There are times when silence is betrayal, and speaking up becomes a patriotic duty. At a time when the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) is being torn apart by ego, greed and internal power struggles, veteran journalist and Chairman of the Board of Authority at the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA), Mr Sorie Fofana, has spoken. And when Sorie Fofana speaks on SLPP politics, the party must listen.
In a recent interview with Ecko Media, Mr Sorie Fofana, who is also the publisher of the Global Times newspaper and one of the most consistent chroniclers of the SLPP’s history, expressed deep concern over the growing divisions within the party.
“I am concerned about what is happening in the SLPP,” he said. “Whatever unites the party should be promoted, and whatever divides the party should be avoided.”
It is a simple sentence, but it carries the weight of decades of political wisdom. It is advice that could save the SLPP from self-destruction.
Let us be honest: the SLPP is at war with itself. The battle is no longer between SLPP and APC. The battle is SLPP vs SLPP. Factions, cliques, camps, and social media mercenaries have taken over the party. Every day we see expulsions, counter-expulsions, leaked audios, character assassination, and fights over who is a “real” SLPPian and who is not.
The latest victim of this madness is Hon. Alhaji Musa Tarawallie, a man whose contributions to the SLPP cannot be erased by Facebook posts.
On this, Sorie Fofana was blunt and fatherly:
“He said the issues surrounding Hon. Alhaji Musa Tarawallie are very unfortunate because he has known Musa for so long and knows him to be an SLPP member.”
That is not just a statement; it is a fact check. Hon. Musa Tarawallie is not a stranger to the SLPP. He is not a stranger who jumped on a moving vehicle. He has been in the trenches of the party; he has sacrificed; he has funded; he has campaigned when it was not fashionable to do so. To now question his membership because of internal politics and petty jealousy is not only unfortunate, as Mr Fofana rightly put it, but it is politically suicidal.
What Fofana is reminding the SLPP leadership is that this party has a history. The SLPP is not a new party created in 2018. It is the oldest political party in Sierra Leone. It has survived wars, coups, exile, and electoral defeats because it always found a way to reconcile, not to expel. It survived because elders like Mr Sorie Fofana,, Dr Sama Bayah, Hon. Kanja Sesay and others understood that unity is strength.
“The SLPP has a history of surviving internal battles, but this can only happen if the party leadership prioritizes what unites rather than what divides,” Fofana noted.
That is the core message. But will the current leadership listen?
Today, the SLPP national executive is busy entertaining disciplinary committees against its own members while the country is facing economic hardship, youth unemployment, and public discontent. Instead of focusing on governance and fulfilling the promises made to the people, the party is busy fighting over executive elections, membership cards, and who controls which district.
This is exactly how parties lose power. The APC did not lose in 2018 only because of the SLPP’s strength; the APC lost because the APC was divided and arrogant. The SLPP must learn from that history.
If the SLPP continues to push away loyalists like Hon. Musa Tarawallie, if it continues to promote the politics of exclusion instead of inclusion, it will enter the 2028 elections as a fractured, wounded party. And a divided SLPP cannot win any election.
Mr Sorie Fofana is not just any party supporter. He is close to the Presidency. He is a respected elder. He is the Chairman of a sensitive institution like NCRA. He is a man who has defended this government with his pen when many were attacking it. When such a man says, “I am concerned,” State House and Wallace Johnson Street must pause and reflect.
His advice is clear and timely: 1. Stop the unnecessary fights over membership, 2. Stop the expulsions and suspensions, Promote reconciliation and Focus on what unites the party: its ideology of social democracy and service to the people, not what divides it.
The 2028 elections are just around the corner. The opposition is reorganizing. The people are watching. The SLPP cannot afford to be seen as a party that eats its own.
We hope the National Chairman, the Secretary General, the Bo School of Politics, and most importantly, His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio, who is the Leader of the party, will listen to Mr Sorie Fofana’s advice.
Because whatever divides the SLPP today will destroy it tomorrow.