By Amin Kef (Ranger)
The incumbent Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) held its 13th National Delegates Conference on the 8th and 9th February, 2023 at the Bintumani Conference Centre at Aberdeen in Freetown which was well attended and turned out to be a well organized and successful event.
During the close of the National Delegates Conference, which was on the 9th February, 2023, President Julius Maada Bio let the cat out of the bag by informing all present and by extension the whole nation that he will be seeking his second term mandate with his able and dependable ally, the Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh.
President Bio continued that hand-in-hand they shall stabilise the New Direction on the Right Direction dubbing it #BIOJULDEH2023.
That revelation was greeted with thunderous applause especially as speculations were running rife that Dr Jalloh would be replaced ahead of the polls.
Some have expressed the view that it is unprecedented for an SLPP presidential candidate – in office or in opposition – to retain his running mate.
The disclosure made by President Bio has dispelled the rumour that was making the rounds that the SLPP is planning to dump Dr Juldeh Jalloh for Dr Kandeh Yumkella as the party’s running mate. This was seemingly a truism especially when in December Dr Yumkella was seen in the company of the President in Bonthe after honouring the President’s invitation to spend the holidays together.
Besides, the recent statement of Kandeh Yumkella in forming a strategic alliance with the SLPP led many to believe that there was a position for him in the SLPP.
All those speculations and political analysis were laid to rest after President Bio made the pronouncement of retaining Dr Kandeh Yumkella.
