Job Clears Bio, Others

Concord Times (Freetown)

Mohamed Massaquoi

16 May 2011

Freetown — Despite apprehensions by some members of the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) with regards the suitability of Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio leading the party to the crunch 2012 presidential election, due to his alleged “criminal record” as a result of his association with the NPRC military junta, SLPP national leader and chairman John Oponjo Benjamin has allayed the fears of supporters that all 19 flag-bearer aspirants have fulfilled the leadership criteria set by the party’s secretariat.

Some SLPP stalwarts, especially delegates, were said to have expressed serious concerns regarding Bio’s alleged role in the 1992 summary execution of some 29 Sierra Leoneans by the NPRC junta, of which the flag-bearer contender was a key member. Some even fear that if Bio happens to win the delegates’ contest, the ruling All People’s Congress may finally institute its proposed inquest on the killing of former Inspector-General of Police, James Baimba Kamara and 28 others by the NPRC as a way of knocking-off the SLPP from the race.

However, according to Mr. Benjamin, “all of them, including Maada Bio, have been vetted and certified by a special committee established to screen aspirants”. He said the SLPP has a strong democratic culture which gives equal opportunity to every member to exercise their democratic rights.

“We are conscious of every aspect of our democratic values; after we received applications from aspirants, a committee was set up to investigate a wide range of issues, more especially their criminal records. The committee came out with their report that all of them are qualified to contest,” he said at the party’s secretariat last week. “It is difficult to even ask one candidate to step-down for the other because all of them are qualified and fit to challenge the ruling government in the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.”

The main opposition chairman said he has always remained nuetral in the entire process and that “nobody will intimidate me into supporting any candidate against the other; they are all equal and have the same right to lead the SLPP”.

The SLPP, he maintained, was not starved of quality leadership but that it was significant all party members put ideas together and work in the interest of the party.

“We must be able to maintain discipline within the party, that is why we have asked our aspirants to control their supporters because confrontation between aspirants will not be in the interest of the party,” he concluded.

AllAfrica – All the Time