By Richmond B Tholley
A senior member of Sierra Leone’s main opposition party from the Northern District of Tonkolili has resigned from the party with immediate effect.
In a letter dated December 20th, 2023, and addressed to the leadership of the party, Alusine Abdulai Sesay fondly called Kamathor who was the All People’s Congress former Northern region Youth leader and served as the Tonkolili District Council Chairman under the party from 2012 to 2018 says he’s resigning from the APC for reasons he says are personal.
In his letter, Kamathor did not mention why he resigned from the party but he only say it was due to personal reasons.
“I write to tender my resignation from the All People’s Congress party with immediate effect due to personal reasons,” the letter reads in part.
When contacted to verify the authenticity of the letter, the former chairman in a telephone conversation confirmed the information to be true.
“Yes, yes, the letter is from me and it’s authentic. I have resigned from the APC,” Sesay confirmed over the phone.
Over speculation about whether he will join the ruling party, Sesay did not mention anything regarding such assumptions from the public either in his letter or during the telephone conversation. But the above assertion is the rumor going viral. Some even say he’s going to contest under the ticket of the Sierra Leone People’s Party for the Chairmanship of the Tonkolili District Council.
The former APC strongman said he has been a member of the party since 1996, and during those years, he said, he served the party with diligence, and honesty with the benchmarks of commitment, loyalty, and a clear sense of purpose.
Sesay’s resignation from the APC has sparked mixed feelings, especially from among the party’s grassroots supporters across Tonkolili District. For many, it’s not a surprise if the former District Council Chairman resigns considering the way he was publicly humiliated and disgraced by his party comrades a few years ago.
In 2018, at the time he was District Council Chairman, Kamathor was mercilessly beaten up and stripped half-naked in Magburaka by members of his former party during an APC-Tonkolili District executive election.
He was also denied the party’s symbol to run for a second time.
The leadership of the APC has not officially reacted to Sesay’s action.