In a privileged conversation with the then intending Presidential candidate for the 2018 Presidential election, Dr. Kandeh Yumkela, I told him point blank that contrary to whatever his supporters may be telling him, the majority of those who were backing his proposed bid for the Presidency were depending on him for their own recognition.

I named them all one by one. Dennis Bright the current Chairman of the National Grand Coalition party (NGC) lacks a political base. I said that in my view, it was on him that they depended to give them legitimacy. I added that even in the special case of my nephew, Andrew Keili who could boast of a constituency, Maada Bio would beat him hands down in his backyard of Baiima in Mandu Chiefdom, Kailahun district.

The Presidential election result vindicated me. I also added that if he won any votes and seats anywhere at all it would be in his native Kambia district in general and Samu Chiefdom in particular. I have never boasted to Dr Yumkella with the age old expression of “I Told You So.”

However, according to one of our Mende proverbs, if one commits adultery with their mother-in-law both may be cleansed culturally, but that every time the couple meets, their minds would go back to their indiscretion. And so it is that Kandeh Yumkella and I have never referred to that meeting to this day.

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Fast forward, since his election as Chairman of the NGC Dennis Bright has been very vocal about the party’s affairs. I would go so far as to say that every so often he has even acted as both Spokesperson and Public Relations Officer. Unfortunately what happened recently in Samu Chiefdom between President Maada Bio and his former NPRC colleague Kandeh Yumkella is as it should be and in accordance with our culture and practice. Unfortunately, it may be a strange phenomenon to Dennis Bright and some of his associates. Quick as mercury his hand was already on the trigger and he started to fire indiscriminately without even waiting for an explanation from his Member of Parliament.

Sorie Fofana, Manjoro as I prefer to address him fondly, the Publisher of the widely read Global Times newspaper is a Journalist of high repute. His undeclared motto could have been, “Publish and be damned.” Flattering as that may be, it would be an inappropriate way to refer to his newspaper or his opinions because the Global Times has remained among the top responsible ANDREW’s popular newspapers in Sierra Leone. What I mean is that although he calls things by their proper names he doesn’t mince his words. His latest opinion on the Samu Chiefdom saga is an example of how he calls things by their proper names, without causing offence or animosity. His Op Ed in last Wednesday March 2 edition of the Global Times newspaper with the front page headline “With or Without KKY….PRESIDENT BIO WILL CONTINUE TO WIN”.
I couldn’t agree more or put it better.

What I have continued to tell our supporters of the great Torkpoi family, is that by all indications, Dr Julius Maada Bio will be re-elected President in 2023, by the Grace of Almighty God. What I continue to exhort our members and adherents is this that not only must President win, but to do so with an overwhelming majority. Yes, I mean that he must break late President Tejan-Kabbah’s 2002 reelection record by an even bigger margin.

Notwithstanding the Chernor Bahs, Gibril Banguras and their smearing campaign, or the occasional outbursts of the Titus Boy-Thompsons or Mohamed Two Drops Sankohs, that the totally focused young man is turning neither left nor right in his march to keep Sierra Leone on the international stage for all the right reasons.

During the 2018 campaign, his DETRACTORS said he won’t win, but he said he would and he did. What Dennis Bright and others are attempting to do with their Coalition of all Political Parties in which many of its members neither have a single seat in Parliament nor a local Councillor, but in which they and the APC dominate. Did the SLPP not remain a member of the widely recognized ALL POLITICAL PARTIES’ ASSOCIATION, the bullying tactics of the APC government notwithstanding? Nay, Dennis Bright and his colleagues are seeking a place where they dominate by their Vuvuzella. Yes, they smell the outcome of what 2023 holds in store for them.