At its recent convention the SLPP displayed the democratic credentials expected of a grand old party. The voting system was fair and the candidates embraced each other after each announcement of results. President Bio’s speech was a display of statesmanship. He insisted he would be impartial and entreated his audience to pursue the greater good of his party. All of this will come as a surprise to doomsayers who had thought the party would go back to its old ways. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at a few cases of the old ways.

The case of the women judo fighters: The aborted women’s leader election in Kailahun involving heavyweights Hawa Foday and Fatmata Sawaneh was marred with what Olu Jones, NEC’s spokesman called “gbongbosoro” and “dabaru games”. Two of the contestants were seen wearing judo belts and without shoes. The atmosphere was distinctively hostile.

The case of the multiple injunctions: “Injunction” should sound familiar to those in the Green Movement. It sounds so familiar some members used to refer to it as “injection” or put a prefix before “junction” to describe it. SLPP lawyers like Bubuakei Jabbi, Sullay Banja Tejansie and Hindolo Gevao were injunction veterans. His Excellency the President, Prince Harding, Ali Bangura and Kandeh Yumkella know a thing or two about injunctions! Several injunctions held up elections.

The case of the endless convention with the long interval: The SLPP had its own share of schisms before the 2012 elections. Nineteen aspirants fought for the position of Presidential flagbearer. Violence between supporters of rival candidates was rife especially between supporters of the two leading contenders, Julius Maada Bio and Osman Boie Kamara. The keenly contested flagbearer election was won by Bio with only 38% of the vote and Boie Kamara coming a close second. Boie Kamara would later leave the party. This convention was one of the longest and deals made during the long interval helped clinch the leadership for Bio.

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The case of the reciprocal suspensions: The flagbearer fight in 2018 was basically between Bio and an array of aspirants who formed the Alliance of All Aspirants (AAA). The split within the SLPP produced some laughable outcomes. The suspension of the Chairman and Leader, Chief Somano Kapen and the National Secretary General, Sulaiman Tejan Sie was instigated by the four regional Chairmen, a group of National Officials and a so-called “Grassroots” group aided and abetted by the Deputy Chairman, Dr. Prince Harding and the National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Musa Tamba Sam. In a strange twist, Chief Karpen also suspended Dr. Prince Harding, Hon. Musa Tamba Sam and the Western Area Chairman, Hon. Manso Dumbuya for “undermining the constitution”! Both Chief Karpen, the Chairman and Sulaiman Banja Tejansie, the Secretary General were suspended from the party and though Chief Karpen’s was later rescinded, he remained a lame duck Chairman.

The case of the absent nominator: I still recall the SLPP flagbearer election in 2005 chaired by ‘’Electoral Commissioner”, Lawyer Francis Gabbidon in which one aspirant was nominated but not seconded and another not nominated at all. In the latter case, Ambassador John Leigh was confident about winning but he had to first at all get over ‘’the small matter’’ of getting nominated. After Gabbidon had announced whether there was any seconder for candidate Nyalley’s nomination, the hall fell silent and after several announcements, it was obvious there would be no more! It was then that Gabbidon shouted repeatedly “Any more nominations?’. Ambassador John Leigh, not a delegate, and watching the proceedings from outside the fence kept shouting: ‘’Where is B-t-her?’’ The ebullient B-t-her who had given him great confidence of leading his nomination process was nowhere to be found. Leigh, sweating profusely in the coat in which he would have made his ‘’acceptance speech’’ nearly collapsed. A throng of journalists milling round him, asking questions did not help the situation.

In the past most of the hallmarks of election rigging were on full display- a dodgy electoral list, missing names, the lights going off during counting etc. There were accusations of intimidation, money changing hands and general meddling from the top hierarchy of the party. The outcome seemed like it would be an existential threat for some of the candidates.

This convention was also notable for the retirement of Dr. Prince Harding aka “Bullet” whose influence loomed over the party for quite some time. This is a man whose political obituary was written so many times but always found a way to get resurrected. He served as SLPP Secretary General, helping the party win two elections in 1996 and 2002 before he was defeated in 2005 at the infamous Makeni convention by a young “radical reformist” J.J. Saffa aka “JJ Blood”. He became a senior Minister holding various Ministerial portfolios including Mines and Transport during President Kabbah’s tenure and held several other jobs. Harding was challenged last time round by a hugely popular Jimmy Batilo Songa but mysteriously won, even though he did not seem to be favoured from “upstairs”.

Even though this convention has received a lot of plaudits in many areas apart from its transparency, including regional diversity, critics have pointed to a few areas where it could have improved including the low female representation, provocation, especially over social media and cussing. Judith Kosseh the Treasurer and Mahawa Allieu the Deputy Organising Secretary will join the Women’s Leader Hawa Foday and her Deputy in a heavily male dominated Executive. Many lament the loss of Veronica Kadi Sesay, veteran parliamentarian and “Mother of the House” to Robert Kondema Kargbo in the race to become Deputy Leader. Civil Society activist, Moses Mambu’s ascension to the Publicity Secretary position has been criticised by some as a case of the hunter (in civil society) becoming the hunted (in politics). The pugnacious Secretary General, Paran Tarawalli (yes, he of the Clerk of Parliament controversial episodes fame) is no stranger to controversy. Both he and Mambu are reputed to be people who would take no prisoners and are bound to take the fight to the APC.

This leads us to the flagbearer convention which will cap it all. The stage has been set for these same delegates to give their imprimatur to who will be the next SLPP flagbearer. Already speculations are rife about who these major players support to be the party’s flagbearer and as usual several camps are claiming to have the unalloyed allegiance of Executive members and of segments of delegates. History however teaches us that this initial euphoria should be tempered with several doses of reality.

There are several major players, some not in this caboodle whose influence over delegates should not be underestimated. Some may be aspirants and others not. These include JJ Blood, Alie Kabbah, John Benjamin, Kanja Sesay, “Bullet” and others. Money and regional considerations are also bound to play a part in the flagbearer elections. Apart from the inordinate influence of the First Lady, the silence of the President who has claimed neutrality thus far is intriguing. His influence, if he chooses to exercise it will be huge. All of these influential people can rain on anyone’s parade. And then of course is the influence of the delicate delegates who have their own little idiosyncrasies. There are also potential aspirants who are working behind the scenes and waiting for the right time to announce their intention and exert their influence.

Delegates can be so unreliable and exploitative. This brings me to the “Delegate theory” which is in a way similar to the ”Goat theory” which states that if two goats out of four start crossing a street, the number left behind is zero and not two. Only those who don’t know goats will think the other two will stay behind! The “Delegate theory” states thus: “The total number of the number of delegates claimed by a group of flagbearer aspirants is twice the number of delegates that exist”. Only those who know goats know delegates! Leading to the 2012 flagbearer race, a sixty-year-old Young Generation delegate from Bo was rumoured to have given the impression to eighteen of the nineteen aspirants he supported them. He embarked upon his campaign to collect mobile phones (a nor want d one way get botin. E for also get camela!) and bags of rice. Another delegate from Kailahun would visit Freetown and make the rounds to aspirants. It would appear that several people paid for his fictitious hernia operation and bereavements and parted with rice and transportation fares. The man found a way of earning a living! These days the stakes are much higher with rumours of dollars changing hands.

In the end the SLPP will elect a flagbearer, and whatever the case, the successful conventions thus far are likely to take a sting out of the last one and present a flagbearer without much rancour. The challenge is now thrown to the APC to emulate the democratic transparency displayed by the grand old party which has truly come of age.

Ponder my thoughts.