2023 Election: The Basic Concept of APC’s Flag Bearer Dr. Samura Kamara

Dr. Samura Kamara is the chosen flag bearer of the main opposition party All People’s Congress in the June 24^th 2023 general elections. He lost to Julius Maada Bio in 2018 elections and will run in the same manner with Chernor Maju Bah as running mate. President Bio on the other hand chooses Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh as his running mate just like they were together in 2018 when they sealed the win in the 2018 polls.

Dr. Samura kamara said that his mission is about building one nation, united and growing, with jobs that pay living wages and thriving businesses. He said that the first crucial assignment is to ensure a smooth and peaceful transition. “I would like to use that as a foundation for take-off with my wider agenda of uniting the country, restoring institutional independence and governance rooted in the rule of law, procedures and process. No one should be so scared and run away because of government changes; no citizens should be afraid that they would lose their jobs just because of a change of government. I intend to govern a Sierra Leone where every citizen is treated fairly and justly by their government. Once l set the tone at the top, my immediate priority would be to stem the depreciation of the Leone along with inflation and adopt measures that restore investor confidence. Then, we will rationalize government expenditure and review the FQE and Free Health Care initiative to ensure effective implementation and impact. The medium to long-term plans include putting the economy on a growth trajectory, strengthening national cohesion, dealing decisively with corruption and ensuring that the public service becomes as efficient and effective as it could be Appointments or enrolments will be based purely on merit rather than political or ethnic considerations.”

The APC aspirant, Dr. Mathew Wilson Kamara, on working toward uniting the party ahead of the upcoming elections has been showcasing great leadership. He said, “Divisions and conflicts are bound to occur in any human organization, institution, or group, especially a political party that allows democratic principles to thrive. What is important is the mechanism in place to manage such conflicts or divisions and dispositions for uniting and healing. Yes, we have had our fair share of internal disagreement, but we also suffered considerable outside interruptions aimed at our Party. So far, you would agree that we have considerable progress we held very peaceful commendable democratic elections and an extremely transparent National Delegates Conference from which I was elected candidate. The APC Party has these structures that, over the years, have delivered when necessary. was elected flagbearer because the delegates believe that I have what it takes to bring everybody body on board, and they see me as being in the most vantage position to do this, and have been doing it. All former flagbearer contestants are fully on board my campaign. In fact, one of the resolutions in the National Delegates Conference in which I was elected flagbearer was the readmission into the Party of former members who had been out of the Party for one reason or the other. l am actively involved in the process of implementing that resolution. We will continue to build on this progress and make the APC the formidable Party it must be in Sierra Leone.”

APC has been the main opposition for the ruling SLPP, and they have been working toward being the opposition by embarking on several dialog with the government. The government however has been busy with facing challenges they say started by the APC in their 11 years rule. Dr. Mathew Wilson Kamara said on collaborating with other political party that, “I believe consensus building and working with like mind as we shown willingness to cooperate on countless instances, including in the fight against Covid-19 awareness, providing relief support, supporting regulations, and the state of emergency. We supported the enactment of much legislation we believe are in the national interest and objected to those we felt were purely for political exigencies. Time is up for the SLPP government because, by June 25, I shall have been elected president, but for the remaining few weeks, we stand ready to continue to support government policies and programs that are in the national interest. The bottom line is we are all Sierra Leoneans and I consider all Sierra Leoneans as my compatriots, and my dedication to this country makes it imperative that I work with all, primarily to ensure that we overcome the challenges that this country currently faces enormous challenges that need all shoulders to the wheel. I strongly believe that we need every Sierra Leonean on board to move Sierra Leone forward. As a result, no Sierra Leonean will be discriminated.”