By Kemoh Sesay
The All Political Parties Association (APPA) has elected a new chairperson.
Mrs Augusta James Teima, interim chairperson of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) party, was elected in the capacity of interim chairperson for the association comprising the 11 registered political parties in Sierra Leone.
She went unopposed in an election triggered by the sudden resignation of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) party`s Mohamed Bangura, who has held the position since last year when the association was revamped.
Bangura has said he was taking an undisclosed “giant step” in his political career and could not have the time to run APPA.
Wednesday`s election process was held at the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) Headquarters and it was presided over by the chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) N’fa Aile Conteh. Representatives of all 11 political parties took part in the process until shortly before voting, when delegates from the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) and the Peoples Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) marched out complaining over the eligibility of Mrs Teima.
SLPP`s Edward Suluku and Samuel Macauley of the PMDC stormed out of the hall after the announcement by the NEC boss, following a voting by show of hands by the delegates, qualifying Teima as a candidate. She was eventually declared winner unopposed, but not before Mr Suluku openly challenged her eligibility.
Addressing directly the NEC chairman, the former SLPP MP argued that Teima wasn’t eligible because she was holding a public office as lecturer at the Milton Margai College of Education, Science and Technology, where she was receiving salary from the consolidated fund. And this, Suluku pointed out, is against the PPRC Act of 2002 and the national Constitution.
Immediacy after that statement, Suluku marched out and was followed immediately by Samuel Macauley.
Politico later learned that the two protesting opposition parties had earlier indicated their objection to Teima`s candidature even before the elections.
Outside the PPRC conference hall where the election was ongoing, Macauley told Politico that he`d marched out because he noticed a lot of irregularities during the election process. He said with respect to the constitution of Sierra Leone which they, as a party, wished to uphold and respect, in as much as they wanted to give way to the inclusion of women in higher position of governance, they also had the responsibility to honor the constitution and the PPRC Act. He explained that this Act exempted people who receive salary from the consolidated fund or hold a public office from heading a political party.
Such people, he said, were also forbidden from being founding members of a political party.
“We believe that the PMDC will have to take a stand in this,” he said.
Back in the hall, a delighted a Mrs Teima, in her victory speech, promised to serve APPA accordingly.
APPA is one of several institutions that came up in efforts to foster dialogue in post-1991-2002 civil war. Its main objective is to provide a forum for dialogue among the country`s political parties, in a country known for political violence.
But the association had been dormant all these years until last year when some politicians came together to revive it in a bid to represent political parties in the national fight against the Ebola epidemic. Mohamed Bangura, was then appointed interim chairman.
Like most of its structures, APPA is yet to have a fully functioning constitution, leaving issues as terms of office for its executives largely unclear. Before Wednesday`s elections, the association was run by only two executives – the chairperson and the Secretary General. PMDC Secretary General, William B Tucker, was interim Secretary of the association, until his resignation at the same time as Bangura
According to Keifala Kosia, the new APPA Public Relations Officer (PRO), delegates on Wednesday also unanimously agreed to add a PRO in the executive list, which led to his election and that of Alhaji Ben Kamara of the Peoples Democratic Party as Secretary. All of them went unopposed. And they will serve for six month.
Kosia said their executive is tasked with the transition to a fully functional association, including the completion of the review of their constitution. He said the term of six months was also agreed upon at the Wednesday meeting, prior to the election.
Mrs Teima had campaigned for the position along the idea of women`s empowerment, and in her victory speech, she re-echoed this point.
“This is our time as women to join the men to make our country a better place as we are the mothers of Sierra Leone,” she said, addressing fellow women in the hall.
“Let us stop lagging behind. It is now a postulate for women to foster political ambition in creating a level playing field for all political parties in the country,” she added, calling on fellow delegates to think about the country after the election.
“The task ahead is difficult but with the collective work from you all it is going to be simple and straightforward. Let us put hands on deck and use all what it takes to push APPA and its objectives forward, then the sky will be our limit.”
Meanwhile, in response to the protest by SLPP and PMDC delegates, the NEC chairman advised that the aggrieved parties should file a petition after the elections. He said he was only there as NEC chairman to conduct the elections and not to decide on eligibility of the candidates.
Kosia, the newly elected APPA PRO, who is also the interim leader of the Revolutionary United Front Party, dismissed the SLPP/PMDC objection as baseless. He said it didn’t make sense that they only objected to Teima`s candidature during elections, after she had been nominated. Kosia said representatives of both parties were present when the NDA leader was nominated in an earlier meeting.
According to Kosia, Charles Margai, the PMDC leader, even nominated Mrs Teima for the position of Secretary General, a position she declined.
“Such issues are to be proven elsewhere, not during elections,” he said.
(C) Politico 06/08/15
