President Bio has endorsed Vice President Juldeh Jalloh as his running mate for his second term ticket during the national Convention of the Sierra Leone People’s Party held on 9th February 2023 at Bjntumani centre, but that’s unsurprising.
The rumored move of Kandeh Yumkellah to the SLPP for the position of a running mate went belly up in a matter of minutes to speculators but to real political observers, it was always a far fetched notion with little possibility of becoming a reality.
Here are reasons why:
A President needs a VP who can be depended on to act presidential when called upon but not too presidential as to overshadow the boss, which Kandeh, after a few months in office, might have tried to do.
Vice President Juldeh Jalloh has already proven himself to be manageable, dependable and publicly supportive of his boss where Kandeh possessed the potential to engage in a public disagreement with his boss, capable of making his own government look vulnerable, if he felt he would come out smelling rosy.
Vice President Juldeh Jalloh brought to the table the much needed Fullah demography, with his ties and dealings to that community, whereas Kandeh’s much heralded ties remain overseas. His tribe, political support and following remain overseas and what little he has locally, can be sourced out by another political figure hailing from Kambia.
The Sam Sumana factor. Though slightly dissimilar (based on the fact that Sam Sumana’s occurred after second term election), selecting another Vice Presidential Candidate might have been dragged as amounting to sacking of the Vice President but at the very least created a Precedent problematic in terms of interpretation and at worse, exploitation.
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