When President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was overthrown in a military coup in May 1997, he fled to exile in Conakry, Guinea. He stayed there until March 1998, when he was reinstated by the Nigerian-led ECOMOG forces. Kabbah was in exile for ten months.

Before his reinstatement in March 1998, rumors were rife in Conakry that, Kabbah was no longer interested in coming back to Sierra Leone as President. These rumors spread like bush-fire in the harmattan.

I contacted Presidential Adviser RES Lagao (Teacher) about the rumors at his rented apartment in Conakry. He told me that, Kabbah was fuelling the rumors by refusing to denounce them openly. “I don’t know what Tejan is gaining from these rumors”, he said.

When I interviewed Kabbah’s right hand-man Momodu Koroma in Conakry, he was very categorical in his response. “It is not true…These rumors are being peddled by the junta and their collaborators in Freetown”, he said.

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Privately, Kabbah was telling people in Conakry that he was fed up with what was happening back home. He denounced the AFRC/RUF leadership in Freetown for causing immense suffering in the country.

Even after his reinstatement, Kabbah was not happy with the level of destruction caused by the junta led by Maj. Johnny Paul Koroma. Kabbah later told me that, he was actually thinking deeply about running for reelection.

It is reported that, one of Kabbah’s Ministers actually held his feet, begging him to run for reelection in 2002.

It is also reported that, in 2001, the British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook begged Kabbah to run for a second term in the interest of the country. Kabbah himself confirmed this to me in South Africa in 2010. He refused to mention this vital piece of information in his memoir because, according to him, he did not want to appear arrogant.

2002 Elections

After declaring the war over in January 2002, Kabbah ran for reelection in May of the same year. He received 70% of the vote. At the SLPP National Delegates’ Conference in Bo in 2002, Kabbah was the sole candidate for the post of flag bearer.

Charles Margai who was bent on challenging Kabbah was deemed unqualified to run for the post of flag bearer because his membership of the party was doubtful.

Before then, Charles Margai was Kabbah’s Minister of Internal Affairs. As a Minister, Charles was allegedly conducting meetings in his office to plot Kabbah’s replacement as leader of the party.

Kabbah wrote a letter to Charles Margai, urging him to resign from the government to continue with his flag bearer campaign.

On 8th January, 2002 Charles Margai resigned as Minister of Internal Affairs from Kabbah’s government. He was replaced by Dr. Prince Alex Harding who was the party’s National Secretary General.

Flag Bearer Aspirants

President Dr. Julius Maada Bio was reelected for a second and final term in June 2023. To be fair to him, President Bio has ruled himself out of any third term bid. It shows how democratic he is. This has helped to bolster his democratic credentials as “The Father of Democracy”.

I have lost count of how many flag bearer aspirants we have in the party. The most serious ones are about five. The others are mere jokers.

At a town hall meeting in Freetown recently, President Bio made it very clear that, the choice of the party’s flag bearer for 2028 would be made by the party itself. He said it would be entirely up to the party to elect a flag bearer for the party. The President is doing what is best for the greater good of the party.

Kabbah’s decision to anoint Solomon Berewa as the Party’s flag bearer in 2007 cost the party the election of that year.

Ernest Bai Koroma’s decision to anoint Dr Samura Kamara in 2018 as the APC party flag bearer partly led to its defeat in that year’s Presidential election. President Bio is a savvy politician. The success of his government will determine the chances of whoever emerges as flag bearer of the SLPP in 2028.

Veteran SLPP politician, Dr. Sama Banya (Puawui) has warned that, all discussions about succession in the party must be put on hold. He called on everyone to focus their attention on delivering for the electorate the Big 5 Game Changer.

Many people have called on Presidential appointees wanting to run for flag bearer in the SLPP to resign now and pursue their political ambition.

It is their right to contest for any elective position in the party. But you cannot continue to be in office and at the same time promoting your ambition to lead the party. Leave that office now and concentrate on promoting your ambition to become flag bearer of the SLPP and eventually President of the Republic of Sierra Leone in 2028.

The author of a recent widely circulated piece on social media titled “If you want to run for President, resign your position” wrote, “If you are going to campaign for President, resign now and campaign for the Presidency to your heart’s content…Don’t greedily enjoy the sweets of government office, with free housing and fuel, luxury vehicle, first class plane tickets, fat per diem and then sneak away from your office and the pressing job at hand to campaign all over the country”.

The message is crystal clear: If you want to pursue your Presidential ambition, resign from the government as soon as today”. Period!