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 April 4, 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
LeaderErnest Bai Koroma
ChairpersonErnest Bai Koroma
Secretary-GeneralAlhaji Osman Foday Yansaneh
SpokespersonCornelius Deveaux
FounderSiaka Stevens
Founded1962 (1962)
Headquarters31 Railway Line, Brookfields Freetown, Sierra Leone
IdeologyAfrican nationalism
Democratic socialism
Political positionCentre-left to Left-wing
ColorsRed
Seats in Parliament
63 / 132
District Councils Chairperson
7 / 13
Municipalities Mayors
3 / 6
Website

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 September 8, winning 54.6% of the vote against 45.4% for Berewa.[4][5] He was sworn in as President on September 17.[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, April 5, 2007.
  2. "Sierra Leone’s main opposition party settles internal dispute", African Press Agency, April 6, 2007. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Freetown opposition party wins majority", Reuters, August 24, 2007.
  4. Rod MacJohnson, "Sierra Leone gets a new leader", AFP, September 17, 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, September 18, 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.
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