Former Minister and politician Sylvia Blyden has released transcripts of a conversation purportedly involving Dr. Samura Kamara, the presidential candidate of the All People’s Congress (APC), during an engagement with APC members in the UK on May 7th, 2023.

These transcripts contain allegations that the Carter Center, an institution headed by former U.S. Ambassador Cameron Hume, conspired with the main opposition flag bearer to interfere in Sierra Leone’s recent elections.

The controversy arose after Cameron Hume, also the leader of the Carter Center’s Sierra Leone Election Observation Mission, criticized the 2023 elections in Sierra Leone, claiming that they were marred by flaws. In an interview with the BBC, Hume pointed out that these flaws contributed to the re-election of President Julius Maada Bio.

Hume’s remarks implied that the opposition candidate, Dr. Samura Kamara, had rejected the election results due to these flaws, which resulted in President Bio securing 56% of the vote. Hume clarified that the uncertainty surrounding the results was primarily due to errors in the ballot counting process and did not necessarily indicate a superior performance by Kamara.

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Seeking clarification on these allegations, Dr. Sylvia Blyden engaged the services of prominent U.S. lawyer W. Bruce Del Valle, Esquire, specializing in civil, constitutional, and international human rights law. Del Valle was tasked with contacting the Carter Center to verify whether it is true that three months ago, in March 2023, the Carter Center told the APC Presidential Candidate Dr. Samura Kamara that the Carter Center was so broke that the Center needed the APC to go and lobby for money to be given to Carter Center.

Dr. Blyden recently revealed that Del Valle confirmed the safe delivery of a three-page letter, written on her behalf, to the Carter Center in Atlanta on June 29th, 2023. Additionally, a copy of the letter was sent to the National Democratic Institute in Washington DC. The letter contains an attached 88-second video of Dr. Samura Kamara, along with its transcript.

Multiple recipients were copied on the letter, including the United States Ambassador in Freetown, H.E. David Reimer, Sierra Leone’s Chief Electoral Commissioner Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, former ambassador Cameron R. Hume, who led the Carter Center Mission in Sierra Leone, and Sylvia Blyden herself.

Sierra Leone remains in a state of anticipation as citizens eagerly await further information and clarification on the claims made by Sylvia Blyden and the subsequent response from the Carter Center and other involved entities.

The transcript translated by Sylvia Blyden Reads;

“We went to Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter Center said to us: “We want to go to Sierra Leone but our pockets are too tight right now. Since you are going to America [capital city Washington DC] to meet Senators and also you are going to meet those Institutions who they [Senators] give money and which Institutions then fund us from such monies, please go and talk to them for us. They will listen to you”.

“And indeed, God is wonderful. The week we went to America is the week they call the Week of Budget Appropriation. It is the time America decides how to share and distribute monies to all their Ministries, their Departments, all the Institutions. God is wonderful oh! One Institution where we went to talk, they call it National Democratic Institute; they have a branch in Sierra Leone. They support us on Elections business. They support Elections Observers Missions particularly the likes of NEW (National Elections Watch) in Sierra Leone; those local observers. They (National Democratic Institute) are the ones who get to receive this [Budget Appropriation] money and when they get this money, they give to their other friendly Partners based there in America.

“So there [at National Democratic Institute] is where we met a certain man and we personally explained to him about the issue [of Carter Center]. By the time we returned from America, we got word that they had given the required money to Carter Center. So we did that!!!”