Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. Veteran politician of Sierra Leone’s main opposition All People’s Congress (APC), Ibrahim Ben (IB) Kargbo has respond to remarks made by the party’s aspiring presidential candidate, Osman Abdal Timbo.
Timbo, during his declaration to run for the APC flagbearer position at Brookfields Hotel many weeks ago, accused some senior APC members of secretly meeting with President Julius Maada Bio.
Timbo claimed these members have “sold” the party to the ruling SLPP government.
He said he believes these top APC officials have held private talks with President Bio, raising serious concerns about their loyalty to the party.
In response, IB Kargbo, also a former Minister of Information and Communication, spoke on a national television program, addressing the allegations. Kargbo said he has visited President Bio’s office more than four times to discuss national issues.
“Maada Bio is the president of Sierra Leone. Why should I not go there?” Kargbo asked, reflecting on the matter. He said the talk about going to Bio’s residence “does not make any sense.”
The veteran politician recalled that during former President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah’s administration, even though he was an APC member, Kabbah knew this but personally called him to join his delegation to the United Nations after the war. “The people were very satisfied,” he added.
When President Bio became president, Kargbo said Bio invited him to go with him to Mali for the inauguration of the president, and he accepted. “I am APC, but I went with him. It was a matter of the president of Sierra Leone being invited to another country. I was well received and highly respected,” Kargbo explained.
He also mentioned that when there was a crisis in his hometown Makeni, he went to President Bio’s office to be briefed on the situation.
Kargbo pointed out that even former President Ernest Bai Koroma attended conferences with some high-profile SLPP members.
Kargbo said, “Why should we divide the country on who visits who and who does not? It is a matter of integrity. You can go to Maada Bio’s residence and still maintain your integrity.”
He stressed that if APC members do not visit President Bio, then “who will we go to? He is the president of this country.”
Responding directly to Timbo, Kargbo said, “Well, he is a young man and has his own thinking, but I think APC and SLPP should not divide the country but rather unite it. When elections come, whoever wins, wins. But after that, we are the same people again.”
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