With President Julius Maada Bio constitutionally barred from contesting a third term, the question dominating Sierra Leone’s politics is no longer whether there will be a succession battle inside the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), but who will win it.
As both major parties prepare to hold their flagbearer conventions in 2027, the SLPP faces a delicate balancing act between party loyalty, constitutional eligibility, and raw political power.
The first hurdle is not popularity, but the party constitution.
Under the SLPP’s August 2020 Constitution, Article 17, anyone aspiring to be Leader, Flagbearer, Deputy Leader or Running Mate must have held the status of Distinguished Grand Chief Patron for at least five years and met all financial obligations.
In February this year, Secretary General Umar Paran Tarawally revealed that only seven members currently meet that strict criteria: Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, Dr. Prince Alex Harding, Umaru Napoleon Koroma, Sulaiman Banja Tejan-Sie, Jacob Jusu Saffa, John Oponjo Benjamin and Alhaji Momodu Koroma
That list, if enforced, would exclude several high-profile names now circulating in the public debate, including Chief Minister Dr. David Moinina Sengeh, Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella (KKY), and First Lady Fatima Maada Bio, unless the constitution is amended or their status is upgraded.
The issue of Kandeh Yunkella is particularly contentious. After challenging Bio for the flag in 2018, leaving to form the National Grand Coalition (NGC) and returning before the 2023 election, questions remain whether his readmission and financial standing qualify him under the five-year rule.
Beyond the constitutional list, three blocs are driving the street-level conversation:
Vice President Dr Mohammed Juldeh Jalloh is being marketed inside the party as the safe, unifying option. Born in Kono, raised in the Fulah community, with a PhD from Bordeaux, he has acted as President close to forty times, including during the August 10, 2022 crisis, and is praised for loyalty and restraint.
President Bio himself has repeatedly described him as an “exceptional Vice President,” and veteran APC politician Ibrahim Ben Kargbo has publicly said even opposition supporters would be comfortable with him. His supporters chant “Juldeh na we only hope” from Kono to Bo, running a grassroots “Juldeh 2028 Movement” even before he has declared.
Young, technocratic, and popular with urban youth and diaspora, Sengeh ranks highest among ordinary SLPP supporters in recent polling. He represents the party’s modernizing wing, but faces questions over his Distinguished Grand Chief Patron status and whether the party’s old guard will hand power to a 37-year-old.
The most controversial name is First Lady Fatima Bio. A new Institute for Governance Reform (IGR) national survey in October 2026 put her ahead in an aggregate ranking of SLPP aspirants with 48% support (34.3% among supporters, 61.7% among delegates), ahead of Sengeh (45.05%) and Jalloh (44.5%).
IGR said 62.4% of SLPP delegates expressed preference for a group that includes her.
Her spokesman Wusu Jalloh told Ecko Media on October 8: “If she wants to be flag bearer of SLPP, nothing will stop her from being flag bearer,” though he stressed she has not declared.
The report itself has come under scrutiny for methodology, but its political impact is undeniable. Supporters cite her Hands Off Our Girls campaign; critics warn of dynastic succession and the precedent of a sitting First Lady succeeding her husband. In September, she reportedly told SLPP North America members her engagements were with delegates, a comment that drew wide attention.
Party insiders say the real question is: Who controls the road to 2028?
Is it the sitting President through a directive? Chairman Jimmy Batilo Songa caused uproar in August when he told constituency chairmen in Bo to await a directive from President Bio regarding the next flagbearer, a statement the Secretary General later distanced himself from.
Is it the delegates? The constitution? Or regional networks?
President Bio has repeatedly warned against factionalism and early campaigning, but with the SLPP National Executive struggling to discipline aspirants and membership cases like that of Alhaji Musa Tarawally, who was told to stop parading as a member – dragging on, unity is fragile.
The 2028 contest will be shaped not only by who wants State House, but by whether the SLPP can manage its transition without amending its own rules in the middle of the game.
For now, no one has officially declared. But the race has already begun.