Samura Kamara, the presidential candidate for Sierra Leone’s main opposition party, the All People’s Congress (APC), has arrived safely in the UK for a high-level engagement at Commonwealth Secretariat inside Marlborough House, London. 

Accompanied by the Vice Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Osman Foday Yansaneh, Dr Richard Konteh, and Amb. Almamy Pepito Koroma, Kamara is expected to meet with stakeholders of the party in the UK and Ireland Chapter, party sympathizers, and well-wishers.

Kamara’s arrival in the UK comes after Justice Adrian Fisher refused an application filed by his lawyers seeking leave of the court for him to travel to the UK from 2nd to 14th May 2023.

Despite the setback, Kamara’s team was able to secure his passport and enable him to travel out of the country.

Meanwhile, Awareness Times, a local publication, has obtained an authentic copy of the Letter of Invitation extended to him by Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland KC. The letter indicates that both Kamara and President Julius Maada Bio are expected to meet behind closed doors on May 4th, 2023, at the Commonwealth Secretariat inside Marlborough House, London.

The meeting dubbed the Marlborough House Dialogue, is expected to be attended by an “intimate, curated gathering of commonwealth diplomats, dignitaries, and guests.”

During the closed-door discussion, President Bio and Samura Kamara will speak on the future of good governance and democracy in Sierra Leone.

The meeting is seen as a significant step towards political reconciliation and a positive development for democracy in the West African nation.

The newspaper however reported that neither the State House (Office of the President) nor APC (where Dr. Samura Kamara is defacto APC Leader) have informed the citizens of Sierra Leone about this closed-door meeting discussion at Commonwealth.

“It is unclear why the two men (Samura Kamara and H.E. Maada Bio) decided to keep their London meeting a secret from us the citizens,” they added.