Aspiring flagbearer of Sierra Leone’s main opposition party, the All People’s Congress (APC), Dr. Richard Conteh  has called on all party flagbearer aspirants to consider the need for reconciliation after their convention.

He said reconciliation after the party’s convention will be a stepping stone for them to achieve victory against the ruling, Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) come 24 June 2023.

Conteh said if he win the party’s flagbearer race, he will reach out to all losing aspirants and try to foster unity with them.

He also called on stakeholders of the party to focus on the future, which according to him is to win the upcoming elections. He added that they should forget about inner-party politics which is a distraction to the party.

He further disclosed that he will be the first person to call and congratulate whoever emerges as the winner, after the announcement of the results, adding that the party needs to learn from its previous mistakes which made them lose the 2018 elections.

Dr. Conteh noted that even though Dr. Samura Kamara was selected by former President Koroma with the blessing of the National Advisory Committee (NAC), not much was done by him to reconcile the party and bringing on board the other aspirants.

He concluded that the upcoming convention has the potential to divide the party with some members breaking away, but noted that an election is about accumulating more votes and not losing potential voters.