Sierra Leoneans would recall the electoral malpractice that was perpetrated by then ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) in Kailahun Court ‘Barray’ during the 2007 Presidential run-off election which warranted the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to cancel the results in addition to other places where vote rigging was proved beyond all reasonable doubt.
With this in mind, when I was called upon by the organizers of a recent programme facilitated by the President Koroma APC-led government through Paramount Chief Al-Amin Kanneh of Baoma Koya chiefdom and Ahmed Sesay –Secretary General of ECOPOD to provide levels of assistance to surviving families of late victims killed in a gruesome road accident along the Kenema-Kailahun road, I was eager to accompany them so as to gauge the changing political dynamics.
In response to cries of the aged and other vulnerable groups of elders who lack source of income from any pension scheme, the APC government of President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma through the Social Safety Net Secretariat of Ministry of Labour and Social Security at New England Ville, Freetown, is on the verge to soon make payments of allowances to these persons as the verification process comes to an end, according to reliable source in the secretariat.
The 2007 Presidential and Parliamentary elections witnessed a dramatic twist in Sierra Leone political set-up with the removal from power of a ruling party by an opposition party. Berewa’s chances of winning those elections were slim, taking into account the manner in which he was catapulted into the SLP leadership in Makeni.