Samura Kamara: The Jewel in APC's Crown


Latest reports from Sierra Leone say the All People's Congress (APC) political party has chosen Samura M. Kamara as their presidential candidate. The APC held its national convention this weekend, allowing for party leaders, activists, and supporters to select their nominee for the upcoming elections. 



General elections will be held in Sierra Leone on March 7, 2018, to elect the president, Parliament, and local councils.

Incumbent President Ernest Koroma is not running, as he is constitutionally ineligible, having served the maximum ten years in office.

Can Samura Kamara win?  

When Kamara, then Sierra Leone's foreign minister ran for the top job at African Development Bank, Sierra Leoneans around the globe rallied behind their man.

Radio listeners registered their support through text messages, while those on WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook posted messages of solidarity.

"Dr. Samura our prayers are with you, we believe you will emerge victorious,” read one message sent via SMS to the Star Good Morning Show on Star Radio.


"Continue to remember Dr. Samura Kamara in your prayers." said one Facebook wall day after day.



@magashi We do too. Would be good to see Salone lead AfDb, wrote one handle on Twitter. 


In a country where politics is polarized than ever before,  the idea of Dr. Kamara as Africa's chief banker garnered goodwill across the political divide,  observed one social commentator.


"This is about Sierra Leone and we wholeheartedly support Dr. Kamara's candidacy for the African Development Bank," Yusuf Keketoma Sandi posted on Facebook.

Sandi is a campaign manager for Maada Bio, the SLPP presidential nominee who lost to APC's Ernest Bai Koroma in 2012.

In a presser with local journalists, Kamara said as a leader in economic and foreign policy as well as someone who has worked with major international development institutions at senior policy levels, he is going into the elections very confident that he will be voted the next President of the African Development Bank.

"I want to register my appreciation to President Koroma, colleagues and all those who have supported me, especially members of the public who have been praying; you have been a source of motivation as we prepare for this election that is very competitive," he said.

So who is Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara?

Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara (born in Kamalo, Bombali District) is an economist, who graduated from Fourah Bay College.

Kamara spent some time as the financial secretary in the Ministry of Finance during president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's administration.

He was the governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone from 2007 until March 2009, when he was appointed by President Ernest Bai Koroma as Finance Minister.

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