Barely eight (8) weeks to the National Delegates Conference in Bo City, the SLPP internal politics is in a permanent state of fluidity. My interaction with delegates across the country indicates that the December Delegates Conference is not a one-horse race but it has the tendency to bring forth unspeakable surprises never seen in the history of the party.

My helplessness in the face of this unpredictable situation in the SLPP greeted me with the following confusing but deliberate questions; Can the SLPP be so confusing in practically eight (8) weeks to its National Delegates Conference? Is the SLPP the ruling party with a Leader leading? Is the party secretariat prepared to conduct a free and fair Delegates Conference? Can the delegates help to solve this quagmire and serve the party well?

Instead of giving answers to the above, these questions left me more confused than the English word itself. In my native Mende language, we call it “hunlugbungor” as my Temne brothers could say, “sumpamie”. If anyone could have told me three (3) years ago about the current state of affairs in the SLPP party, I would have said it impossible to have one of the oldest political parties in sub-Saharan Africa find itself in such a deep shape.

Regrettably, it seems we have not learned from the past. Worst of it, we have not learned from the experiences in 2007 and the trappings of power that engulfed our nearest neighbors in the political history of Sierra Leone.

My message in this teaser is in two folds: ONE: The Delegates. you have the singular opportunity to make or break the SLPP. Your vote in December will determine whether the SLPP will win the General Elections in 2023/24 or whether SLPP will stay in power for the longest time in Sierra Leone.

Vote for those who will live longer to see the legacy of President Bio. Vote for those who will have a future to share with the present generation and generations yet unborn. Vote a candidate who will inject new thinking and rework the schematics in the SLPP for the good of the party and country. Vote for a candidate who will connect the thin line between politics and governance for the good of the party and country. Finally, and lastly, vote with the fear of God and for posterity.

TWO: The Candidates. On this, I will zoom on only three (3) candidates vying for the Chairmanship position; the veteran or near octogenarian Dr. Prince Alex Harding, the dynamic, vibrant, calculated and forward-looking Jimmy Batilo Songa, and the measured, purified, the carefully educated Alex Bhonapha Esq. These people are all fine gentlemen of the SLPP but there is time in the history of generations when decisions are made – whether the decisions are for or against the forces of change and whether the decisions are for or against the forces of continuity.

Change has to be made and change starts from within and each of these players should accept the need for a change. Are we happy with the current tussle in the SLPP? Are we doing well in governance? Do we need unity? Do we have a unifier among the three (3) candidates? Which campaign message is preaching unity?

The political triangle among Alex Bhonapha Esq., Dr. Prince Alex Harding, and Jimmy Batilo Songa sounds like a perfect political allegory that has left the SLPP more confused than it was before the General Elections in 2018.