FREETOWN:
A multi-ethnic National Support Group (NSG) has been
officially launched by the ruling All People’s Congress at
the National Stadium in Freetown.
Attended by
thousands of Sierra Leoneans of all political shades, the
ceremony also attracted ministers of government, members of
parliament, traditional and religious leaders, A.P.C party
stalwarts and supporters, as well as petty traders and
farmers drawn from various parts of the country.
The
launching of the Support Group for the A.P.C. Leader,
National Chairman and Presidential Candidate for the 2012
elections marks a significant milestone towards the build up
for the race to State House as political parties put their
plans and strategies in place for the 2012 general
elections.
Observers
described the event as a vital step for the incumbent as the
opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party’s primaries to elect a
candidate that can contend the calibre of APC’s
only-President Ernest Bai Koroma in 2012 presidential race,
is said to have been slated for late next week.
Addressing a
massive crowd of supporters in the party’s red colour,
President Ernest Bai Koroma underscored that the APC has
fulfilled the mandate given to it by the people to improve
their livelihoods and create a business friendly environment
for investment.
‘We are
trying to get out of where we were for the past ten years
and nothing can stop us from moving the country forward
until we stand on our own as a nation’, said President
Koroma.
The NSG,
President Koroma noted was formed to support the APC party,
observing that; ‘I am a President today because of the APC
which wants me to lead, therefore as a support group you
should strive to complement its efforts for total success.’.
He reminded
the jam-parked stadium of APC supporters that most of the
infrastructural landmarks in the country were undertaken by
past APC regimes under the leadership of late Presidents
Siaka Stevens and Joseph Saidu Momoh, saying that he
continued the match to development where they left off upon
assuming power in 2007.
‘Whenever
the APC takes up power everybody feel the presence of a
government at work with changes taking place in Bo, Kenema,
Makeni and other parts of the country fast being transformed
into beautiful cities and district headquarter towns.
While
cautioning that elections campaign have not yet started,
President Koroma advised aspirants to the Presidency and
other political offices to be well organized first and avoid
violence as ‘politics is not a matter of life and death’.
He therefore
warned that anybody undermining the peace and stability of
the country will be severely dealt with in accordance with
the law.
Earlier,
Information and Communications Minister, who is also
Government Spokesman, Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo urged the
NSG to put itself in high gear and push the campaign train
forward to ensure no run-off for the Presidency.
National
Publicity Secretary and Minister of Public and Political
Affairs Alhaji Alpha Kanu who chaired the ceremony, observed
that up to now President Ernest Bai Koroma continues to be
the only Presidential candidate Sierra Leone has for the
2012 elections.
He described
the APC flag bearer as the peoples’ man, saying that
launching of the National Support Group is a victory for the
APC, assuring that there will be no runoff in the 2012
Presidential elections.
