Donald Trump is widely perceived as a man who fought his battle alone. Despite not having any major endorsement, he strived his way through all political difficulties, and at the end he was elected as the 45th President of the great United States of America (USA). Similarly, this is a genuine attribute of the chairman and leader and now 2018 Presidential candidate of the Alliance Democratic Party (ADP), Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray who also fights his battles alone.
However, unlike Trump in the US who contested for a well established Republican Party, a party which has served the people of the US than any other Party in its history, Kamarainba in Sierra Leone is crippling with a premature ADP which has no political stake in the history of Sierra Leone. Far from the threats posed by Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray about being the next President of Sierra Leone, the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) real enemy is the embattled main opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP).
However, Kamarainba can still upset the ruling APC because his ADP has most of his supports in the northern strongholds of the ruling APC.
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Meanwhile, comparing the current Sierra Leone political situation to that of the US, it is clear that the APC would be contesting a divided SLPP. Same as Democrats contested against a divided Republican, with its major stakeholders until the end afraid to support Donald Trump.
Furthermore, it was visible that certain people voted for Obama because it was Obama, likewise people voted for Ernest Bai Koroma (EBK) as President of Sierra Leone because it was EBK. They might still decide not to vote for the APC in the coming Presidential election because it is not going to be EBK.
So, APC party must not be too complacent for the 58% votes in 2012 because certainly some people are not going to vote for it again in 2018, especially when Kamarainba who was part of APC in 2012 is now the head of ADP.
Whether it is the current APC government’s Public Relations system that is handicapped, and thus unable to adequately communicate government’s policies, or it is the system that is frustrating, only God knows. The bottomline is the grassroots Sierra Leonean are frustrated with the current regime.
However, no matter who will contest for the party, APC still stands a chance to win the next presidential election if only it is able to run a corrupt free government that caters for the people and sustain the expectations of its former electorate. In politics, it is sure that when a governing party caters for the needs of the people, one will continue to stay in power.
Politics of the day is politics of the day. The people’s power is the ultimate power. With the trust of the people, Trump proved everyone wrong and this is surely a lesson for the Sierra Leone ruling APC.
© Copyright by Awareness Times
Newspaper in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
