Events of Last Week are a result of what party stalwarts call an exposure of an alleged conspiracy between the Interim Chairman of the ITGC, Alfred Peter Conteh and the former Vice President, Chief Samuel Samsumana, to derail the party’s convention to Install the latter as the Presidential Candidate of the APC party in the 2023 General Elections.
According to some top party members, who spoke to this medium based on anonymity, there seem to be a secret plan between the former VP and Peter Conteh to go to all length to see him become the flagbearer of the party in the coming 2023 elections, following which, Peter Conteh will in return be his Running-Mate (or Vice President). These visibly angry members maintained that it is with the said consideration in mind that the ITGC Chair had been taking all the negative decisions to
discourage the other members of the ITGC, whom he described as members of the Samura Kamara camp. They furthered that this has been the reason behind the actions of the ITGC Chair and team to hastily admit the former VP Into the party, defying the procedures to arrive at the same that was stipulated by the learned Justice Fisher in his ruling that led to the establishment of the ITGC.
According to party sources, Alfred Pe ‘eh and his cabal are practically holding the All Peoples Congress (APC) party to ransom, and preventing it from holding its convention, where they will eventually elect a flagbearer. It was maintained that the Court matter was a ploy to get their man, who is said to be the former VP, to be re-instated and restored to his original position in the party before his expulsion, thereby putting him in good stead to contest for the standard bearer position of the party in the coming election.
It was further revealed that moves by Peter Conteh to choose district chairmen, who may be the members that I would form the delegates for the G coming convention, was another way of violating the Judge’s ruling, and had this not been contested by the other 12 members of the ITGC, Peter Conteh would have built an alliance that would simply give his preferred candidate the edge and crown him as flagbearer of the party, and eventually be his running mate. This, they say, is another form of selection, which had been the first reason for the legal wrangling with the NRM.
Many concerned party operatives say that it is surprising that barely 7 months to the General Elections in 2023, their party is yet to choose its flagbearer and other representatives, including low-level officials. Many have laid the reason for the delay in Peter Conteh’s court action. He is being viewed as a destroyer of the party than a unifier and has been associated with the ruling SLPP. Many say his Actions are geared towards leaving the party in disarray which will give the ruling party an edge over them and eventually win the elections.
It is against this backdrop that things went out of control last week, leading grassroots members to call for the exit of Peter Conteh from their party.
They maintained that all the wrangling in the party is the result of Peter Conteh deliberately trying to circumvent the party’s constitution to get Samsumana as flagbearer and himself as Running- mate. He has been accused of being a dictator in the caretaker executive and has been taking unilateral decisions that he does not have the legal authority to do So.