Alhaji Usman Boie Kamara

8/3/2019 Alhaji Usman Boie Kamara

1/19

ALHAJI USMAN BOIE KAMARAS SPEECH DELIVERED AT

ATTOUGA STADIUM ON SUNDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 4TH 2011MR CHAIRMAN, COMPATRIOTS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I am happy to

see you all and express my sincerest appreciation to all of you, who in

diverse ways have made this event a successful one by it even taking place.I am particularly gratified by the efforts of all in organising this event andthe interest shown by you all in attending and supporting this event. I know

there are people who have travelled from all parts of the country just to be

here today and would like to welcome you all. And to those of you listening

from a far, I would also like to welcome you and thank you for your time.Let me begin by thanking you all once again from the bottom of my heart for

your unstinted support throughout my campaign right on to the elections. Iappreciate the trust and confidence you placed on me. There were great

expectations among my numerous supporters at home and abroad that I willbe elected the flag bearer. And no doubt you all would have been delighted

to see me emerge the flag bearer. Naturally there were lots of

disappointments. But being rational people, high as our expectations were,we were also aware that there were eighteen other aspirants, anyone of

whom could emerge the winner. Also being strong believers in God, and

therefore in his will, we were also aware that nothing happens without his

will. As the saying goes, Man proposes; God disposes. So I say to you all,lets take heart and accept the will of God.Today I am speaking to you as a Sierra Leonean and urge you to join me in

putting country before self. In April 1951, the SLPP was formed with anationalistic motto of ONE COUNTRY, ONE PEOPLE. This means that we all

are one in the Party whether you are a Mende, Temne, Fullah, Limba,

Madingo, Creole, Loko, Shebro or Yalunka or any of the other ethnic groups

in the country. This is what has held the Party together for a long time. Thisslogan has stood the test of time but has been severely tested during the

just concluded National Conference. This is one of the fundamental questions

the Party needs to answer and to answer in such a way for the Party to be in

Governance or in permanent opposition. This assignment must be addressed

rationally and without rancour and led by the Chairman and Leader of the

Party.The main reason I got into politics is to make the life of poor anddisadvantaged Sierra Leoneans better. That has not changed and that will

never change till the day I die. For far too long we have allowed ourselves to

be ruled by the majority of people that are interested in themselves, selfish,

myopic and do not think further than the next election. That is why after 50years of Independence the majority of our people still wallow in poverty. We


2/19

must change that mindset of our politicians so that those that seek office

have a developmental and long term focus for the betterment of all. We

must move away from the confines of party politics to bring developmentand prosperity to our people, especially the youths; that is why I have

always emphasized the importance of developing the human resources of

our people. The women of this country who form the majority of thepopulation need to be put in a special category to ensure the wholesomedevelopment of our nation.One of the mischievous questions that kept recurring during my campaignfor the flag bearer position was what contribution had I made to the party.

Opponents even claimed that I was a new comer in the party. In numerous

statements both spoken and written, I asserted my membership of the

party (my father was treasurer and my entire family were members) and mynumerous contributions over the years (against the limitations of being a

civil servant). After my retirement, I was approached independently by a

number of people at home and abroad to take a more active role in the

party and in politics. The coincidence of the same request or suggestion by

different people independently of each other, struck me as significantenough to be give serious thought to their request or suggestion. The more I

thought about it, the more it appealed to me. At my age and state of health

at retirement, I thought I had both the time and resources to take the centrestage in our party politics. What finally moved me was the need to ensurethat I contribute in a meaningful way to eliminate poverty amongst ourpeople and give the next generation hope and a means to build on for a

prosperous Sierra Leone. The enthusiastic support and encouragement I

received from many quarters at home and abroad convinced me that I hadtaken the right decision and spurred me on to August 31st and the

elections. But it was the delegates who had the final say. As we all know

Retired Brig Julius Maada Bio emerged as the Flag Bearer. The delegates

have spoken and as a democrat I wholeheartedly accept their verdict. Theonus is now on the Flagbearer to initiate and lead the healing process and to

ensure that some of his overzealous supporters are reined in for the interest

of the party. Special effort should be made to unite party members who

supported different flag bearers, as was their democratic right. Only by

uniting all party members would victory be assured in 2012.You may be tempted to ask, why I chose the SLPP platform. The answer is

simple. The symbol of the SLPP, the Palm Tree represents Honour, Truth,Value, Vitality, Warmth, Expansion, Protection, Aspiration, Attainment,

Unification, Resurrection, Singleness of Purpose. The SLPP has been the

party that has championed peace and democracy even to its own detriment

on occasions. It was the SLPP that brought peace to the nation after thesenseless rebel war, and during the period of 1996 -2007, the SLPP


3/19

administration encouraged national unity by setting up broad based

Governments, encouraged freedom of association and expression, even to

its own detriment, and initiated numerous developmental projects which weour benefiting from today. But along the way the party has lost some its

values. During the recent Flag Bearer elections, negative traits of the party

have come to the forefront and push some people away which, is not goodfor us Sierra Leoneans.

For me the whole question of politics, governance and development is about

people, their commitment and capacity to deliver. It is about managingpeople to bring out the best in them. These are the reasons I got in to

politics and this is the journey that I want all of us to undertake for the glory

of our country.

Despite various reports and the emerging negative traits in the Party, I still

am a member of the SLPP and I urge all of you who supported my candidacy

to continue to be loyal to the Party and to address these negative traits forthe healthy development of the Party. We cannot allow a few selfish and

misguided people to derail the noble tenets of the Party and in the processallow our country to slide deeper and deeper into poverty and hopelessness.

We have to swallow our pride and work in the interest of the downtrodden

masses of our people. Let us all address the things which happened duringthe convention internally without recourse to the public media. If we dont

then the Party would be in permanent opposition.I call on all SLPP supporters to unite, mend all its internal rifts and

differences. Nothing can be gained from conflict and friction amongstourselves. I will help the party find its common ground and work towards

leaving a strong party for the next generation to build on. And for SierraLeoneans to be proud of the SLPP.We Sierra Leoneans cannot afford for our country to slide back into war andchaos that would take us back another 50 years. I urge you all to think,

Sierra Leone first; encourage others to nurture the budding democracy that

would enable the necessary peace and tranquillity to allow development to

take place.The coming year will be filled with challenges and severe obstacles, but Iknow that the progress of each and every Sierra Leonean is just around thecorner, the progress of our country is just around the corner.

We are the masters of our destiny and in this regard, I am inviting you all

here today to be at our SLPP Party Headquarters at 11:00am prompt


4/19

tomorrow Monday 5th September 2011. The SLPP is our party. I will be

there to welcome you all at 11:00am prompt. One Country; One People!

One People; One Country. I THANK YOU ALL.ALHAJI USMAN BOIE KAMARAFREETOWN (4 SEPTEMBER 2011)

Julius Maada Bios Maiden Address to theNation

Mr. Chairman & Leader of the SLPP, Deputy Chairman & Leader, Current and

Former Members of Parliament, Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic &

Consular Corps, Other National Officers of the Party, Mayors and Chairmen

of Local Councils, Elders and Members of our Great Party, Members of theFourth Estate, Distinguished Ladies & GentlemenWelcome to my Maiden Statement as the Presidential Nominee of the Sierra

Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) for the 2012 Presidential Election.

The triumph of internal party democracyThe SLPP recently completed the most successful intra-party elections ever

held for both Flag-bearer and National Officers. Lower-level executiveelections, ranging from regional to constituency, had preceded those higher-level executive elections long before. No other political party can boast ofelections as free, fair, credible and transparent as the ones held by our

Party. Whatever feelings one may have about the officers elected, no-one

can deny legitimacy to the decisions of the National Delegates Conference orthe distinguishing character of the SLPP as a truly democratic party.For taking our internal democratic process to such great heights,

Ambassador Allie Bangura and his colleagues on the SLPP Electoral Boarddeserve the highest tribute for a job well done.Twenty-three of us went to the starting line of the flag-bearer election. The

race was not only gruelling; it lasted for more than a year. No one suspected

it would be a marathon. Our nerves got frail no less than our patience, as wemoved in and out of the Supreme Court. Many a detractor mocked our show

of respect for democracy and the rule of law as a recipe for our own

destruction and wished for our downfall. That we didnt self-destruct andinstead are gathered here today bear the most eloquent testimony that theSLPP has indeed grown more resilient, more united and more energised thanever before, and it is well prepared for the electoral battle ahead. Of the

nineteen who crossed the finishing line, I found myself ahead of the rest by

sheer dint of good luck.


5/19

To all my colleagues, former aspirants, I pay special tribute. Not only did

they put up a valiant and fierce contest, they have also demonstratedwithout a shadow of a doubt that their loyalty to the Party remains strong

and they have all agreed to come on board so that our Party can bounce

back to power in 2012. My victory, therefore, is not a victory for me alone; itis a victory for all of us, for our intra-party democracy and for our greatParty, the SLPP.Ladies and Gentlemen, may I kindly ask that you rise and join me to give avery big thank you to the National Chairman and Leader, John OponjoBenjamin, to past and present National Officers, our former flag-beareraspirants and the distinguished members of the Electoral Board.

May God bless you all for coming on board so willingly and so determinedlywith all your might and support. With this spirit, I know the trophy is ours in

2012, Sharp 12.Whilst we remain standing, may I also ask that we observe a minutes

silence in honour of the memory of the Founding Fathers and all otherdeparted faithful of our great Party, not forgetting also the fallen heroes of

the August 18, 1998, student revolt against the AFRC junta. May their souls

rest in perfect peace.

The 2012 elections are going to be about issues, not about personalities.

After my election as Flag-bearer, the APC leadership used the ploy of

diverting public attention away from their appalling economic record bythrowing everything in their kitchen sink at me. Disappointingly for them,the dirt didnt stick, because the people of this country have become muchtoo aware, much too discerning to allow the APC to get away with that ploy;

instead they are insisting that the 2012 elections should be wholly about the

national development agenda whether at the front, centre or at the back of

that contest.

The NPRC

However, before we get to that, let me first say a word or two about theNational Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). The coup of April 29, 1992, that

toppled the decade-and-half long repressive and corrupt APC one-party rule,

was embraced overwhelmingly by the people of this country and recognised

by the entire international community. That NPRC junta has been heldcollectively responsible by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)

for the extra-judicial executions of 26 persons during its administration. For

my part, I had made it clear, in my testimony to the TRC, that I bear neither


6/19

personal involvement nor personal responsibility for those executions nor

was I in any position to prevent them from happening. I was neither the

head nor the deputy head of the NPRC junta at the material time. I stand bythat testimony.Nevertheless, as a member of the former NPRC junta, I feel morally boundto express, on its behalf, deepest regret for the wrongs committed by theNPRC and to also express profound apology and sympathy to the families of

the victims concerned. It is my sincere hope that we, as a nation, can now

consign that regrettable incident to history and agree to move on.By the same token, with the help of the moral guarantors of our countryspeace, I would like to invite President Koroma to join me now in issuing a

joint statement. In that statement we would agree to bury permanently in

their tombs the horrors of past conflicts and past political misdeeds. There isno political capital for any political party from letting the ghosts of the

horrendous human rights record of the 1970s through to the 1990s to return

to haunt our body politic. We should set our gaze ahead of us instead of

behind us. Second, that we also agree that everything possible would be

done to ensure that the National Electoral Commission conducts the 2012elections in a manner that is fair, transparent and credible. Lastly, once that

condition is met by the NEC, that we agree to accept the results of the

elections and ensure that power is transferred peacefully. This demands of

all of us, as leaders of our political parties, a willingness to bury the hatchetand let the past be the past in the true spirit of national peace and

reconciliation and of moving our nation forward.

The APC and SLPP: Is there a difference?Fellow Sierra Leoneans, it is this common desire to move this nation forward

that is often times taken to blur the fundamental differences between the

APC and the SLPP, prompting political pundits to liken them to two identical

twins whose look-alikes make their differences hardly recognizable. They sayvoters vote for these parties merely for reasons based on personality,

ethnicity or regionalism, not on any real differences between them.

Make no mistake, personality and regionalism do matter in our body politicbut they do not and can not dilute the fundamental differences between our

two parties. If the differences are not too apparent now, they will become so

after 2012, because we plan to return the SLPP to state governance as a

democratic reformer. We have no illusions. Democratic reform is never easy,because there are always vested interests ready to use their power and

resources to resist change; and villains ready to use lies to defeat change.


7/19

But persevere we shall: we have the guts and intelligence and the right

people and policies to make it happen.

In the coming weeks and months, the principles and programmes upon

which we shall base our electioneering will be fully articulated and

elaborated in our manifesto. Suffice it for the moment to state just brieflysome of the important policy differences that the people of this country willsee between President Koromas Government and the SLPP Government I

propose to lead after 2012.It is Time for a New DirectionFellow Sierra Leoneans, after 50 years of independence, the elections in

2012 are about putting the youth at the centre of development and in the

driving seat to seek a New Direction for Sierra Leone. We live in a countrythat started mining diamonds in 1930, rutile in the 70s and gold and bauxite

for ever so long. Yet our heathcare and education are largely funded by

foreign donors. For years our education was the pride of West Africa. Now 50

years later, less than five per cent of our children pass the West Africa

School Certificate Exams (WASCE); while universities postpone exams forlack of paper. Many families are today not sure where the next meal is

coming from; the low wages of workers, promised to be changed by the

APC, have perpetuated poverty and hopelessness. Our youth continue to be

the most deprived and unemployed in the world, just as our country is themost unsafe to give birth to children.I know that Sierra Leone did not get to this state of misery by accident; it israther the selfish decisions of some of our leaders that has taken our countryto where it is today. The same State House that squandered opportunitiesfrom diamonds in the 70s and 80s is the same State House that has denied

Sierra Leoneans the opportunity of scrutinising the Bills that touch and

concern our natural resources. The same State House that widened the gap

between the rich and the poor in the 70s and 80s is the same State House in2011 that is dividing the North from the South and spending billions of

Leones on the media and other unpatriotic individuals to lie about my

persona.I dont think any Sierra Leonean is proud of the condition we live in. There is

therefore every need for a New Direction for Sierra Leone. For the sake of

the young men and women who finish college and go jobless for years, we

need a government that cares. We need a State House that cares about thebasic needs of our people. We need a leader who does not blame our

economic woes on the global crisis but sits down and solves them. We need

a leader who teaches our youth honesty and hard work and not bribery,


8/19

intimidation and vote buying; a leader that works to give a secure and

healthy future to our youth. And we need a leader who brings Temnes and

Mendes, Fullahs and Lokos, Madingoes and Limbas, Krios and Sherbros etc,etc, to live and work together as one nation in one country. This is the new

direction we need.

The EconomyFellow Sierra Leoneans, let me start with the economy. Our country is

resource-rich but policy-poor. We have a vast sore running through thepopulation: five million people stuck in desperate conditions of povertyamidst the growing affluence of a few. Lifting them from those conditions isthe struggle we must wage, and it is a struggle we must win. Various

strategies for poverty reduction and for the other Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) are in vogue. We talk about them every day. However, whatthe MDGs dont get us to focus upon, is the rate of economic growth. True,

growth is not a cure-all, but the lack of growth is a kill-all. This failure of the

growth process over the past 30 years is, for us, the overarching problem

that must be cracked if this country is to escape from the poverty trap.Under President Kabbah, a great deal was achieved in promoting good

governance. Also real economic growth rose significantly by wars end in

2002 and throughout that SLPP administration it stayed at double digits.

Under President Koroma, our growth rate not only declined to 5.5 per cent in2008, it plunged to 4.2 per cent in 2009. Nowadays, stagnation and decline

have become bywords for our poor economic performance. So whereas

President Koroma pays scant attention to the issue of growth, we shall makeit a core challenge. Development is about giving hope to ordinary peoplethat their children will live in a society that will catch up with the rest of theworld. And catching up in Sierra Leone can only mean raising growth

radically.

Growth will not come to us from without; it has to come from within our owncountry and our own resources. Our international development partners

have helped our development process a lot through aid. For example, aid is

now in the civil service, in the military, in political institutions, in healthcare

and education, and in infrastructure. In fact aid is now so endemic and sopervasive that it is inducing a mind-set of complacency and hardly do you

see any incentives for long-term financial planning or for seeking alternative

funding for development. The emphasis therefore has to change. We see our

future as one of collaboration with our partners in designing systematic, co-ordinated and coherent policies and programmes that make our own

development commitments more credible not just to investors but to our

own people as well, and so get a surge in private investments. Of course, I


9/19

am aware that the era of private capital in Africa is only just beginning, and

we need to embrace and nurture it in a way that will bring forward the

ultimate day when foreign aid will no longer be needed.

Fellow Sierra Leoneans, not that we devalue the importance of aid, only that

the impasse we have reached in our countrys development demands of us anew and higher level of consciousness, a greater degree of innovation, and agenerous dose of honesty to acknowledge what works and what does not, as

far as our development is concerned. So, therefore, the development

roadmap we shall be crafting after 2012 is more in the realm of collaboratingto build a modern market economy for this country along pathways that ourdevelopment partners have themselves successfully traversed for their owneconomies. Together I believe we can create the positive environment

necessary for foreign direct investment to flow confidently into the country,

creating new jobs and new exports and helping the country to escape themire of poverty and misery.But why am I choosing this path for Sierra Leone? This question is perhaps

best answered by remembering that just 30 years ago, this country,

alongside Burkina Faso, Burundi and Malawi, were economically ahead ofChina on a per capita income basis. Today, foreign direct investment, not

aid, has combined admirably with free-market policies and rapidly growing

exports to record stellar growth rates and unprecedented poverty reduction

in China and the other Asian tigers. All this is happening in Asia whilst sadlymost of Africa has been dogged by steady economic decline, rising poverty

levels and an even more pungent stench of rampant corruption. In this

country, in many respects, we have again hit rock bottom in the past fouryears. Not only are we poverty-stricken, we are lagging further and furtherbehind the rest of the world; in fact, we cannot go down any further.

Fellow Sierra Leoneans, when President Koroma came to power in 2007, he

promised to run this country like a business. We didnt know then he was

going to turn the country into a family business. Under his watch, the pricesof most things have more than doubled - from rice, our national staple, to

fuel, flour, fish and other essential foodstuffs. His cronies are making huge

profits whilst the masses are suffering under the harshest conditions in living

memory. We used to think that life in the 1980s was the harshest. For thoseof you who cant remember that period, President Koroma has made life

under President Momohs misrule look like Paradise.

Mr. President, the citizens of this country are crying; the economy is killingthem and they are crying for a change of direction. Even more serious, there

is a mounting crisis of confidence. The people are losing confidence in the

ability of government to look after their welfare. Living conditions are


10/19

deteriorating so fast they cant bear the hardship any more. I say to them,

just hang in there for a little while longer. After 2012 the SLPP Government I

shall lead will definitely not run Sierra Leone as a family business. We shalllead Sierra Leone as one nation and we shall do many great things together.

We shall improve the lives of our citizenry; provide for the education of our

children; restore our pride as the Athens of education in West Africa; providefor the training of our young people in various skills to make thememployable and to enable them to realise their fullest potential in dignity;

and we shall create the enabling environment that would make Sierra Leone

the most attractive destination in all of West Africa for foreign directinvestment.In other words, our policies and programmes shall be people-centred. We

will not engage in dubious contracts to fleece this country and squirrel the

loot away in foreign bank accounts or buy luxury homes abroad. Nor shallwe pass mining and fiscal laws to be adhered to by some and not by others.

Nor shall globalisation mean our natural resources shall be turned into an

arena for bribery competition between foreign mining and oil companies.

Under my watch, no mining company, big or small, shall be allowed to

operate above or under the law.Sierra Leone is greatly in need of private investors, especially investors who

are genuine and are able to create new jobs and new exports. To them we

shall open our doors widely. But we dont just need investors who come onlyto make a profit on their investments and then go back home. We want

genuine investors who are ready to take the quantum leap to become real

stakeholders in the countrys economy. For our part, we shall pass thenecessary laws to secure their personal safety and property rightssufficiently for them to establish here and to see Sierra Leone as home awayfrom home. So the investors we seek are the real investors who come not

only to invest but also to stay and build homes of their own here and raise

their children here. This is our goal.

Another area completely skewed since the APC assumed power is in resource

allocation and distribution. Appointments to public office, dismissals of public

officers, distribution of limited resources, selection of projects and

beneficiaries, have mostly been done along partisan, ethnic and regionallines. These are all anti-development tendencies, the stuff of which internal

conflicts are made. Examples are legion. To select just a few, there is the

biased distribution of agricultural inputs per district such as seeds, tools and

tractors; biased selection of beneficiaries of projects; and biased distributionof contracts, often done through sole sourcing in violation of procurement

laws.


11/19

President Kabbah came to power in 1996 in the midst of a brutal civil war.

He successfully brought that war to an end in 2002 by way of a peace accordthe pathways to which I had paved back in 1996. As part of that negotiated

settlement, President Kabbah pursued a well-calibrated disarmament,

reintegration and rebuilding programme. And, by September 2007, when hehanded over power to President Koroma, primary school enrolment in thiscountry had more than doubled; numerous medical centres had been rebuilt

or built from scratch; roads infrastructures, including the highway leading to

President Koromas hometown of Makeni, were either completed or nearcompletion.Even the much-trumpeted Bumbuna Hydroelectric Project was only 9.8 per

cent done when President Kabbahs Government inherited it in 1996. By

then it had been in the works for over 30 years. By the time PresidentKabbah handed it over to the APC in 2007, it was over 95 per cent complete,

a progress of 85.2 per cent in 10 years. APC merely completed less than 5

per cent of the Bumbuna Project from 2007 to 2011. Yet, they never tire of

dishonestly trumpeting Bumbuna as their own and even claiming 100 per

cent credit for supplying electricity from Bumbuna.Rocketing Cost of LivingFellow Sierra Leoneans, no problem has blighted the citizens of this countrymore than the bread-and-butter issue of the rocketing cost of living under

President Koroma. The last SLPP Government left as reserve billions of

Leones in the national coffers to cushion any possible shocks from globalprice increases of rice, fuel and other essential commodities. The KoromaGovernment wasted no time in squandering all this under the pretext ofgiving this country clean and affordable electricity in 100 days through

bogus and dubious contracts. Now we see the result. Petrol has risen from

Le11, 500 in 2007 to Le20, 500 a gallon in 2011, an increase of over 78 per

cent, while the price of a bag of rice, our national staple, kept under Le70,000 by the SLPP for the 10 years preceding 2007, has rocketed to more than

Le140, 000, over 100 per cent in just four years of APC rule.

These price increases did not happen by accident. They are the directproduct of a currency whose value has been continually eroding since

President Koroma came to power. Whilst the last SLPP Government held the

rate of exchange of the Leone to the United States dollar at Le2900 and

under for over 10 years, even when the country was deeply in the throes ofinternal armed conflict, President Koromas Government has devalued our

national currency to as much as Le4500, over 60 per cent, in just four years,

and the situation is likely to get worse by this time next year.


12/19

This high inflation has triggered price rises of all other essential

commodities. To mention just a few, prices have more than doubled ortrebled since 2007 for items such as fish, meat, palm oil, cassava and

cassava leaves, potato and potato leaves, cooking oil, onions, maggi,

pepper, salt, bread, butter, sugar, milk, soap, charcoal and firewood, notforgetting house rents as well. And all this is happening while the real valueof incomes of ordinary people is declining rapidly. An average family of 5 or

6 today needs over Le60,000 a day barely to survive.Ours is a small and poor country with no control over factors that affect theglobal economy. But we do have control over how we use our limitedresources to protect our poor people. The SLPP did just that under President

Kabbah. He even created a Social Safety Net in which he placed billions of

Leones to cater for retirees and the aged. After 2007, in less than sixmonths, despite all the promises and surveys conducted, the APC

Government, with utter callousness, squandered all those billions and to this

day not one cent has reached those poor beneficiaries.

Corruption as Enemy of DevelopmentFellow Sierra Leoneans, the high rate of inflation in the country is producing

another culture, the culture of corruption going unnoticed or unpunished.

But if our long-term goal is sustainable economic growth, and the alleviationof poverty, none of this can occur in an environment riddled with corruption.

Our fight against corruption, therefore, has to be robust, complete,

transparent and non-political; and we must leave no stone unturned. Thisfight is about ending impunity; its about probity, about holding publicofficials accountable; about compelling them to obey the law and to dothings according to the law. President Kabbahs Government started it all.

They passed the seminal legislation in 2002. To his credit, after 2007,

President Koromas Government strengthened it. Between them, they have

put in place the necessary legislative and institutional framework.What remains to be done now is really very, very simple. Mr. President, you

really have to get more serious in your efforts to tackle corruption. And you

can start right now by removing the immunity you have placed around thesacred cows from amongst family, friends and business partners, and allow

the anti-corruption laws to bite. Do this and you will soon see the difference

in public attitude and perception about corruption in this country. Fail to do

this, Mr. President, then nothing is going to change and it will all be businessas usual.Fellow Sierra Leoneans, let me make this solemn promise. Where President


13/19

Koroma fails to act to end corruption in this country, I shall act. So those

involved in corruption, be they citizens or foreign nationals, be forewarned.

The SLPP Government I shall lead after 2012 will not compromise corruptionthat harms the interests of the people of this country. Everybody knows that

corruption is a two-way street: there is always a giver and a taker. If an

investor respects the rule of law and acts in the best interest of the countryas well as his own, he has nothing to fear.

It wont surprise me at all if the mischief-prone APC leadership tried to seize

upon this statement to mislabel the SLPP as not investor-friendly. Let meassure you all, Ladies and Gentlemen, that the policies of the SLPP shallalways remain eminently investor-friendly, and we believe that both theinvestor, the government and the people of this country stand to benefit

enormously if they make it a duty to respect and obey the laws of the land

as an integral part of good governance. This is our stance. In the area ofnatural resource exploitation, for example, we would like to see investors

insisting that any contracts, acquisitions or licences granted to them by

public authorities are not shielded from public or legislative scrutiny, nor

from the applicable rules of international competitive bidding. I say this,

because our National Constitution says that such agreements, to be valid,require prior parliamentary ratification or authorization. The current

Governments penchant is to rush such agreements through the

parliamentary process by way of a certificate of urgency. Whilst this

procedure might quicken the parliamentary approval process, it has theserious defect of depriving parliamentarians of the opportunity to scrutinise

such agreements thoroughly or to do due diligence. It also falls short of

international best practice. All this generates suspicions of bad faith evenwhere none might exist. To avoid this in future, and in keeping with ouravowed policy of encouraging foreign direct investment flows into thecountry, we would urge all genuine investors to ensure that agreements,

concessions and licences granted to them are fully compliant.

We give this advice as an essential aspect of the rule of law. We believe thatwhere the rule of law takes hold, it creates stability, predictability, trust and

empowerment. Rule of law stabilises government and holds it accountable.

It creates a predictable environment for both government and investor. It

creates confidence in the public to seek change, if necessary, within aframework of continuity, and empowers all economic actors to optimise their

returns within the confines of the state.Our Social AgendaThe Government I shall lead will invest heavily in the health care delivery.

We will improve upon what exists now by providing the infrastructure,


14/19

equipment and trained personnel necessary for a robust health care system.

We will introduce a more sustainable heath care financing mechanism.The next SLPP Government will progressively provide universal free and

compulsory basic education to all and will endeavour to achieve 100 per cent

primary school enrolment within the first years of my administration. We willreinstitute the girl child education programme which the presentGovernment has callously abandoned. We will also ensure that teachers and

lecturers are paid a decent wage and on time.Fellow Sierra Leoneans, it pains to note that our disabled have been left tofend for themselves in the most unsavoury manner. It is not uncommon tosee our disabled compatriots hanging out at the gates of State House forcrumps. This is most dehumanising and unacceptable. We shall move

beyond the enactment of the Disability Bill and put in place a more effective

mechanism to cater for the social and economic welfare of our physically andmentally challenged compatriots.Gender PolicyFellow Sierra Leoneans, the women of Sierra Leone have been asking for 30per cent representation in state governance. I believe they deserve more

than that. By affirmative action programmes we shall give women equitable

access to decision-making positions at all levels. I am pleased to note that

our Party was the first to develop a gender policy that received endorsementin 2010 by the highest decision-making organ of the Party. The National

Executive is now poised to ensure that that policy is implemented. Under my

watch, the next SLPP Government will pay full regard to the terms of thatpolicy and improve upon it if necessary.Youth PolicyI turn now to the youth. Recently we have seen how the power of the youth

in West and North Africa was harnessed and transformed into revolutionaryfervour. The lessons from those uprisings are inescapable. They tell us that

the plight of young people cannot be neglected by any government without

dire consequences. Second, that without job opportunities to assuage the

restlessness of the youth, no government, however despotic, can survive.Third, that there is no weapon in the hands of a government that is stronger

than the will of the people freely expressed. Fourth, that the consequences

of youth neglect affect not only the delinquent governments concerned but

also the wider international community, especially those members of theUnited Nations responsible for maintaining international peace and security.

That the United Nations and the members of its Security Council were able

to take timely action to protect hapless citizens in those countries from


15/19

excessive state violence and wanton destruction deserves high

commendation.But no country is immune from the whirlwind of youth power. Youth

empowerment, therefore, will receive the utmost attention of the

Government I shall form after 2012. I have already mentioned thatattracting foreign direct investment as the engine for economic growth andfor creating new jobs will receive high priority, But much more than that,

ample provision will also be made for skills training, especially for the youth,

to empower and equip them for meeting the challenges of a moderneconomy. Companies, more especially mining companies, will be encouragedto partner with Government in providing specialized training programmeswhere these are not available in the public sector.

Fellow Sierra Leoneans, lets now go down memory lane just a little. Theelection of 2007 has revealed something else about the youth, that they

constitute the single largest block of voters. Their role therefore is most

crucial in any future election.Young people who are 25 years old today were born in 1986, just 5 yearsbefore the start of the RUF insurrection in 1991. Add 11 years of the RUF

war, they were 16 years by wars end in 2002: too late to return to school.

By 2007 they were 21. Eleven of those 21 years had been spent under SLPP

governance. Let us also assume that in most of those 11 years they had hadlittle or no schooling at all on account of schools being dysfunctional in the

towns and villages in which they lived. So, with practically no education, no

skill and no money, they literally live on the margins of mainstream society.Not sure of a livelihood, one can understand if they become desperate.

For most of those 11 years, they blamed the SLPP for their predicament. No

thanks to the SLPP for ending the war; no thanks for rehabilitating the

country: building schools, building hospitals, restoring broken infrastructures

and so on. To these guys living on the margins of mainstream society,developments such as these mean little or nothing. They dont remember

the APC, neither the misrule of earlier APC governments that precipitated

the rebel war. So by 2007 they knew only the SLPP. In opposition the APC

had been less visible, less scrutinized and less criticized. Their weaknesses,faults of character and shortcomings were also less well-known.

Whether out of ignorance or desperation, many of these young people voted

against the SLPP in 2007. They are like a lost generation. Now that theAPC they voted for will soon enter their final year in office, and are yet to

deliver on their promises to them, the APC must be worried stiff. Given what


16/19

the youth now know about the APC which they did not know in 2007, are

they likely to vote for them in 2012? The answer is a resounding No.To the young men and women of this country, I say help is on the way. I

understand your problems better and can feel your pain more. So allow me

to be your Redeemer. As young people, we gel better and together we canmake a difference. If President Koroma imagines he has fixed the youthproblem in this country merely by creating a Youth Employment Ministry,

with no jobs, he had better do a reality check. Setting up a Youth Ministry

alone does not solve the crisis; a great deal more needs to be done. And nopolitical leader understands your problems better than I because I considermyself one of you and you can connect better with me than with any other.And this is why the next SLPP Government I shall lead is the one best able

to address your problems.

One more thing. The history of elections in this country shows how under

previous APC rule, elections and youth violence became not uncommon

bedfellows, almost like inseparable companions. There was never an election

under APC watch that was completely free of intimidation and youth

violence. I hope and pray that the 2012 election, again to be held under APCwatch, would be different.For my part, I give to the youth of this country this solemn promise. I shall

be the last Presidential candidate who would ever want to put your life orliberty in harms way. I see the 2012 election not as a battle to be fought or

won by violence but as a contest that can best be fought and won by ideas,

values and beliefs. The SLPP is the oldest political party in this country. Itwas founded on the pedestal of non-violence. Our abhorrence of violencetherefore is both a sacred trust and a legacy. We cant change that now, forto do that would be tantamount to betraying our sacred trust and our

heritage.DecentralizationFellow Sierra Leoneans, decentralizing state governance is another key

policy area that has always been a tussle between the APC and the SLPP.

Initiated by the SLPP after independence in 1961, the APC did not hesitate todecree the demise of local councils when it introduced centralized one-party

rule in 1978. SLkPP again reintroduced local councils in 2004, abolishing

unelected and unaccountable District Officers. APC has again passed a new

law in 2010, reducing the decision-making powers of the elected localcouncils and reinstating once again the centrally-appointed, unaccountable

and unelected District Officers to administer local communities which did not

vote for them. Apart from this, we shall be watching keenly to see what role


17/19

these District Officers will be given in the electoral process of 2012, for in

the past they gained notoriety as election fraudsters in favour of the APC.But decentralization is not just about local councils. The present location of

certain central government ministries and agencies also needs to be critically

examined and evaluated to determine whether the citizenry is deriving theoptimum benefit.

Electoral ReformFellow Sierra Leoneans, today we are living with the consequences of anelectoral fraud committed in 2007 the cancellation of the ballot by theNational Electoral Commission (NEC) in 477 polling stations, mostly in SLPP-

strongholds. Despite strong protests, those cancellations were made to

stand with the final result of the presidential election going against the SLPP.The Supreme Court is now seized of the litigation that that cancellation has

engendered. Whatever the final verdict of the Court, we know its value

would be essentially for the record.Looking at things from that perspective alone, one would have liked to drawa line on the past and focus only on what lies ahead of us in 2012. But, as if

to add insult to injury, Miss Christiana Thorpe is now asking for a new law to

empower NEC to cancel ballots in future elections. By inference she is

admitting she didnt have that power when she cancelled the ballot of those477 polling stations. Now, if she was not afraid to cancel when she didnt

have the power, what if she is now given such a power? What safeguards do

political parties have against the arbitrary use of such power? Perhaps it wastime our international moral guarantors stepped in to ensure that any newrules for the electoral game are credible, fair and in consonance withuniversally-accepted democratic principles and agreed to by all parties.

Otherwise, NEC, as referee, will not enjoy the confidence of all the political

players.

Elections 2012We say all this because we have forebodings about any election held under

the watch of an APC Government. Elections have been held for localcouncils, parliament and the presidency under SLPP watch during our 10-

year rule from 1996 to 2007 without any cries from the opposition about

unopposed winners; without any opposition party being prevented from

holding peaceful meetings; without incidents of vandalism of oppositionoffices or brutalization of opposition supporters; without any allegation ever

of rape or molestation of opposition women supporters; without ever hearing

about human urine and excreta thrown at opposition supporters.


18/19

These shameful abuses of human rights were commonplace in the days of

the old APC. But they have been happening again and again since 2007under the watch of the so-called new APC. The new APC has been severally

accused of unabated vandalizing, brutalizing, intimidating and victimizing of

opposition supporters with deafening impunity.Fellow Sierra Leoneans, against this backdrop, a question often asked is: if,

like the old APC, the so-called new APC decides to lead the country in

electoral violence in the run-up to 2012, should we in the SLPP follow suit?With respect, I say No. The strength of our Party lies in our capacity, not intrading violence with the APC or any other party, but in upholding the sacredvalues for which our Founding Fathers had fought so hard and which today

constitutes our cherished inheritance. Eschewing violence as an instrument

of political change, however, should not be misunderstood or misconstruedas cowardice or timidity. We fear no party and we are ready to protect our

supporters at all times. Only that our creed is freedom, not despotism;

democracy, not dictatorship; the rule of law, not the rule of the jungle;

human rights, not power; inclusiveness, not alienation. Spreading these

values is the bastion of our security, our first line of attack and our last lineof defence. And if the APC decides to divide the country in violence, so our

resolve to unite it around our common dislike of violence must remain

unshaken and unbroken. And we must send this message out to the country

now.

So my clarion call is to all the youth of this country, young men and young

women alike. Come forward and join my campaign to take me back to StateHouse in 2012. It matters not which political party you belong to or voted forin the last election; my campaign for the presidency is on behalf of all ofyou. We are tired of unfulfilled promises and fed-up with empty hypes de

Pa dey wok! We, the young people of this country, should now come

together and empower ourselves and our elders through the ballot box in

order to transform this country for the better. Wherever you are in thecountry or in the Diaspora, in the farms or in the mining pits, on land or at

sea, in the city or village, in the ghetto or ataya base, in the street or in the

house, in college or in school I beckon on all of you to come forward and

lets start a new direction, a new revolution, for a better Sierra Leone. Ernestis tired; Ernest has failed us; Ernest can simply not deliver. He must give

way peacefully for a new person to take over the seat of power in State

House in 2012. And that person is yours truly, Julius Maada Bio.Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, we shall be ending this meeting here just

when our Leone Stars will be getting ready to start their qualifying match

against Egypt for the Africa Nations Cup. This match easily brings to mind


19/19

the time when, under the watch of the then NPRC, this country won the

Zone Two Football Tournament twice and 1994 when we qualified for the

Africa Nations Cup for the first time. That is 17 years ago. I am sure all ofyou would like to join me on this auspicious occasion in wishing our national

team the very best of luck and we pray that they bring us glory again by

repeating the great successes of the 1990s.

Can we do it? Yes we can! Can we govern this country better? Yes we can!

Can we deliver to the youths of this country? Yes we can! Yes we can!!

May God Bless Sierra Leone. One Country, One People

Documents

Alhaji Usman Boie Kamara