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Sources close to the office of the Vice President, has hinted this medium that the second Gentleman of the country, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, is currently a worried man, after stakeholders and delegates of the ruling of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) on 29th & 30th December 2021, unanimously endorsed President Bio as their 2023 Presidential Candidate at their national convention in Bo Town.
History has shown that since the days of the one-party system under the late President Siaka Stevens, there has been no situation wherein the second Gentleman (Vice President) has a second term. The only man to have come close was the former VP, Sam-Sumana.
Late President Siaka Stevens constantly confused the nation with two Vice Presidents, and non-succeeded him. The same fate met the late Francis Minah, under Late President Momoh, who was accused of Treason! Convicted and executed. Then came the democratic dispensation of the late President Ahmed Tejan Kabba, who also dumped Dr. Albert Joe Demby and chose a new VP, in the person of Solomon Berewa in his second term.
Dr. Joe Demby, despite being described as a humble servant to the nation and his boss just like VP Juldeh, only enjoyed the first term of Kabba’s Presidency, from 1996 to 2002.
The Presidency of Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma did not deviate from that practice, as his VP was seen albeit on constitutional terms, barely months into his second term. With the endorsement of President Bio as Presidential Candidate for a second term, the second Gentleman was left in Limbo, as many are envisaging similar fate.
The Time SL Newspaper reports that, most hold the view that VP Juldeh is just serving as a humble servant and may not necessarily be in the good books of his Boss, especially with being sidelined most of the time in the first Term of this Presidency. He was hardly given any significant state function to perform, with the media bashing and concerns raised by Civil Rights Activists. In his stead was then Chief Minister, Professor David Francis, who virtually performed his role. VP Juldeh was relegated to a mere official nomenclature as Vice President.
Currently, as the race to 2023 intensifies, there are new players surfacing to replace the current VP, namely: Hon. Alpha Khan, Napoleon Koroma, Momodu Koroma, Professor David Francis, and Mrs Nabeela Tunis. VP Juldeh’s chances for second term with Bio are getting slimmer by the day. His Northern Lineage is being challenged by very prominent northern players with strong following, followed by insinuation that President may decide to choose a northerner as VP, so as to dispel that the SLPP is purely a South-Eastern party.
