NDA steals 23 UDM members

By Elkass I.L.Sannoh

13 executive members and 10 non-executive members of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) have defected to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for what they described as the diversion of the party’s ideology and philosophies, which they claimed have been mortgaged by the their leader, Mr. Mohamed Bangura.

Addressing newsmen at the party’s Duke Street, off Circular Road, headquarters in Freetown yesterday, the Spokesman for the NDA, Mr. Chernor R. Bah said they were currently making preparations to hold their delegates convention in Kenema in the next two weeks.

He maintained that they were very dissatisfied with the stewardship of the All Peoples Congress (APC), especially with the alarming rate of violence which has recently led to the killings of innocent youths in the country.

Mr. Bah disclosed that the attitudinal and behavioral change initiated by President Ernest Bai Koroma has not sufficed because ‘their leadership is not honest and sincere to the citizenry of this country’.

Blaming the Sierra Leone Peoples (SLPP) and the APC for what he described as the total contamination of the political landscape, he said they intended to bring sanity to the country when they win the elections.

He also stated that the present economic backwardness of the country was caused by what he referred to as the recycling of politicians and because of that, he said, they will ensure that they vote them out of power on November 17 and take over the reins of governance of Sierra Leone.

Mr. Bah said they were happy to receive the 23 defecting members from the UDM, a move he said that testifies that they are being admired and appreciated by the people of this country.

Among those who defected he mentioned the UDM Regional Secretary in the Eastern Province, Mr. Lansana M. Amara, the Kenema District Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim W. Sillah, and the Eastern Region Chairman, Mr. Abdulai Tarawally.

Reacting to these defections last night, the UDM Leader, Mr. Mohamed Bangura, said he was aware of only one member who has defected and that was the Secretary General for the Eastern Region, Mr. Lansana M. Amara.

“This is just the usual political gimmicks of the failed SLPP because those other 22 people have never been members of my party,” he charged