When Dr. Kandeh Yumkella on the July 4 2017, announced that he was relinquishing from the flagbearership race within the SLPP and would be working with a grand coalition of progressives eyebrows were raised about whether it would be a wise decision to make.
This sparked a wide debate across the country but no one was expecting the bombshell press conference organised by the Minister of Information Mohamed Bangura who lambasted the onetime UNIDO Boss who was on a trip to the U.S, with a stern warning for him to desist from misinforming world leaders that he had been ordained by President Koroma to be president of Sierra Leone.
On that note the KKY movement issued a press release to debunk the utterance of the Information Minister. “The KKYM wishes to first of all dismiss the Minister’s allegation as false, deliberately calculated to bring the good name of Dr. Kandeh Yumkella into disrepute, and to deflect the people’s attention from the country’s dire economic state, which has left 70% of our people in abject poverty, 60% youth unemployment, 10,000 under paid and uncertified teachers, 20,000 ex-servicemen without a sustainable means of livelihood, unbridled corruption and the worst maternal and infant mortality rates in the world… The KKYM further wishes to inform Minister Mohamed Bangura that instead of engaging in such cheap calumny, he should rather endeavor to clear his name when he lied to Parliament under oath that he holds Bachelors and Masters degrees which to this day he has failed to produce substantive proof of.” An abstract of the issued news release.
Well after twelve days in the Diaspora, the former UN doyen, Alhaji Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella returned on Tuesday 17th July, 2017 the evening at the Aberdeen landing point, amidst pomp and pageantry as supporters of the Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella.
On Wednesday 19th July 2107, report stated that Dr. Yumkella lectured at the Miatta Conference Hall in Freetown, wherein he attacked the personality of the Information Minister and the official government spokesman Mohamed Bangura that he referred to him as a junior staff in the Ernest Bai Koroma led APC government and that he would rather debate with the Boss of the Information Minister.
The Minister of Information and Communication, Mohamed Bangura immediately reacted to the reported accusations of Dr. Yumkella by referring to him as ‘politically immature and a coward politician with a very thin skin’ the Minister described KKY.
The Minister further explained that KKY must focus to answer yes or no to the allegation levied against him, instead of downplaying the said allegations. Mohamed Bangura noted that he has benevolently serve his country for 11 years ongoing whiles Dr. Yumkella just resurface to the country 2 month back to join the political race.
“People have attacked Maada Bio and President Koroma but they have not responded, simply because they are competent politicians and they know what they are up to. Kandeh will get me hot, when the time gets closer” the minister stated.
As the verbal war continues between the ‘minister and KKY’, AYV will surely update the public the forthcoming utterance between the aforementioned individuals.