A Not So Elusive Peace By Keketoma Songa To say that the SLPP is in trouble is an understatement. The term of the current NEC is supposed to be ending in July 2015. We still have two court injunctions, three peace efforts with no results yet, and more divisions in the party than in all its history. Bio and his men (Prince Harding, Tamba Sam, JJ Blood , Kanja etc) who have controlled the NEC and regional party machinery for two years have had a one-goal strategy i.e. Secure Bio as FB and nothing else. They have mounted no serious challenge to APC, they have presented no alternative strategy for nation building, and have certainly not done much for the war on Ebola. When you ask Bios folks, they blame JOB and his chairmanship for dividing the party. When you ask JOB he blames everyone else but he keeps the worst venom for Bio. When you ask the current NEC they lament the lack of resources and the court injunctions (all caused by them). When you ask Uncle Andrew he blames Bio and the lack of leadership of the elders. When you ask supporters of Alie Bangura, KKY and others they also blame Bio and the PAOPAristas. Frankly, all of them and all of us are responsible. As they say, sometimes people get the leadership they deserve. Bios recent immature and insincere peace overture to JOB and AKK further confirmed how deeply entrenched the disagreements are between Bio-JOB on the one hand, and Bio-Andrew on the other hand. The press releases and counter-press releases showed a party in real disarray and laid bare the fact that the various peace processes (Peter Tucker initiative, Bishop Humper effort, CUT etc.) may not have had any impact on the mindset of the main protagonists of the conflicts in the party. More importantly, the London peace shenanigans showed that Bio cannot handle any sophisticated and constructive processes. Why would a serious leader go for a quick publicity rather than patiently negotiating behind the scenes with various factions and then announce a comprehensive peace deal? Why did he not consult Mr. Peter Tucker and the Bishop (but rather he corralled his own faction within the UK-I executive to orchestrate a charade). JOB and Andrew are justified to be outraged because it was a typical militaristic guerrilla ambush. Why should anyone trust a peace move by Bio again? Why usurp a Young Generation event for immediate publicity rather than show the young generation a new brand of statesmanship by giving them the credit for bringing so many protagonists together? It is this lack of sophistication and maturity that worries some of us about the paoparista agenda. In fact, the London events showed that Bio has no interest in consolidating the party but rather, he wants to make quick gains to repair his image and get the FB (but not to achieve longer-term political victory for the party). Unfortunately, for now, though he is a trouble maker, we still have to deal with him for the sake of peace. I am still hopeful, that the training in Bradford will enlarge Bios horizon, and expose him to the new normal in good governance in the 21st century. Why the impasse in the party? One reason is that no one has bothered to address the findings of the PPRC report on the root causes of the conflicts inside the party. Second, for as long as some protagonists in the various conflicts have an exaggerated opinion about their importance and influence in the party they will never back down from their entrenched positions. Third, all attention has been focused on who will be the next flag bearer. So the more flag bearers that come forward the more factions evolve (however small) and the more new interests will complicate an already terrible situation. Fourth, divisions within the party will continue to widen as long as supporters of potential FB aspirants (declared and undeclared aspirants) continue to battle it out in newspapers and social media. The Yelibahs and vuvuzelas add more notice to an already deafening situation. Fifth, the current peace efforts have been flawed by ignoring the reality that some flag bearer aspirants do have some influence on what is going on in the party (Pa Banya in one of his writings early this year hinted at this). My biggest worry is that if things are not resolved by 2015, the party could break apart. We saw it happen to the APC during 1986-1995. Readers should recall that by 1995 the APC broke up into four parties each led by a powerful personality; Thaimu Bangura (PDP) Kerefa Smart (UNPP), Osman Kamara (led the old APC). and Edward Kargbo had his own party. Today we have personalities in the SLPP who, if they do not form real alliances, and if they are not respected, could break the SLPP into smaller splinter groupings. If the tribal and sectional thinking pervades further, and if PaoPa continues more abuses and intimidation, then some folks might just call their bluff and break away. For example, within the past 4 weeks, 6 of the potential aspirants passed through London for one reason or the other (Andrew, JOB, Ali Kabba, Timbo, Kandeh, and the resident Bio came in from Bradford). Each player rallied his own troops, and their supporters/Yelibas spinned everything out of control in social media. When you look back at 2014, and the outcome of these visits to the UK and the strength of the aspirants organizational structures (externally/UK/USA and in Salone) it is becoming clearer that the two strongest aspirants now are Bio/Paopa and Kandeh/KKYM. So what do we do? What is the way forward? The current NEC has already enjoyed a year and a half of their two-year term. So they should be asked to complete their tenure in June 2015 and an interim caretaker executive of 5 Judges of the High Court appointed to run the affairs of the party for one year. During this period the 5 Judges can do the following (a) set a date for FB elections eg June 2016; b) conduct fresh delegates elections between by second half of 2015 due to Ebola; (c) conduct FB primaries in March 2015 and (d) only the two leading FB candidates can go for the run-off in June 2016. With this plan, everybody wins. The current NEC will finish their term. A neutral body runs a transparent delegates and FB selection process in one year. The primaries will separate the sheep from the goat, and those who have exaggerated their influence in the party will be silenced. The new FB takes over the party and has a full year and half to prepare to face the APC. If all these efforts fail, the elders should call Maada and Kandeh to meet with JOB and Andrew in Freetown in early 2015, and ask them to save the party by coming together and proposing a joint peace plan. So in the spirit of inclusive politics, and the Christmas season, I wish to reach out to all groups to start a dialogue between or among Maada, Andrew, JOB, Ali Bangura and Kandeh. Chief Karpen should call these five guys and ask them for a meeting in Freetown after the holidays. At the same time, Mr. Peter Tucker and Bishop Humper arranging a meeting in London for Maada and Kandeh ( both of whom live in Europe). I am not talking about flag-bearersip or running mate issues right now; lets focus on a 10-point action plan to unify SLPP. This plan can be presented JOB, Andrew, Alie Bangura, Chairman Chief Karpen and Secretary General Tejansie, and the NEC in January. The best New Years gift to Salone will be a Unified SLPP, strong and ready to challenge the APC. Elusive peace can be a reality if all protagonists leave their egos at the door before peace talks begin. Merry Christmas.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 20:45:49 +0000
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