All is Not Well in the All Peoples Congress' Kingdom

APC Strategist EBK

Some weeks ago the degree of chaos and pandemonium in the ranks of the top leaders of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party was palpable. The party Chairman John Benjamin and party Secretary General Lawyer Banja Tejan-Sie were releasing press statements and counter statements with the rapidity of a malfunctioning AK-47 rifle. The journalistic camp of the ruling All Peoples Congress were giddy with glee and Joseph Sherman was having the time of his life.

A Happier Sherman

Now that there is some relative peace and tranquility in SLPP ranks, the APC seems to have caught the bug of  chaos and discontent. Just a few weeks ago the APC had their convention in which future leaders of the party were selected from a list reportedly supplied by State House. Though many people wanted to put their names forward to contest for leadership positions, the grip of President Koroma on the party is currently so strong that any dissenting voice was easily squashed and aspirants had to step down for the candidates chosen by the "World's Best."  Many ambitious politicians left the convention visibly dissatisfied and upset with the bastardization of democracy they had just witnessed.

As if that wound was not deep enough, the President whose term of office expires in 2017 as flag-bearer of the APC party has strictly forbidden any member of the All Peoples Congress from openly campaigning for his position, with the threat of dismissal from government if any one was caught doing so. Telling a bunch of politicians not to campaign for an open presidential seat is analogous to putting a bag of sweets in front of a room full of 3 year old children and leaving them alone with a warning for them not to touch the bag, that is damn near impossible. The probability that APC politicians will not start campaign for the president's office is almost impossible, even more so when it is rumored that some of the men very close to the President are secretly discussing arrangement as to who will succeed him. Those APC supporters not very close to the president's inner circle are growing suspicious and apprehensive as they watch Alpha Khan and Sylvia Blyden parading the corridors of State House like peacocks in heat.

Don't Touch Those Sweets!

As if it was a payback, the Segbwema blog correspondent in Makeni informed me that two weekends ago, some bold person close to the President stole the watch that had been given to him by US President Barack Obama on the last visit of the President to the country. The correspondent thought that this was just a juicy rumor put out by Sylvia Blyden to engage the opposition bloggers in rumor mongering, now that she has brought her old tabloid tricks to State House, talk about dragging Satan to Church!

Omotunde

Back in the USA old Joseph Sherman continues on his one man crusade. He continues to release one juicy detail after another. Word around some APC forums electronically monitored by the Segbwema Blogger is that Sherman is now accusing Minister Plenipotentiary Kabbs Kanu of writing articles for the Segbwema Blog just to dig the screw deeper into Sherman's poor little heart. Kabbs Kanu writing for the Segbwema Blog, wonders will never end! It will be like Satan writing the Bible. It seems as if broken hearted Joseph Sherman should be on a regimen of Seroquel three times a day, preferably with meals and the occasional dose of Ativan, to fray the poor nerves. This is a classic case of monofocal ambition gone wrong, talk about putting all your eggs in one basket.

Back in Freetown there is much disquiet among those close to Vice President Sam Sumana that not only is he now marginalized in the leadership of the All Peoples Congress, but his official functions are now gradually being handed over to the brand new Special Assistant to the President Sylvia Olayinka Omotunde Blyden and Presidential Adviser Ibrahim Ben Kargbo. The President it is reported,  has dispensed with the advisory services of Chief Sumana ad now considers him persona non grata.

Meanwhile UDM leader Mohamed Bangura is slowly emerging as one of the most trusted lieutenants of President koroma, talk about loyal opposition!

The Segbwema blogger wants to assure Joseph Sherman that he can write for himself while continuing to monitor APC's growing season of discontent. While all the scheming and bakroom dealing is going on, I hope somebody is thinking about the poor people of Sierra Leone