In searching for a successor for the 2007 Presidential election, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah drew up a succession plan immediately after his overwhelming reelection in 2002.

He started identifying suitable candidates from within his inner circle. This was a small, trusted group of people closest to him.

As the clock was ticking, President Kabbah was busy shortlisting candidates for the top job. He had three criteria in mind for the top job: loyalty, trust and experience.

In choosing Solomon Berewa as his successor for the position of flag bearer, President Kabbah had secretly and consistently consulted some of his key political allies.

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Some key political allies of President Kabbah did not hide their lack of confidence in Solomon Berewa’s suitability for the top job. Even though Solomon Berewa fulfilled all the criteria set by President Kabbah, his popularity nationwide was in doubt. Even within the party’s national executive, Solomon Berewa’s choice for flag bearer did not wash. President Kabbah had to go the extra mile to ensure that his choice of Solomon Berewa as flag bearer was acceptable.

To his credit, Solomon Berewa made great efforts to endear himself to the party’s top hierarchy after his election as flag bearer of the SLPP in Makeni in 2005. By the time the 2007 general elections were held, Solomon Berewa had become the darling of the party.

The EBK Experience

By 2018, President Ernest Bai Koroma of the APC had been overwhelmed by the number of flag bearer aspirants in his party. His attempt to succeed himself in 2018 for the third time backfired spectacularly. In the midst of that confusion, President Koroma backed the least prepared aspirant for the top job.

President Koroma’s decision to sack Vice President Chief Sam Sumana and his expulsion from the party added a significant setback to his succession plan. VP Sam Sumana’s expulsion from the APC cost the party dearly. The Kono people refused to back the APC flag bearer Dr. Samura Kamara in 2018 because they felt that the APC had treated their son unfairly.

When the run-off election came in March 2018 between the APC’s Samura Kamara and the SLPP’s Julius Maada Bio, the Kono people voted overwhelmingly for the SLPP candidate. They punished the APC in the ballot box for unfairly treating their son, Chief Sam Sumana.

Bio’s Succession Plan

Whether one likes it or not, President Bio must have drawn up his succession plan by now. His successor for the post of flag bearer will definitely come from within his inner circle. How many of the current aspirants actually belong to President Bio’s inner circle?

President Bio will definitely not back anyone that he does not trust. He would certainly back someone that would protect him, his family, his assets, his friends and his legacy. No one in the APC would protect President Bio’s legacy. Therefore, it would be in his best interest to support a candidate from the SLPP that is loyal, trustworthy, experienced, acceptable to the people across the country and someone that the international community would be happy to work with.

President Bio should continue to provide political direction for the party in choosing his successor. Those who have work to do, should continue to help in delivering on the manifesto the party sold to the electorate in 2023. It is only President Bio’s legacy that the SLPP will campaign on in 2028. Nothing else!

As the President said in his New Year’s address to the nation, 2026 is a year of action. This is the year of delivery!

In choosing his successor for flag bearer, President Bio should ensure that that person meets the criteria of national and international acceptability, loyalty, trustworthiness and above all, reliable and dependable.

May common sense prevail!