September 7, 2017 By Mohamed Massaquoi
One of the leading aspirants for the position of Secretary General in the forthcoming national delegates’ conference of the main opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) has emphatically stated that he is confident of winning despite a long0list of candidates.
Mohamed Raman Swarray, known affectionately as “Rado” by his admirers and supporters, said yesterday that he would serve as an efficient and result-oreinted scribe of the opposition party after his election as scribe.
The party is due to hold their conventions from 15th to 17th September in the eastern provincial headquarters town of Kenema.
Mr. Swaray also promised to reunify party members ahead of crucial president and general elections in 2018, though acknowledging that the party, which lost power in 2007, is in “turbulence.”
He said he launched his campaign to head the party’s secretariat a couple of months ago at their headquarters in Freetown and that he has traversed the entire country meeting delegates and stakeholders in a bid to not only win their vote but to preach peace and unity among members
He said he had sacrificed a lucrative job as human resource specialist at bauxite mining company, Sierra Ruitile, because of his conviction that with his wealth of experience and exposure he would harmonise the party. He added that although the SLPP is grappling with numerous challenges, it is the responsibility of patriots of the party to stay and resolve those conflicts instead of running away from the problem.
“Let me make this emphatically clear, for me, no amount of personal ambition is worth plunging this party into ethnic strife. If elected Secretary-General, I commit myself to continue to do all in my power to promote an atmosphere of political tolerance in the party in order to diffuse any tension that may threaten our cohesion and wellbeing, and I will encourage all political leaders to work with me in that direction,” he said.
Swarray further noted that it is very wrong for some people to dismiss the democratic values of the SLPP as a political party, which have been exhibited over the years even during difficult circumstances, adding that the current malaise in governance by Sierra Leoneans was as a result of bad governance of the ruling All Peoples Congress APC.
Asked whether he belongs to any of the factions in the SLPP, he remarked that, “I am an independent man, therefore in my view belonging to different camps is no reason why we cannot have unity of purpose and work together to achieve solutions to our common challenges as a party; indeed I have people I believe in and ready to work with, but as secretary-general-in-the-making I keep that to my chest. I want to be open to everybody and by the grace of God I have confidence of wining that election,” he said.