Kandeh Yumkella Is Not an SLPP Member, Former MP Claims
Former Member of Parliament for the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), Hon. Abdul Muniru Lansana, has claimed that Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella has not been formally readmitted into the party and therefore remains ineligible to contest for the SLPP’s flagbearer position.
Lansana made the statement during a media interview on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, while discussing the eligibility of individuals seeking to participate in the SLPP’s internal leadership and flagbearer selection process.
According to the former MP, the issue is not limited to Alhaji Musa Tarawally, as Yumkella is also yet to complete what he described as the formal process of rejoining the party.
“This is not just about Alhaji Musa Tarawally. Even Kandeh Yumkella has not been readmitted into the party, which makes him ineligible to run for flagbearer,” Lansana said.
Lansana recalled that he contested against Yumkella in the 2023 elections, when Yumkella was a member of the National Grand Coalition (NGC) and contested in Kambia.
He said that following the election, Yumkella publicly expressed his intention to return to the SLPP, but, according to him, the formal readmission process has yet to be completed.
“I contested with Kandeh Yumkella in the 2023 elections, and he contested as a member of the NGC in Kambia. After that election, he came and said, ‘I want to return to my party,’ and he has done that publicly, and now he awaits to be readmitted,” Lansana stated.
The former SLPP MP consequently argued that Yumkella remains outside the formal membership of the party until the required readmission is completed.
“Until that is done, Kandeh Yumkella still has a non-admission problem,” he said.
Yumkella, who served as an NGC Member of Parliament for Kambia in the Fifth Parliament, was officially listed in parliamentary records under the NGC during the period preceding the 2023 elections.