Pa Solomon Coker, Chairman for the Freetown Constituency encompassing the Mountain Rural District has denied defecting from the main opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) to the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC). He contacted Awareness Times on June 14th 2012 to request for space to deny the claim which saw members of Usman Boie Kamara campaign team putting his name over the radio and in newspapers as defecting to APC.
“I do not know why they did that. Yes, Usman Boie Kamara is my bosom friend and yes, like all political parties, we in SLPP have internal problems but no problem for now is so large that will make me leave SLPP. I am SLPP and only SLPP,” Solomon Coker insisted.
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| Pa Solomon Coker of SLPP |
It should be however noted, District Chairman for Western Rural District, Sylvanus Babatunde Pratt who stays in York on the Freetown Peninsular is confirmed to have defected to APC.
“I was in Bo doing some auditing work when Syl Pratt called to say because of how SLPP treated Usu Boie, we should all defect and join APC. I told him I would discuss the matter when I returned to Freetown. Upon my return to Freetown, my relatives told me that my name has been announced over the radio stations that I was joining APC. I was shocked!” Pa Solomon Coker explained adding that as a result, he “did not even go near Brookfields let alone go to APC party offices all these days”.
“Long years ago, I was APC but I see nothing now to make me go back to APC. I am SLPP” Solo Coker insisted.
“I respect the President and I respect the Government of the day but my party is my party. I am going nowhere,” Coker asserted adding that he had already gone to the SLPP party offices to denounce the announcement of his name as having defected.
“I appreciate the warm welcome I was given by Emmanuel Grant and Brima Keita when I went to our party offices. When I arrived, some rude boys started to misbehave against me and were calling me a spy but when I addressed the Western Region meet, everybody clapped for me,” the old man said.
When asked of tribalism within the SLPP, Solomon Coker responded, “Only if you are insecure with yourself will you allow tribalists to drive you away from your party. Tribalism does not affect me as I don’t give a damn about tribalism but I care about SLPP”.
“I am Sierra Leonean first before I am a Creole by tribe so I ignore tribalists because I look at them first as Sierra Leoneans before their tribe comes to my mind” Pa Coker insisted adding, “I Solomon Coker I have no grudge for tribalists. No grudge for anybody in life. I have no grudge for Ernest Koroma; no grudge for Maada Bio and no grudge for APC or SLPP”.
The old man used chance to throw in words of campaigning in his interview.
“I appeal to Sierra Leone to vote for what SLPP stands for and not look for the bad name caused by just a few bad apples amongst a great lot of good SLPP guys,” he smilingly campaigned.
He also hailed AWARENESS TIMES for agreeing to do the interview which he said “will definitely be widely read as it is a newspaper everyone runs to read in the morning in Sierra Leone”.
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Newspaper in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
