Brima M. Turay – Arizona; USA

I read Anthony Abdul Karim Kamara’s interview with Ambassador Stevens on the Patriotic Vanguard Online Newspaper and what I can see is a total disservice by Ambassador Stevens to the North America branch of the APC and to the people of Sierra Leone in particular. The least the Ambassador could have done is act with honesty to himself and to the people of Sierra Leone by telling the truth as it is supposed to be told.

Points of Contention:

The Ambassador’s Functions in the US:
He should have been honest enough to point out that an ambassadorial position is a national function and not a party assignment. He is not a registered member of the APC North America branch and therefore has no business deciding who should and should not be Chairman of the branch.

He calls the affairs of the North America branch a part-time job for him but he is not honest enough to tell the world that a part-time employee hardly enjoys all the benefits and privileges that usually come with the employment package. As a part-timer, he should know that he has a boss in the branch in the person of Chairman Osman Conteh, and therefore all branch matters must go through the legitimate head.

Venting on the Media outlets:

When the APC North America branch was campaigning actively on the electronic media against the opposition SLPP and using all tactics and messages to convince supporters to vote for the APC, the ambassador and his supporters did not call the exercise inappropriate because it benefits the APC. Now that we are trying to point out how he and his cronies are trying to destroy such hard work by our branch, he is calling it inappropriate.

I hope the ambassador understands that, as full-time voluntary employees of the APC North America branch, we reserve the right to use every medium to register our frustration over the things that he is doing wrong, especially if he refuses to listen to us and choose to act arbitrarily.

The APC party secretariat, which the Ambassador so rightly said is the direct overseer of the North America branch, should communicate all matters directly with our branch Chairman and not with the Ambassador. Does the Ambassador see the conflict of interest that we are trying to fight against? I guess not, otherwise he could have seen the un-welcomed double role that he is playing.

Victor Foh does not care about the North America branch beyond exploiting us in the name of the APC party. Otherwise, he would be communicating with us directly. Instead, he collaborates with the Ambassador to frustrate our efforts because Chairman Conteh is not dancing to his tune of demands for cash. This time, we are going to save our cash and energy for our next allegiance if the APC does not instruct Ambassador Stevens to wash his hands off our affairs but decide to keep us at bay.

The Ambassador’s Double tongue:
When asked why the branch fell back into chaos after vice President Alhaji Samuel Sumana managed to reinstate Chairman Conteh, the Ambassador states that Osman’s reinstatement was carried out by an Advisory Committee appointed by the executive of the North America branch.

I was wondering what Executive the ambassador is referring. How could there be a legitimate executive at the time if the Chairman was under suspension and seven out of twelve Chapters had ceded and sided with Chairman Conteh? The Ambassador refused to see the illegitimacy of any executive body at that time. The vice president was wise enough to see that there was no administrative structure at that moment and that was the reason why he appointed an Advisory Committee to oversee the affairs of the branch until Chairman Conteh is reinstated. The ambassador cannot even be honest enough to commend the vice President for a job well done.

If the Ambassador had too much on his plate for Sierra Leone, as he stated in the interview, he should have known that he had no business taking extra responsibilities as Chairman of an Advisory Committee of the branch. There are many competent people to act in that role.

The Ambassador also denied that he had no personal grudge for Chairman Conteh. Records will show that after the executive of the branch voted to send $10,000 to refurbish the Kissy mental home in Freetown, the ambassador took offense and scolded Osman Conteh for approving the decision without consulting him. This was the beginning of the grudge against Chairman Conteh. It is all about money and personal aggrandizements, and I hope the ambassador would be honest enough to tell the world about the source of his vendetta.

Illegitimacy of Chapters:

When asked why he dissolved the 7 Chapters, the ambassador stated that those Chapters did not meet the requirements in the bylaws. This is the kind of hypocrisy that we are trying to fight against.

When those Chapters were campaigning actively and raising money to finance the APC before and during the elections, the Ambassador and his Judases did not reject those Chapters as being illegitimate. Now, he is using unrelated clauses in the bylaws to knock them off because he knew that those Chapters support Chairman Conteh. Mr. Ambassador, be honest to yourself and to the Sierra Leonean people. We may look like a submissive bunch of supporters but we are not dumb!

Like I stated before, I want to make it categorically clear that the marriage between the APC and the North America branch is one of convenience; and until someone realizes that we deserve respect and recognition, we will continue to remain as an independent force and only throw our support behind those who rightly deserve it!