Driving Away Key Figures: Is SLPP Repeating Its 2007 & 2012 Errors?

By Staff Writer

As the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) confronts renewed internal tensions and disciplinary measures, questions are increasingly being raised about whether the governing party is fully mindful of the electoral consequences that internal divisions have produced in its own history.

The debate comes amid moves to discipline several party members. SLPP National Publicity Secretary Moses Mambu has indicated that about 15 members could face removal over alleged failure to fulfil party obligations, among other issues.

The dispute has also drawn attention to former SLPP presidential aspirant Musa Tarawally. In a recent public notice, the party advised its executives, members and the wider public against conducting official business with Tarawally under the SLPP ticket, stating that its records do not show that he has been readmitted as a member of the party.

The developments have revived memories of 2007, when a major split within the SLPP helped reshape the electoral contest and drew substantial support away from the party in regions where it had traditionally been strong.

The 2007 Warning

In 2007, prominent SLPP figure Charles Margai broke away from the party after losing the leadership contest to Solomon Berewa and subsequently formed the People’s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC).

The emergence of the PMDC significantly altered the electoral landscape, particularly in the Southern and Eastern regions traditionally associated with the SLPP.

In the first round of the 2007 presidential election, Margai secured 255,499 votes, representing 13.89%, while Berewa received 704,012 votes, or 38.28%. APC candidate Ernest Bai Koroma topped the first round with 815,523 votes, representing 44.34%.

The regional figures were particularly striking. The PMDC secured about 41% of the presidential vote in the Southern Province, demonstrating the extent to which a breakaway movement could draw support from the SLPP’s traditional electoral base.

The election proceeded to a runoff, which Koroma won with 54.62% against Berewa’s 45.38%. In the parliamentary elections, the APC won 59 seats, the SLPP 43 and the PMDC 10.

The figures do not establish that the PMDC split was the sole reason for the SLPP’s defeat. They do, however, demonstrate how a major internal rupture can redistribute votes and fundamentally change the competitive political landscape.

The 2012 Experience

Five years later, the SLPP faced another difficult period following its flagbearer contest ahead of the 2012 elections.

Julius Maada Bio defeated Usman Boie Kamara for the SLPP presidential nomination in July 2011.

In the 2012 presidential election, Bio received 37.4% of the vote, while incumbent Ernest Bai Koroma secured 58.7% and won a second term without a runoff. The APC also won 67 of the 112 directly elected parliamentary seats, compared with 42 for the SLPP.

The 2012 result remains another significant chapter in the SLPP’s political history, particularly in discussions about leadership contests, competing interests and the management of internal disagreements.

Fofanah Calls for Unity

Against this backdrop, SLPP member and veteran journalist Sorie Fofanah has called for greater unity within the governing party, particularly amid the continuing dispute involving Musa Tarawally and the SLPP executive.

Fofanah has cautioned against actions that could deepen divisions within the party, saying he does not want to be associated with anything that could contribute to the SLPP returning to opposition.

His intervention highlights a longstanding dilemma confronting political parties: how to enforce internal rules and maintain discipline while preventing disputes from becoming wider political fractures.

Has the SLPP Learned from History?

The issue is not whether political parties have the right to enforce their rules. They do.

The more consequential question is how those rules are applied — and whether disciplinary measures strengthen party organisation or create deeper divisions among influential members and supporters.

The 2007 experience remains a particularly relevant historical reference. The PMDC did not simply emerge as another opposition party; it attracted substantial support from constituencies where the SLPP had traditionally been dominant. The electoral figures demonstrate the scale of that shift.

For the SLPP today, the debate therefore goes beyond the individual cases of Musa Tarawally or other members facing disciplinary action. It raises broader questions about the party’s ability to manage competing interests, resolve internal disputes and prevent political disagreements from developing into organisational fragmentation.

As another electoral cycle approaches, the question being raised within and around the party is whether the SLPP can maintain discipline while preserving the political coalition that has sustained it.

History does not necessarily repeat itself. But the SLPP’s own electoral record demonstrates that internal political divisions can have consequences extending far beyond the immediate disputes that produce them.