Chairman and Leader of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC), former President Ernest Bai Koroma has once more reiterated his desire to hand over the baton of leadership to other people in the party. “Like it or not, I am going,” EBK insisted.

Ernest made this statement on Friday 17th September, 2021 whilst addressing the multitude of delegates that had converged on Makeni City to adopt the party’s revised December 1995 Constitution.

Ernest sounded disgruntled and expressed dismay, stressing that the party should not be holding the delegates convention to adopt its new constitution at the behest of the High Court if there was unity and togetherness in the party.

At the same time, Ernest maintained that if his going is unconditional on a court order then he would go to the people to ask them if they still want him as their leader because, according to him as their leader because, according to him, it is not a court that should determine the leadership of the party.

However, Ernest affirmed that he is tired and wanted to hand over the party to a younger generation of leaders.

In expressing his desires and willingness to hand over the baton, Ernest said plainly, “Ar nor glady,” meaning, I am not happy. He furthered reiterated that he was addressing the conference with mixed feeling, pointing out that the conference should have been held over year ago in Port Loko but was stymied at the eleventh hour by a court injunction sought by the National Reformation Movement (NRM) an offshoot group of the party.

Ernest also accused certain key figures in the party of hiding behind their fingers. These people, he said, he has blocked from contact with him and they are grumbling that they would call him or go to see him but he would shun them.

Ernest’s gripe against these people that he said are hiding their fingers is because they go to him and say one thing and when they leave, they continued undermining the party.

Ernest took the opportunity to affirm that APC has no problem with the government or the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).

APC’s problem, he stressed, lies within, adding that there are individuals and groups that are actively working to frustrate his administration by pointing fingers at him, the Secretary General and the Deputy Leader as being the party’s problem.

Ernest said because he went to the secretariat and took the blame openly for everything that has gone wrong in the party.

The problem with the Party, he furthered explained, is purely selfishness with others thinking that if its is not them, let everything fall apart.

According to The Exclusive Newspaper, Ernest maintained that he has no desire to continue leading the party because he wants to retire as a statesman as, according to him, he has other things to do for the country.

However, in spite of the gloomy tone that he spoke, Ernest struck an upbeat and downs would finally adopt the new constitution which, he said, is not about individuals’ roles in the party but the future of it.