All People's Congress

The All People's Congress (APC) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, the other being the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). The APC is the main opposition party in Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018 when Julius Maada Bio of the SLPP won the 2018 presidential elections, though it maintains a majority in parliament.

For Ghanaian political party, see All People's Congress (Ghana).

"All People's Congress" is also the name of a sister organisation of the Workers World Party in the United States.

All People's Congress
Leader	Ernest Bai Koroma
Chairman	Ernest Bai Koroma
Secretary-General	Alhaji Osman Foday Yansaneh
Spokesperson	Cornelius Deveaux
Founder	Siaka Stevens
Founded	1962 (1962)
Headquarters	31 Railway Line, Brookfields Freetown, Sierra Leone
Ideology	African nationalism Democratic socialism
Political position	Centre-left to left-wing
Colors	Red
Slogan	"Action, Progress, Commitment"
Seats in Parliament	63 / 132
District Councils Chairperson	7 / 13
Municipalities Mayors	3 / 6
Website
www.apcpartysl.com
Politics of Sierra Leone Political parties Elections

The APC party was founded in 1960 by a breakaway group from the Sierra Leone People's Party that vehemently opposed elections before independence and instead supported independence before elections. The APC governed the country from 1968 to 1992 and became the ruling party again in 2007 after the party presidential candidate Ernest Bai Koroma won the 2007 presidential election, he contested and won the 2012 elections also.

The APC lost power on 4 April 2018, with its flagbearer Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara losing the presidential election to Julius Maada Bio.

Overview

Following a heavily manipulated plebiscite in 1978, the APC became the sole legal party in the country, a status it retained until 1991. Presidents Siaka Stevens and Joseph Saidu Momoh were members of the APC. Momoh was overthrown in a military coup in 1992, and during the civil war that followed, the party was severely weakened.

In the parliamentary election held on 14 May 2002, the party won 19.8% of the popular vote and 22 out of 112 seats. Its candidate in the presidential elections, Ernest Bai Koroma, won 22.3% of the vote; he was defeated by Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).

An All People's Congress rally in Kabala in 1968

For several years Koroma's leadership was challenged by some in the party, who took the issue to court; the dispute was said to be resolved in April 2007, with Koroma accepted by party dissidents as the party's leader ahead of the 2007 election.[1][2] He was the party's candidate for president in the election, with the first round held in August 2007. In the first round he took first place with 44.3% of the vote, ahead of Solomon Berewa of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) with 38.3%, but Koroma did not receive enough votes to win outright, and a second round was necessary. In the parliamentary election, held concurrently with the presidential first round, the APC won 59 out of 112 seats and became the largest party in Parliament.[3]

Koroma was victorious in the second round of the 2007 presidential election, held on 8 September, winning 54.6% of the vote against 45.4% for Berewa.[4][5] He was sworn in as President on 17 September.[6]

APC has traditionally been based among the Temne and Limba people in the north.[7][8]

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election	Party candidate	Votes	%	Votes	%	Result
		First round		Second round
1985	Joseph Saidu Momoh	2,780,495	99.85%	-	-	Elected Y
1996	Edward Turay	38,316	5.14%	-	-	Lost N
2002	Ernest Bai Koroma	426,405	22.4%	-	-	Lost N
2007		815,523	44.34%	950,407	54.62%	Elected Y
2012		1,314,881	58.7%	-	-	Elected Y
2018	Samura Kamara	1,082,748	42.7%	1,227,171	48.2%	Lost N

Parliamentary elections

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position
1962	114,333	17.2%	16 / 74	16	2nd
1967	279,515	44.9%	32 / 78	16	1st
1973			84 / 97	52	1st
1977	425,328	61.93%	70 / 100	14	1st
1982			85 / 104	15	1st
1986			105 / 127	20	1st
1996	42,467	5.66	5 / 80	100	4th
2002	409,022	19.8	27 / 112	22	2nd
2007	728,898	40.73%	59 / 124	32	1st
2012	1,149,234	53.67%	67 / 124	8	1st
2018			68 / 146	1	1st

References

1. Sayoh Kamara, "APC Gets Final Peace in Sierra Leone", Awareness Times, 5 April 2007.
2. "Sierra Leone’s main opposition party settles internal dispute", African Press Agency, 6 April 2007. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2007.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. "Freetown opposition party wins majority", Reuters, 24 August 2007.
4. Rod MacJohnson, "Sierra Leone gets a new leader", AFP, 17 September 2007.
5. "S Leone opposition win presidency", BBC News, 17 September 2007.
6. Katrina Manson and Christo Johnson, "Koroma pledges healing in Sierra Leone", Reuters, 18 September 2007.
7. Joseph J. Bangura; Marda Mustapha (29 April 2016). Democratization and Human Security in Postwar Sierra Leone. Palgrave Macmillan US. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-137-48674-5.
8. Verena Fritz; Brian Levy; Rachel Ort (13 January 2014). Problem-Driven Political Economy Analysis: The World Bank's Experience. World Bank Publications. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-4648-0122-8.

External links

• Official website