Is Samura Kamara Under Threat?
Titus Boye-Thompson, Accra Ghana
A rather dark cloud has engulfed the All People’s Congress Party’s race for flag bearer in 2026, as the party’s main contender – erstwhile flagbearer and leader of the 2023 Presidential elections, Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara, has failed to appear in public view for over six months now. Interestingly, Adebayor, one of Dr Kamara’s most outspoken critic and a person known universally as the mouthpiece of the former President, Chairman and Leader of the party, and now most vociferously opposed to Dr Kamara, recently made very wild and outrageous allegations that Dr Kamara was among the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party’s big wigs, dancing with the sitting President of Sierra Leone, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, at the conclusion of their party’s lower levels, regional and national executive elections, which were the highlights of their recent Party Convention held in Freetown.
In a video / photo clip clearly showing one of the APCs turncoat politicians, Hon. Khan, who has now formally joined the SLPP, cavorting with President Bio, Adebayor, an uneducated loudmouth based in Holland, went to the social media to blast Dr Samura Kamara for failing to honor an invitation from the CID claiming that his mother was ill, but is now being seen jubilating with the SLPP, “dancing with the enemy” as the loudmouth puts it.
In a bizarre twist, it was Adebayor’s comments and erroneous video allegations that raised the question on everybody’s mind as to the current whereabouts of their indomitable political icon. Dr Samura Kamara is clearly admired and respected by the rank and file of the APC, a darling of the grassroots and a champion of “electoral justice,” a phenomenon which is becoming increasingly contentious, as public elections are being manhandled by the current government, their political party tiers, e.g. the Bar Association and now most infamously, the Football Association (SLFA).
Absent without consent
There has been some very high level assignments that the APC flag bearer has failed to meet in the period since February 2025. A very senior Freemason, Dr Samura Kamara was visibly absent from the delegation that went to pay a courtesy call to the President at State House when the Grand Master of all Scottish Freemasons visited Sierra Leone to preside over the instillation of the new District Grand Master of Sierra Leone and the Gambia, Hon Justice Nicholas Browne Marke in July 2025. Freemasons are known for their position not to engage or even discuss politics among themselves, but the absence of Dr Samura Kamara, who is undoubtedly the only Primus Master actively involved in Freemasonry in Sierra Leone, was felt by many who know the hierarchy of Freemasonry in Sierra Leone. Other important events such as funerals of major party stakeholders and a recent meeting of all persons who have expressed their intention to vie for the position of Flag Bearer held in Freetown, and a recent Press Conference to address in part, the very concept of electoral justice and the party’s apprehension as the government imposes Electoral Commissioners and a Chief Electoral Commissioner without proper or adequate consultation with the opposition as the Sierra Leone Constitution dictates. A champion of electoral justice, as Dr Samura Kamara has embellished himself in the minds of the electorate, his absence at such an important event sent shockwaves across the country, that it is either the case that the party executives are permitting a distance between themselves and their current flag bearer, or that Dr Samura himself was made to be absent without his expressed consent.
Flagbearer confusion – the party’s infusion
The parachuting of a rather unknown element into the race for the next flagbearer and a tacit approval of his aspiration, outside the scope of the Party’s own rules, has been a source of concern to many. Those who know of the APC’s internal politics have pointed out that the deliberate intention of calling that meeting of proposed flag bearer contenders at the Party Headquarters in Freetown, was to introduce other major party stakeholders to the unknown factor, one Dr Ibrahim Bangura, and not even to remonstrate him for going around campaigning with the Party’s Flag, as if he has already been elected as flag bearer. Such an act was to have been regarded as “anti party activity” and severely sanctioned, but this was not to be the case, rather, the issue was discussed merely as a directive from the PPRC that political parties and their cohorts should not be seen to engage in political campaigns for national offices when the period for such an activity has not been officially declared. The said meeting ended with no communique, other than a photo-call at the party Headquarters.
In a bid to dismiss the degree of antagonism and ill emotions within the party structure, a strict warning was issued to members, who were present at the meeting, to keep the discussions private at the moment in order that the opposition is kept in the dark of such a deep split within the ranks of the APC. The fact however that the Party has, up till now, not addressed the issue of Dr Samura Kamara’s continued absence, even though it was raised at that meeting, points to a sinister collusion with the ruling government to hold Dr Samura under a threat of arrest and abuse of his human rights in order that he may not be able to surface to face a public campaign as the next flag bearer in 2026. What the party has failed to reveal was whether Dr Samura Kamara has been able to secure the guardianship of a major World power and is presently under protective custody by a foreign power and a prominent moral guarantor of the peace process in Sierra Leone. The Party is also complicit in the attempt to undermine Sierra Leone’s democracy by silencing its main opposition voice against the egregious theft of the Presidential elections of 2023, but are instead looking ahead to 2028 without dealing with the cloud that still hover on the legitimacy of the 2023 announced results. A senior politician and former Minister in the last APC government has warned that the party risks losing again in 2028 if it chooses the wrong candidate for 2028, rather than look inwards to heal its rift and choose a combination of flagbearer and running mate who would deal with the pragmatic issues faced by any attempt to regain power by peaceful means.
Correcting regional imbalance by reducing the dominance of the North
As Dr Samura Kamara’s absence seem to reverberate on the race for the next APC flagbearer, some have argued that the Party is missing a unique opportunity to reunite under an accepted position that is constitutionally sound. A caution has been sounded in several commentaries that the party must first seek regional balance in order to arrive at a winning ticket. Dr Samura Kamara is clearly the favorite, as the only party operative with a second chance dictated by the 2022 APC Constitution, which he is yet to utilize. Given that it is but fair that he is allowed to utilize that second chance, his position as representing interests in the North and Western area of the country makes it clear that the running mate must come from an area opposed to these two regions. It must also be demonstrative that the party is true to its position that neither Dr Samura Kamara nor the APC lost the 2023 elections, and that due consideration is now given to Dr Samura Kamara for abandoning his winning for the sake of peace in the country. He must, on all moral and pragmatic political grounds, be given his last chance to once again carry the flag, but this time, with all of the party behind him. To add to this mix, a potential pairing with a running mate with vested interests in the South and/or East of the country, who would bring either secure financial resources or votes to the ticket is a must. The party must not be swayed by emotions or favoritism to demagoguery, rather, it must be confident to allow the flagbearer to choose his running mate with their consent, someone who has political capital and/or financial resources to sustain a well run campaign. With such conditionalities, Dr. Samura Kamara would be able to narrow the field of running mates to Richard Konteh, Jagaban, Alhaji Samsumana, and Kelfala Marah, making it a decision whose outcome poses no threat from those who are not chosen, but to integrate them all as senior members of the next government and have a campaign team that speaks for all, and that voice must resonate the rallying call of: APC NOW OR NEVER!
