We reproduce vile, political tribal incitement which with other similar materials were published over the past weeks by senior SLPP members and supporters. Not a squeak of protest was then heard by the pro-SLPP media.
It is only now when the independent section of the media comes out to set the record straight that a certain tabloid suddenly wants a cessation as stated in their Page 2 editorial of yesterday?
The sheer hypocrisy! Where was this tabloid for the last weeks when SLPP papers took negative tribalism into our body politics? Let them please read Sam Conteh's piece published today to learn why SLPP’s attempts to re-introduce negative tribalism into our body politics must not just be waved off but should be crushed to the ground by all patriots.
A VERY SHAMEFUL & DISGRACEFUL SLPP TRIBALISM WHICH APOLOGISTS IN THE MEDIA NOW WISH TO DISMISS & WAVE OFF
Below on this page is a whole load of TRIBALISTIC & INCITING RUBBISH by a pro-SLPP Coward going by a Fake Name of Mohamed Idriss Kanu. Over the last seven weeks, these utterly shameful words have been repeatedly published in at least six Sierra Leone Media Houses with the PPRC & the IMC in silent acquiescence. This Article & Proponents of its contents like SLPP Deputy Leader/Chairman, Chief Somano Kapen [what a disappointment Sir!!], all go against the current Sierra Leone Constitution; go against PPRC Act of 2002 and also go against Seditious Libel Laws of 1965. After all we learnt in TRC Report, how can we allow this kind of political message where Tribe supersedes stated Policies? Instead of debating about Respect for Human Rights, Extra-judicial Killings, we are talking about TRIBE? Please read on and experience the FAILURES of the PPRC and IMC firsthand!!!
Mohamed Idriss Kanu:- Temne tribe is the single largest tribe in the country. In politics, such is their voting strength that they can easily determine any keenly fought election. Amazing though it may sound, the Temnes have no political party they can call their own... Ernest had presented himself to the Temnes as one. So the Temnes voted massively for him, ...But this belief by the Temnes was misplaced. After benefitting from their vote in 2002 and 2007, Obai rewarded the Temnes by turning his back on them and declaring himself a Loko by tribe. Once again the Temnes have become rudderless... they know now that a proper Temne politician has little chance of ever being accepted as leader in a Limba-dominated APC...
What conclusions can one draw from all this? First that the Temnes have been yearning for a political leader they could call their own, is not in doubt. Second that the APC has no tolerance for any prominent Temne politician, is also amply illustrated. Third that a Temne politician is highly unlikely to be accepted as a presidential candidate of the APC, only few would disagree. The present APC Cabinet bears another salient confirmation.
Today, Alpha Kanu, is the sole and lonely Temne survivor in a Cabinet of 24 members. After this, only a foggy mind can still argue that the New APC is a Temne Party.
The latest pronouncement, attributed to President Ernest Bai Koroma, and published as a front page headline in The Torchlight Newspaper edition of 2 April 2012 and captioned “I am a Loko by Tribe”, is all the more remarkable. The Temnes voted overwhelmingly for Ernest Koroma in the elections of 2002 and 2007 believing he was one of them. By the same token, his many previous pronouncements, such as the one at Victoria Park in 2008, that he hailed from a Temne parentage had given the Temnes high hopes. Therefore this latest declaration by Ernest must have come as a bolt to the Temnes, obliterating any lingering doubt, if one had existed, about Ernest Koroma’s true tribal identity.
Temnes everywhere scarcely hide their disgust and disappointment. They cannot understand the rationale for President Koroma’s declaration, especially in an election year. It’s like saying to the Temnes your votes don’t matter to me any more.
Moreover, coming in the wake of the appointment of Kadi Sesay as Running Mate to the SLPP Flag Bearer, it looks like Koroma is bitter with her and with the Temnes for embracing her.
The name Kadi Sesay is now on everybody’s lips... she is most likely to fill the Temne leadership void. Add to that the South-East’s historical voting record for the SLPP and its presidential candidates, you need no clairvoyant to tell you which way the 2012 presidential election will go.
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Newspaper in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
