Results we have been receiving about the bye-elections in the north and east of Sierra Leone strongly indicate that Osman Karankay Conteh (photo) of the APC, a community activist and businessman, has walloped Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray of the Alliance Democratic Party (ADP) to win the Constituency 050 seat in parliament. There is not much of a surprise in this result because Lunsar and the rest of the north have always been APC strongholds except in the 1996 and 2002 elections when that party was extremely disorganized and fragmented.
No official results have been announced yet by the National Electoral Commission but our usually very reliable sources say Lunsar’s new MP is Karankay. Kamarainba, a who holds a psychology degree from a US university, however still has a lot of fight in him and might snatch some seats from the APC in 2018 if the ruling party does not keep an eye on him, our sources warned.
In the east of the country, in Constituency 001 in Kailahun district, Navo Kaikai, a nurse, has captured the seat with what seems like a very comfortable lead. As we go to press, she already had over 10, 000 votes while the APC’s candidate Haja Nasratu Jalloh-Ngobeh, a businesswoman, had slightly over 4,000 votes.
These results indicate that Kailahun is still SLPP territory but also sends out a message that the APC is rapidly catching up and is very likely to get some seats in this district and other SLPP strongholds in the forthcoming 2018 elections.
Navo Kaikai, Kailahun’s new MP.
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