By Joseph S. Margai & Patrick Jaiah Kamara
National Electoral Commission (NEC) yesterday will not approve the nomination of the United Nation Peoples Party (UNPP) of an under-age presidential running mate. The Commission has deferred the party’s nomination after party presented its vice presidential candidate to the Commission.
UNPP’s Presidential candidate, Dr. Saa Henry Kabuta and Running Mate, Collins Turay, were supposed to go through their nomination at NEC’s head office on Tower Hill in Freetown Tuesday, January 23rd, when they were deferred for presenting a running mate who was below the age of 40.
The action of UNPP, according to NEC, was in contravention the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone as enshrined in Section 54 (2 b) which states, “…a person shall not be qualified to be a candidate for the office of Vice-President unless he has qualifications specified in section 41.” Section 41 (c) of the same Constitution says, “No Person shall be qualified for election as president unless he has attained the age of forty (40) years.”
NEC’s Returning Officer, Mohamed Nfa Alie Conteh, deferred the UNPP officials and advised them to consult their lawyers and warned that all objections should be made at the Supreme Court. He added that the nomination continues until 26th January 2018 and if they are able to bring a running mate who is 40 years or above, they will be approved.
UNPP’s Dr. Kabuta said he would adhere to the advice and come again the next day (today-Wednesday 24th January 2018) with the qualified running mate.
However, both presidential candidates and running mates of the People’s Liberation Party (PLP), Dr. Kandeh Baba Conteh and Alhaji Abu Bakarr Sulaiman Tarawally, and Citizens Democratic Party’s Alhaji Musa Tarawally and his running mate Dr. Paul Alimamy Bangua, went through their nomination processes without qualms.
Addressing the media after the nomination, PLP’s Presidential candidate, Dr. Kandeh Baba Conteh, said they have overcomed the myth that PLP is a one-man party, adding that they held their convention peacefully and they have got their national executives who are ready to win the March 7th elections.
He said top on his agenda is to electrify the entire country because where there is constant electricity supply, there will be development in all spheres.
“We also need an enlightened public and we will build additional schools and tertiary institutions and improve on the standards of education. Even though no government would be able to solve all the problems in Sierra Leone, there were successes in the Kabbah-led Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and Ernest Bai Koroma-led All Peoples Congress Party (APC) governments. I will embark on agricultural development and we will establishing large-state farms,” he said.
Speaking on the current public debate on dual citizenship, Dr. Kandeh Baba Conteh, said he would ensure that heads of the military, police and other sensitive offices, must not be held by people with dual citizenships if he wins the March 7th presidential elections. He said he was to do a nomination to be a Member of Parliament in Constituency 032 yesterday.
In the area of coalitions, the PLP presidential candidate said people should pay attention to the composition of the various coalitions, alleging that most of the members of the so-called coalitions were ministers and heads of strategic offices in Sierra Leone that did not contribute anything to the development of the country when they had the chances of doing so.
“They also left their political parties because their selfish interests were not met, which tells you that they don’t have the country at heart,” he said.
Asked whom he would support if there is a runoff in the March 7 presidential election, he said he would support the ruling APC party.
On his part, the Presidential candidate of CDP, Alhaji Musa Tarawally, said he intends developing the people of Sierra Leone, who he says are grossly underdeveloped.
“There is extreme poverty in Sierra Leone because the economy is donor-driven. I will ensure that education is key on my agenda because the current situation is very poor,” he said.
Asked why he had not removed the “Allah is one” on his posters as instructed by the Political Parties Registration Commission, he said Islam is his religion and he is contesting under the CDP ticket which was not registered as an Islamic party. He stated, “Allah is one is a leadership motto as many politicians invoke the shrine to win election, I will pray to God and encourage the people to vote for me”.
Quizzed also why he is always seen with clique boys, he said when he was a Minister of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment, he saw clique boys using colors to fight each other but he counseled them and sent some of them to school, some overseas and some were given jobs in order to change their mind-set positively.
He said his vision for Sierra Leone is older than his relationship with the APC, adding that no one in APC would distract him from achieving his vision for Sierra Leone.
The CDP Presidential candidate said he has got American investors, who have committed five hundred million United States Dollars (USD500m) for the development of the country, if he wins the next election.
He said he is coming from Moyamba District, which has produced three heads of state but all of them did not do anything to develop the district, noting that if he wins, he would be able to distribute the national cake evenly in order to develop the entire country.
