By Isaac Unisa Kamara, DIB MEDIA GURUS
In Sierra Leone’s All People’s Congress (APC), Ernest Bai Koroma and Dr. Ibrahim Bangura have followed almost identical winning paths two decades apart. Both rose from outsider, private-sector backgrounds—Koroma as a top insurance executive, Bangura as an academic and international consultant with UNDP, EU, and Transition International—to become the party’s greatest unifiers and electoral winners.
Each took the APC helm when it was bitterly divided: Koromain the war-torn ruins of 2002, Bangura after the chaotic 2023 elections. Against entrenched heavyweights and widespread scepticism, both emerged as consensus “unity candidates” through superior strategy, personal funding, and relentless grassroots mobilisation.
Koroma’s 2007 “Agenda for Change” delivered infrastructure and jobs; Bangura’s “Unity, Integrity, and Action” manifesto now prioritises crushing the kush epidemic, youth empowerment, and economic diversification for 2028. Both are masterful orators who speak with intellectual clarity and emotional fire, connecting across generations and regions.
Their personal financial sacrifice defines them: Koromabankrolled the APC’s post-war rebirth single-handedly; in 2025 alone, Bangura has poured millions into renovating party offices and mobilising supporters nationwide.
Most importantly, both represent peaceful, democratic generational renewal. Koroma resurrected the APC after civil war and secured consecutive presidential victories. Today, Bangura is executing the same proven blueprint—refined for new challenges—to lead the party into its next era.
Ernest Bai Koroma wrote the modern APC success formula of discipline, unity, and action. Dr. Ibrahim Bangura is now perfecting and deploying it. Their shared political DNA remains the APC’s most reliable path to victory.
