President Joseph Saidu Momoh
Address to the Extra-Ordinary National Delegates Conference of the All People's Congress (Excerpts)
Published 1 November 1991

 

These innocent young men have sacrificed their youth before it gained full blossom.

They did not stop to ask why but responded immediately to the call of duty - the duty to save our land, the duty to maintain our freedom, the duty to uphold our honour.

If we strive to maintain that freedom, if we endeavour to keep the honour of our country, then these patriots would not have made this supreme sacrifice in vain. Let their blood shed, in our defence forever nurture the roots of freedom which they fought to plant.

They died so that we may live.

We therefore owe it to their memories to keep the flame of freedom burning, to remain peaceful and to keep our country as one.

I have elaborated elsewhere about my plans to provide assistance to the widows and orphans of our gallant troops who fell in the war as well as for the rehabilitation of the areas devastated by these bandits.

I hope that all Sierra Leoneans will participate actively in these exercises when they begin.

Fellow party members.

IIt seems to me that you may wish to consider a number of things before this conference is concluded.

Paramount among them will be:

1. The setting up of a new structure in which most officers in the Party are democratically elected.
2. Establishing a new National Executive Committee representative of the party.
3. Creating a new leadership structure which represents the wishes of members of the Party.
4. Streamlining the Party Organisation so that it works effectively.
5. Considering a new Party Song, Party Colours and the Party Manifesto.

In that regard, I will be presenting drafts for a Party Manifesto and a new Party Constitution both geared towards an efficient party in a multiparty context.

I hope delegates will scrutinise these documents thoroughly and come up with sound final drafts.

Some of these issues can sustain these documents which may be need special attention include:

1. The Deputy Leadership.
2. The realisation of the Party structures at all levels.
3. Procedures to that all aspects of the Party [road atlas] are based on democratic principles and accountability.

In addition, all of you must commit yourselves to the Party and work selflessly to ensure victory at the forthcoming elections.

This is why I propose that members of the constituency will be largely responsible for the selection of candidates to be awarded a party symbol.

To buttress these changes the Party will henceforth demand the highest standards of discipline and comportment from each of its members.

The future of the party rests with you.

You must do your part as good citizens to ensure that the forthcoming elections peaceful, and that multi-party polities operates in a free and democratic manner.

All parties must be free to campaign in any part of the country.

We expect them to operate in an atmosphere freedom and dignity and we expect you to help ensure that all parties can campaign and canvas in an open unhindered manner.

I want you all to think carefully about the future of Sierra Leone - to think about what we have done and what we should do as we build the new Sierra Leone.

The key to success rest with all of us - a commitment to guaranteeing every one the right to express his or her view in peace and tranquillity.

We must all work together to maintain the forwardt momentum created by our recent initiatives.

We will build on the new constitutional order we have established to eliminate the problems which have been hindering us.

We have made excellent progress, but we will not stop there.

This is but the beginning.

There is much to be done and we will give it our undivided attention and energy.

The APC must mobilise the people for this great effort.

We need to make our case strongly and clearly, and we need to demonstrate our commitment to the people.

We need to be vigilant within the party to be sure that no one tries to hijack it - to divert it to their own personal or selfish ends.

And we should always remember that as a Party, we have much to be proud of.

At the same time, what we are about today is the restructuring of our party to bring it in tune with the times - to make it a party for the 1990s - a party for the future - a party of change, a party for all times.

We need to listen carefully to our critics, including those in other parties.

We need to acknowledge our failures while making sure that they do not happen again.

At the same time we need to work to ensure that the people are not hoodwinked by parties which are really wolves in sheep's clothing.

I also want to make it clear that we will respect those political parties which are sincere and committed to democracy. We will listen - and encourage others to listen - confident in our experience and in our ability to continue to lead this nation forward in a responsible and peaceful manner.

We expect no less from our political opponents.

Fellow members of the APC, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, together we will work to solve our economic, social and political problems.

Together we will work towards a better future for all the people of Sierra Leone.

I am excited by our prospects and eager to move forward into this new era.

With your help and commitment we will surely succeed.