Dr. Samura Kamara denies ownership of British passport
January 29, 2018 By Patrick Jaiah Kamara
Dr. Kamara and his running mate at NEC headquarter
Presidential candidate of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) has denied ownership of a British passport that is making the rounds on social media, stating that it was a political ‘gimmick’ aimed at distracting his attention.
Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara was speaking to pressmen just after he went through the nomination process with his running mate Chernor Ramadan Maju Bah at NEC headquarters on Tower Hill in Freetown.
“I have never owned a British passport. That document you see on social medial is a calculated gimmick to distract my attention. It does not belong to me,” he said.
The APC presidential candidate said Sierra Leone has been his only country and that he has never held dual nationality.
On his performance should he win the March 7 poll, he promised to scale-up achievement his party has made under the leadership of President Koroma and consider new aspects to move forward with national development.
“As a party, we have a long term goal that is to transform Sierra Leone to a middle income country by 2035. That is a very bold and laudable goal. The farther we move towards it, the better it would be for everybody in Sierra Leone,” he said.
Dr. Kamara, who speaks in relatively low tone, said they have confidence in the integrity of the electoral commission to conducting free, fair and credible elections on March 7, 2018.
This represents a dramatic departure from the official position of his party prior to the nomination. In a campaign of calumny against NEC boss, Mohamed N’fa Ali Conteh, the APC alleged incompetence and called for his resignation. The party, through individuals reported to be members, filed a law suit against NEC in the High Court.
Dr. Samura Kamara recalled that the party’s leadership selected him as their flag bearer among twenty-eight others in October last year.
When asked about his view about Section 76(1) of the 1991 Constitution which bars people with dual citizenship from contesting for parliament and the presidency, Dr. Kamara said “we will take care of it at the appropriate time.”