A former Member of Parliament for Constituency 043, Koinadugu District, Hon. Mohamed Sheike Lamain Mansaray, has raised serious concerns over the deepening divisions within the All People’s Congress (APC), warning that the infighting poses a grave threat to party unity and its chances of winning the 2028 general elections.
Hon. Mansaray is calling for the immediate dismantling of the Independent Elections Management Committee (IEMC) led by Mr. Hassan Kamara, whose handling of the ongoing lower-level elections, he said, has triggered widespread anger at the grassroots.
In an exclusive interview with The Informant Newspaper, the former lawmaker questioned the credibility, competence and impartiality of the IEMC to conduct free, fair and transparent internal elections.
“I am deeply disappointed with the conduct of the IEMC. In an interview with Liberty Online TV, Hassan Kamara himself revealed that some of his own team members have been compromised to defraud the process on behalf of some flagbearer aspirants,” Hon. Mansaray disclosed.
“How can we allow a few boys to hijack the party for their selfish interests? If we cannot get it right now by conducting free, fair and credible lower-level elections, how do you expect to win the 2028 elections?” he queried.
According to him, the failure to ensure transparency in the lower-level elections is responsible for the flood of petitions to the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) and the numerous court cases now facing the party.
“Members are petitioning and going to court because we are not doing the right thing as a party. This is not the APC we know. We cannot preach democracy to the nation when we cannot practice democracy within our own party,” he lamented.
Hon. Mansaray called on the APC Elders’ Council and other senior stakeholders to rise to their responsibility and urgently address the growing anomalies, including all outstanding petitions, before further damage is done to the party’s image and cohesion.
He stressed that lower-level elections form the very foundation of the party structure, and any manipulation at that stage would produce a weak, fragmented and illegitimate party that cannot withstand the rigours of a national contest.
“We need unity, not division. We need transparency, not fraud. The party belongs to the grassroots, not to a few individuals in Freetown who think they can decide our future,” Hon. Mansaray emphasized.
The APC is currently conducting lower-level elections across the country ahead of its National Delegates Conference, but the exercise has been marred by allegations of bias, fraud, manipulation and open confrontations among supporters of various flagbearer aspirants.