By Ragan M. Conteh

The Member of Parliament from Western Area who has declared for the All People’s Congress (APC) flagship, Hon Osman Timbo has told MPs that he is a party son of the soil, (Me na APC party pikin).

“I don’t walk with my father’s name, nor the blessings of a godfather, but I walk with the record I have created by myself, through the will of Allah,” Hon Timbo bragged.

Timbo also observed that he had also served this nation as a national legal associate at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, a defence lawyer at the Pilot National Legal Aid Scheme, a legal adviser in the Public Private Partnership Unit in the Office of the President of Sierra Leone, a commission member at the National Privatisation Commission, Office of the President and as a Member of Parliament.

He said he has had rounded experience in all the 3 arms of government–the judiciary, the executive and legislature, a unique experience which no other flagbearer aspirant, so far, can boast of, in addition to the fact that he knows the inside and outside of APC party.

According to Timbo, he know the party people and that the party people across this nation knows him very well.

He emphasized that the more beautiful thing about these experiences is that he played more technical roles than leadership and decision making roles, thus giving him a hands on experience on dealing with the challenges and opportunities for  public delivery.

He further said he saw firsthand how systems had failed, and that he had seen how projects had succeeded or got stuck on the way.

“I saw how decision makers took selfless and selfish decisions and on how many of them have contributed to recking this nation.

“I am not talking about things I read in books.

I am talking about things I have felt and witnessed,” he said.

Timbo explained how he had suffered the brunt of being in opposition under President Bio current regime.

He went on to say that he had suffered for the APC because he refused to bend backward and engage in a sell out.

“I have suffered within the APC because I refused to have a godfather and I have suffered within the APC because I chose to be different and upright.”

Hon Timbo maintained that with almost 18 years practice as a lawyer, the only means of livelihood, also suffered because he chose to serve the APC and refused to sell out the party like many others had done.

He revealed that his family had suffered because of the decisions he took for the sake of the party for the people and the nation.

He said he was deliberately targeted by this government and kicked out of parliament in 2019 just because of his firm and unshakable stance for the party, the people and for standing for what is right.

“Rubber bullets and tear gas cannisters were shot directly at me and others (including Hon. Chericoco) on our way to the party office,” he remembered.