Why I Bankole Johnson endorsed Dr. Samura Kamara’s declaration for the APC flagbearership and the presidency of Sierra Leone

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I was in the North-Eastern city of Makeni last weekend to publicly support and endorse the equally public declaration of Dr. Samura Matthew Wilson Kamara as “The Face and Flagbearer” of the App Peoples’ Congress (APC) Party at the next Presidential elections on June 24th, but time and circumstances did not allow me to have elaborated on my reasons for considering him as the most suitable and most fitted person to clinch the Flagbearer Ticket of the APC Party, hence this piece. And those reasons could be summarized as under:

Commitment

He is the candidate that has demonstrated the highest unwavering commitment to purpose. He was the very first to declare his intention to continue the crusade of liberating the country from the clutches of the SLPP immediately after they were given governance in 2018. His determination and resilience to champion the cause of the masses is unrivalled. For example at the time many escaped to seek solace offshore in a desire to evade the wrath of what has now passed off as the intolerant era of a clearly despotic regime, Dr. Samura Kamara he remained in the country throughout, identifying and afflicting himself with the afflictions of the downtrodden and persistently molested and harassed APC supporters until time and circumstances would afford him the opportunity for transforming their lot through the ballot box. That time and opportunity is now.

Scrutiny

Over and above all of that DR. SMWK and I have shared values especially in areas on (a). Integrity (2). Probity and Accountability. In my entire life, I have never supported anything or anyone that is tainted.

In the entire post-independent political history of this county, no other personality seeking public office has been subjected to such intense, concerted and excruciating scrutiny by all the law enforcement agencies of this Republic combined and emerged as unscathed, as Dr. Samura Kamara. For the past four uninterrupted years if we did not hear of Dr. Samura Kamara being investigated for stealing Puff Cakes, we would hear that he is being investigated missing Pounded Yam.  Not a single one of those investigations and or prosecutions have been satisfactorily concluded to have found him derelict in his responsibilities, but from all of which he has emerged as Clean as a Whistle; As Straight as an Arrow and As Shiny and Pristine in Character as a New Pin.

What more positive character traits and proven leadership and administrative competence can the citizens of any country be looking for in anyone to help their country rise like a phoenix from the embers and ashes of unbridled governance maladministration and the lapses Sierra Leone has suffered in the last almost five years?   

Leadership Competence

To his detractors Dr. Samura Kamara has always been a suspect. But to us his admirers including of course our moral guarantors the International Community, Dr. Samura Kamara has always been a reservoir of respect and leadership competence. And that is exactly why in his entire life whether in or out of Sierra Leone and in-between political dispensations, he was never unemployed for years like many others.  

But what I have discerned from all of his challenges is that it was the hand of God preparing and strengthening him for the greatest of responsibilities of governing this country. After all as peoples in Yuroba land would say: “It is only the tree that is blossoming ripe fruits that the people will always be throwing stones at”.

“Debul”

In paraphrased Biblical speak, if “Crucify him” should always follow every loud “Hossanah” , then it should be logical that every initial “Crucify him” will also ultimately end in a loud “Hosannahs”. And Dr. Samura kamara having surmounted all his “crucify him”, it is the expectant “Hosannahs” which his detractors do not wish to hear but that should now naturally follow. And that is inevitable because to us believers, God + 1 Person = Majority. And insofar as the Presidential aspirations of Dr. Samura Kamara are concerned, nobody can stop that now. In fact in the innermost hearts of the SLPP the writing is already on the wall and since last Sunday 12th, most of their senior party cadres have developed bowel looseness “bcos dem dae frade am lek debul”.

“Weaponized”

Fellow Sierra Leoneans in general and Comrades of the mighty APC Party in particular, even if you have not been in-country since April 2018, you definitely must either have read, or been told of the excruciating  hardship people are experiencing  and the level of depravity of lives attendant upon that hardship. Our depravity has continued to be worsened by a climate of palpable poverty, heightened further by an intense feeling of hatred, suspicion and recrimination by Sierra Leoneans for Sierra Leoneans. 

Never before in the history of this country has our political fabric been so polarized and replete with raw/brazen intimidation by agencies that are supposed to guarantee citizens their fundamental constitutional freedoms. In other words, those same institutions have been “weaponized” and used against mainly opposition elements so as to silence them perpetually. Harassment and mass sackings  of peaceful and law abiding citizens from their contractual and tenured appointments either simply because of their ethnocentric backgrounds or political convictions have become a norm, thus accelerating poverty, diseases and lawlessness within communities. In a few cases, citizens were herded into rooms to listen to their names being recited from a well prepared “Master Sack List”, reminiscent of the way names of Jews were recited from Schindler’s List before they were led away to Camps in Dachau and Bergen Belsen for execution. The only difference here was that those whose names were axed from their employment were allowed to go home alive, but into permanent unemployment thereafter.

Reverse

Again never before in the history of this country have citizens been so perplexed and yearning for redemption, and  the only person I know and believe to have the zeal, leadership competence and strategy to reverse this untenable trend to -: 

– Restore patriotism and induce cohesion within our national fabric

– Heal the divisions that has characterized our politics in the last five years

– Promote political stability to engender and attract Foreign Direct Investments so as to create  

  massive employment opportunities for our teeming youths

– Reduce teeming youth population of idlers and under-age street hawkers that should otherwise

  be taking Classes 

– Eliminate institutionalized corruption, end the continued capture of State institutions by the

  Executive and to stop using them as weapons against political opponents

– Guarantee us a Nation State of Sierra Leone devoid of ethnocentric biases and in which

  Constitutionality and the rule of law will jealously safeguard the safety and security of citizens

if given the opportunity to do so, is Dr. Samura Matthew Wilson Kamara. 

Fellow Sierra Leoneans in general and Comrades of the APC in particular, if in five years our country could degenerate this low, what do you think would happen to this country if the SLPP are allowed to govern for another five years? We will be chastised with whips and in typical Sierra Leone speak:  “Kondo go eat Ihm Mamma”!! And I bet you it shouldn’t be long before our local restaurants will either begin to include “Kush” in their MENU a desserts, or that Homosexuality begin to be taught as a Core Curses in our Secondary Schools. I pray to God Almighty we do not deteriorate any worse.

Phenomenon

To be forewarned is to be forearmed. A mother monkey will never advise her baby monkey to “hold tight” when jumping through branches, but she will dutifully advise it to always “look down” before springing across. In the same way I can only warn my fellow Sierra Leoneans to please “look and think” well before voting this coming Sunday at our National Delegates’ Conference in Makeni and at the June 24th Presidential polls to ensure that in both instances, the choice of Dr. Samura Kamara as the Flagbearer of the APC Party and President of Sierra Leone thereafter is prioritized. Thankfully unlike as in 2017 when questions were asked about his proper identity, the name – Dr. Samura Matthew Wilson Kamara – is now a phenomenon – reverberating in every nook and cranny of this Republic and even beyond. 

Fellow Sierra Leoneans in general and APC Comrades in particular, in the presidency of Dr. Samura Matthew Wilson Kamara there will be no “Winners”; there will be no “Losers”. No “Victors”; no “Vanquished”. As a matter of fact he has committed himself to running an all-inclusive non-reprisal governance administration devoid of vengeance, revenge and recriminations. Over and above all dignity will be restored to the Office of the First Lady within the Office of the Presidency and without compromising her respect, there shall only be one “Excellency” in this Republic – restricted of course to the person that was elected into that sublime office. Two Captains cannot be in charge of a single Ship!!  

Recommendation

Fellow Sierra Leoneans in general and Comrades of the APC Party, it is on that note that I am again proudly and boldly recommending Dr. Samura Kamara to your most serious consideration for election, both as the face and Flagbearer of the All Peoples’ Congress (APC) Party this coming Sunday 19th, and also for the June 24th 2023 Presidential elections thereafter as the next duly elected President of the sovereign Republic of Sierra Leone.

So Help Us O God!!

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