Kandeh Yumkella meeting his UK and US supporters

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 11 August 2018:

It is now almost five months since general and presidential elections were held in Sierra Leone, in which one of the country’s newly formed political parties – the National Grand Coalition (NGC) led by Dr Kandeh Yumkella, proved it is a force to be reckoned with.

Although the party struggled, amid bitterly controversial and sometimes violent electioneering between the two largest parties – APC and the SLPP, it however managed to win four  seats in the district of Kambia.

Expectations of the NGC doing far better at the polls were very high.

But with the APC party and its leadership bent on seeing the destruction of the NGC as a viable opposition party, the odds were heavily stacked against the NGC.

The APC’s obsession with the destruction of the NGC and its leadership took an even more sinister turn, when Dr Yumkella was dragged to court to prove he is a Sierra Leonean and as such entitled to contest the elections.

All of that was five months ago. The dust is now settling and the four NGC MPs – including Dr Yumkella, are actively involved in sorting out the economic and social development of their Kambia constituencies.

The NGC parliamentary representatives are: Mr. Foday Mario Kamara of Constituency 057 (Gbileh, Dixon, Bramaia and Khonimarha); Mr. Bai Sama Kamara of Constituency 060 – Magbema Chiefdom (Kambia Central); Mr. Abdul Titus Kamara of Mambolo Chiefdom and Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella of Constituency 062 – Samu Chiefdom.

The five-month old NGC party at the time of the elections, captured fourteen out of the eighteen local government seats in the Kambia District Council and four out of the six constituency seats.

The elected NGC members of parliament for Constituencies 060 and 061 have replaced the All Peoples Congress (APC), after holding those seats for over 50 years.

So, which way now for the NGC party and its leadership? Will it be an even bigger force to be reckoned with in the next five years when elections are held in 2023?

These are questions that the rank and file members and supporters of the NGC will now be pondering, as their leader – Dr Yumkella visits America and Europe to meet them.

The executives and members of the NGC UK branch have started making plans for Yumkella’s London ‘meet the people’ town hall event. This is a statement published by their secretary general –  Mustapha Kpaka, calling on all to be prepared for this big event:

“Dear Compatriots, I have great pleasure in informing you that the NGC (UK & Ireland) branch will soon be hosting Hon Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella on a Thank You tour in the UK from 28-30 September 2018. An itinerary of his UK visit will be published in due course.

“Trusting your ongoing support and patronage, we look forward to seeing you all in due course. Please make a note and clear your diaries for the upcoming events. Long live the NGC Party and Leaders.”