Posted by John B. Amara Jr. on October 28, 2008 at 00:57:50:
In Reply to: Why a vote for Ken Kowa as Chair- SLPP UK & Ireland Chapter posted by Chez Winakabs Europe on August 26, 2008 at 12:09:44:
Can someone please give an update as to who won the Party's UK & Ireland elections? we need to know those representing us out there.
: No doubt Ken is such a man.
: We need someone with a proactive thinking make-up to be able to foresee or attempt to plot what will be the consequences of a decision in the time to come!
: Ken Kowa is indeed such a man.
: We need a healthy financial status to address issues of true urgency and importance!
: Ken has a plan to make sure that, even the 2012 General Elections will not see our party scramble for funds in the dying minutes. Ken will institute a GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN FUND to fight any election on behalf of our party.
: We need an individual who can listen and know that the dumb has something useful to say to him.
: I bet Ken is such a man
: Ken by many may be a late-comer. Ken knows that and privately acknowledges that the fundamental point of his candidacy is that it is happening now. In politics, timing matters. And the most persuasive case for Ken has less to do with him than with the moment he is contesting. The moment has been a long time coming, and it is the result of a confluence of events, from the removal of our SLPP led government on two occasions by unlawful means to the great loss of a general election that had the hallmarks of resentments even from members within. The legacy is a cultural climate that stultifies our politics and corrupts our discourse.
: Ken’s candidacy in this sense is a potentially transformational one. Unlike any of the other candidates, he could take SLPP UK and Ireland—finally—past the debilitating, self-perpetuating family quarrel of the PMDC generation that has engulfed all of us. So much has happened in the party after the last National Convention in Makeni Convention that we can now be forgiven for focusing on the present and the immediate future.
: At its best, the Ken candidacy is about ending the cold feud within the party and bridging the national —not so much the PMDC crisis, which now has a dying effect and may not propel to the next general election —but the tribal mind bug on ‘ownership’ of the party that has prevailed since the 1967 General Elections and has shown no signs of uniting the country making the party a national one. Only with the likes of Ken can the Temne and Limba men believe that the SLPP is not a ‘Mendeman’ party. In that image only Ken and Ken alone—offers the possibility of a truce.
: I, without any reservation, will vote for Ken Kowa. The only person that has trust in his vocabulary. A vote for Ken will bring fair play and one country one people. Vote ken and you will not regret it. I will not forget this day that I have told you so.
:
: THIS IS KEN
:
: What the SLPP needs??
: “Fresh crop of dynamic, forward looking, fast-paced, radical set of intelligent, hi-tech, YOUNG Opposition Politicians…that are efficient! “says Sylvia Blyden in S.E.M
:
: Ken will be running a survey of SLPP UK & Ireland members and other interested parties to inform his manifesto.
: To get involved,
: Please contact Kens’ campaign team on:
: +44 20 8350 1823
:
: Meet Ken Kowa
: Ken is running for the leadership of the UK & Ireland Branch of the SLPP. He has been a member of the London Branch of the SLPP since its revival in 1990. He is a quiet person who is rising like the phoenix to the call for “a fresh crop of dynamic, forward looking, fast-paced, radical set of intelligent, efficient and hi-tech SLPP leaders”. Ken believes that he can be a catalyst expediting the creation of a new and revitalised Party that will be resolute in transforming itself into a party of the future. He is committed to working towards generating a consensus around a plan of ideas and actions for reviving and renewing our Party.
: Kenneth Robert Kowa, Mildred and Robert Baoma Kowa’s last son was born on October 30, 1955 at the Serabu Hospital, Bumpe chiefdom, Sierra Leone. His brothers Joseph, Emmanuel and William (SoK) and sisters Etta and Anna, were all not expecting a sibling when he came along. Ken’s mother decided to return home from London especially to give birth in Sierra Leone.
:
:
: Ken spent a happy and disciplined childhood in London, Bo and Moyamba. He started school in Tooting, South London, transferred to the Model School, in Bo and subsequently, to the St Columba’s boarding school in Moyamba then run by retired Archbishop emeritus Joseph Ganda. Ken was always quiet and studious.
: At seecondary in Christ the King College, Bo and the Bo Government School he played tennis and volleyball and sang in the choir. His parents encouraged him to study hard and to pursue any career that interested him although his father’ wished for him to study medicine.
: Ken however decided to switch to Oceanography at Fourah Bay College with his father blessing and went on to become the first Sierra Leonean graduate in 1979, with a second class upper degree. Like most undergraduates at FBC in the 70’s, Ken experienced the turmoil of the student unrests and politics. He excelled academically and participated fully in the social milieu but was not active in politics. He developed lasting friendships that transcend “tribal” boundaries and was a member of Iroko and Cyclades.
: Ken joined the Institute of Marine Biology & Oceanography as research and teaching assistant in 1980 and later earned a Diploma in Applied Marine Science from the University of Wales and his master’s degree in Environmental Pollution Science from Brunel University. Over the last 25 years, Ken has worked in various roles in the UK and in the West Indies including being a partner and Project Manager in an Environmental Engineering consultancy, a lecturer, researcher and IT Trainer. He currently runs a computer club for over 50’s in Enfield.
: Ken is a Director of Inclusive Solutions Community Interest Company and strives to balance family life, work, and public service. He serves on the boards of the Enfield Mental Health & Social Care Strategic Partnership, Enfield Mental Health User Group and the Christ the College King Old Boys Association, UK.
: Ken met Beverley Watkins in 1990 while visiting “Leone Lodge” the Sorbah-Green’s residence at 41 Elmdale Road, in London. It was his aunt’s birthday and after reveling… a little prodding from his aunt and his cousins ... resulted in Ken going over to 39 Elmdale Road the next day bearing fresh fruits from the garden! He asked Beverley out…they became very good friends; courted for a year and they were married at the Trinity-at Bowes Methodist Church, Palmers Green, London in 1991.
: Following his Father’s Footsteps
: Ken’s father the late Dr. Robert Baoma Kowa was amongst the many elite architects’ of the SLPP formed in August 1951 by the amalgamation of three semi-political organizations the Protectorate Educational Progressive Union (PEPU), the Sierra Leone Organisation Society (SOS) and a Colony-based People’s Party (led by Lamina Sankoh).
: Sir Milton Margai the first SLPP Leader was followed by Sir Albert Margai shown below with Dr Kowa (left), Mr A.B. Koteh & Mr A. J. Demby
:
:
: Ken wants to follow the legacy of Dr Kowa who served the SLPP and Sierra Leone honourably with distinction and an unblemished record. In the day of coups and commissions of enquiry, Dr Kowa was one of the few that was never found wanting.
: Ken believes the SLPP must learn from the lessons of history and ensure that the priorities of a small, unrepresentative number of people are not allowed to distort the party’s agenda.
: Ken has in the past played small roles in the SLPP London branch for example working on the early drafts of a Constitution with colleagues like Columba Blango, Mohamed Coker, Augustine Navo and Thomas Legg, with whom in 2004 he co-authored the paper “The Rush to Mobimbi” which highlighted the short-comings and policy failures of the Sierra Leone Government under the pen name – Ngolobo Koma (also Dr Kowa’s pen name when he wrote articles against the British Colonial Government in the period leading to Independence).
: Ken also urged the National Executive Council of the Party through former Secretary-General - Prince Harding to initiate root and branch reform of the Party and regrets that no action was taken.
: “We see today the inevitable consequences of the failure to modernize our Party”. “In the aftermath of the leadership contest we saw brothers, sisters, friends and mentors turn on each other because of the perception that they were not dealt a fair hand. We must now seek to heal the wounds and mend the schism both within and without the Party to ensure that the Party never experiences an “implosion” leading to a devastating loss of power” says Ken.
: Ken wants his colleagues in the PMDC to know that “enough is enough” he acknowledges their disquiet and pain but will like to let them know that he will rally to stand up to any forces from both within and without that seek to destroy that which all our forefathers’ fought so hard to establish.
: Ken wants the National Executive Council, SLPP, to take notice that the “recycling cycle” should cease henceforth; its time to nurture and usher in a new generation of young elite leaders with integrity and vision who will spearhead a new political ethos not only within the Party but also in the country.
: Ken is seeking out people who share these same values and are of the same mind-set. Are you one of those? If your thinking transcends tribal, regional, sectional and class divides and you wish to work towards establishing a social system that gives opportunities and advantages to people on the basis of their ability rather than, e.g. tribe or regional affinity or their seniority, join the SLPP UK & Ireland branch and support Ken now!
: Join the SLPP & Support Ken…To have your Say in reforming the Party
: Let your voice be heard!
: Together WE can create Change
: Call now to get involved:
: +44 20 8350 1823 or
: +44 79 6007 1431