Former CDP Chairman Confirms Musa Tarawally Resigned From Party in 2018
Former Citizens Democratic Party (CDP) Chairman Gibril Thulah has confirmed that former party leader Musa Tarawally resigned from the CDP in 2018 and subsequently joined the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
Thulah made the disclosure during an interview with Ecko Media, while recounting events that followed the 2018 presidential election, which went into a runoff between the All People’s Congress (APC) candidate Samura Kamara and the SLPP candidate Julius Maada Bio.
According to Thulah , as CDP members considered their position ahead of the runoff, Musa Tarawally took some party members to meet then-SLPP presidential candidate Julius Maada Bio at his residence in Goderich, where they were expected to pledge their support for his candidacy.
Thulah said the proposal created divisions within the CDP, as some members were not willing to support the SLPP in the runoff.
He explained that while Tarawally proceeded to support Bio and the SLPP, he and other CDP members chose to support Samura Kamara and the APC.
Thulah further stated that following the disagreement, the CDP suspended Tarawally from the party. He added that Tarawally subsequently resigned from the CDP and joined the SLPP.
Reiterating his account, Thulah said Tarawally had resigned from the CDP during his tenure as chairman and subsequently became aligned with the SLPP.
The latest dispute over Tarawally’s membership status emerged in September 2026 after the CDP National Secretary General, Ibrahim Sorie Sesay, wrote to the SLPP confirming that Tarawally remains registered as a CDP member and had not formally resigned from the party. The SLPP subsequently directed Tarawally to stop presenting himself as an SLPP member or flagbearer aspirant and to cease using the party’s name and logo.
Tarawally has rejected the CDP’s position, maintaining that he formally resigned from the party in June 2018 before returning to the SLPP. He has cited a June 15, 2018 resignation letter and records of SLPP membership payments as evidence, and has said he is a fully paid-up SLPP member and national delegate. He has also indicated that he is considering legal action over the dispute.