‘There are no parallel Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella campaign committees as reported’

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 7 December 2015

Two weeks ago, there were newspaper reports in Freetown of an alleged leaked controversial campaign strategy, aimed at promoting Kandeh Yumkella’s presidential flagbearship for the opposition SLPP.

Although a spokesman for the Kandeh Yumkella Movement had informed the Sierra Leone Telegraph that the allegations were unfounded, there had not been any formal public official denial of the existence of a leaked campaign document or its contents.

But today, the Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella Movement has issued a statement, strongly denying those newspaper reports. This is what it says.

“The attention of Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella Movement (KKYM) has been drawn to the recent publication in the Global Times and the Independent Observer newspapers, on Wednesday 25th November, 2015 claiming, among other things, that the SLPP flag-bearer aspirant Alhaji Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella has formed three parallel campaign committees to play advisory, campaign and media roles in furtherance of his determination to become the next presidential candidate of the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) in the 2018 presidential election.

“We want the general public to know that the information in the aforesaid publications is fallacious and intended to exacerbate the intra-party squabbles in the SLPP.

“The general public is therefore informed that at no time has Alhaji Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella formed any parallel campaign committees.

“All SLPP stalwarts whose names were mentioned as committee members were a figment of the publishers’ imagination.

“We believe that the honourable party stalwarts should remain neutral, so as to create a level playing field for party members who have declared as flag-bearer aspirants for the 2018 presidential election.

“But we have observed with trepidation that the major problem in the SLPP is the effrontery of certain National Executive Officers of the National Executive Council (NEC) and Executive Officers of the Regional, District and Constituency Executives to take sides in the flag-bearer contest, which has made the ongoing peace process in the party extremely difficult to achieve.

“The KKY Movement believes in democracy and the credibility of its flag-bearer aspirant, whose exemplary achievements at both national and international levels can speak for themselves.

“Even so, there are mischievous elements within the SLPP and the media, who are trying to misinform the general public about the political activities of our quintessential flag-bearer aspirant, who believes in the tenets of democracy, fair play and respect for party elders, as he demonstrated during his visit to Bo city on Friday 27th November, 2015, when he paid homage to party elders in the Southern Region.

“We as a movement therefore dissociate ourselves from the so-called KKY parallel campaign committees, published in the Independent Observer and Global Times newspapers with the deliberate intention of deepening the protracted intra-party squabbles in the SLPP.

“We therefore appeal to our general membership and the public not to take the misleading publications of the Independent Observer and Global Times newspapers hook, line and sinker or for granted.

“We believe they must have mischievously misinformed the general public about the political activities of our flag-bearer aspirant, with the intention of creating a wedge between him and the reputable party stalwarts, whose names were stated in the so-called three parallel committees of KKY.”