaw the establishment of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust, his most prominent achievement in government, according to the politician and his supporters.
Timbo said these experiences also gave him the opportunity to work with all categories of people – educated and uneducated – which placed him at an advantage of being accepted by every segment of society. It also made him exposed to a lot of “honest” people needed to run the country, he said.
All these amounted to both professional and political experience needed to lead, he added.
Timbo first ran for the SLPP’s presidential ticket in 2011, but he was among 19 aspirants defeated by the Rtd Brig. Julius Maada Bio.
Bio went on to lose the election to incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma in the 2012 polls.
“I have decided to renew my bid for the position because I believe election is about winning,” Timbo said.
It was the first ever meeting between a political group and the media ahead of the 2018 elections.
Timbo is a lawyer by profession. And unlike many of the aspiring candidates in the SLPP, he hailed from the north of the country.
While this makes him the unlikely candidate for the opposition party to many, the former civil society activists said it in fact places him with an unmatched advantage. He said it made him the only candidate with a national appeal.
“Coming from the north, I have always wanted to be seen as somebody who bridges the divide that seems to permeate our politics,” he said, noting that he had no regret taking that political direction.
The former Labor Minister believes the SLPP’s record as architect of peace, following the 1991-2002 civil war, as well as its record of building institutions makes it the better party to rule Sierra Leone.
“What we need today are honest and patriotic leaders,” he said.
When he ran for the SLPP`s tick in 2011, Timbo had education and human development as his top priorities. He said he changed it to institutional building and human development mainly because of how the current government had “destroyed” institutions.
Timbo, among other things, promised to create jobs, especially for the youth. And he would set aside a special day to interact with journalists if elected president, he said.
(C) Politico 01/09/15
