Abubakar Hashim
Manso Dumbuya won the Western Area Chairmanship yesterday, 19 June 2025, despite being a Limba from the North. The ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) is predominantly a Southern Mende party.
His political journey in the murky waters of Sierra Leone’s chequered history is worth studying.
During the country’s first President, Siaka Stevens, Manso was deeply involved in the political struggle against Stevens, leading to his incarceration several times. He remained unperturbed and resolute in his party cause.
His victory yesterday, given his past struggles, was supposed to be a fait accompli, an unopposed platform, but he was challenged by two other contestants he defeated, landslide.
Manso is unassuming and simple to the core. But behind that simplicity lies a volcanic strategist who knows the political chess game and possesses the winning formula for national electoral victory.
A man of few words, Manso Dumbuya is among the last of the titans in the SLPP and, indeed, in Sierra Leone’s chequered political history, particularly in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
He is immensely popular, especially at the grassroots, irrespective of tribal colouration. He is a northerner who is deeply popular in a Southern-dominated political party.
* Abubakar Hashim is TheNEWS magazine ‘s West Africa Bureau Chief. He is currently writing from Liberia