By Saidu Dumbuya
The All People’s Congress (APC) has disclosed that four individuals have been arrested in connection with the illegal printing of APC membership identification cards.
At a press conference held at the APC headquarters in Freetown, the party’s National Secretary, Lawyer Lansana Dumbuya, revealed that the arrests were made following a tip-off about the illicit duplication of party ID cards. He said the APC, with the support of the Sierra Leone Police, swiftly acted on the information.
Lawyer Dumbuya narrated that upon receiving the tip, party officials rushed to the location and confronted one of the individuals involved, who admitted he had been instructed by his employer to print the cards. The situation escalated when the manager of the printing shop allegedly attempted to interfere, prompting the appearance of the shop owner, who then agreed to display CCTV footage.
“The footage clearly showed APC membership cards being printed and handed to a man,” Dumbuya stated.
Further investigations led to another printing shop on Wellington Street, where one of the suspects claimed the cards were intended for an asylum seeker residing abroad. Currently, two individuals from each printing shop; one on Brook Street and the other on Wellington Street; are in police custody assisting with investigations.
Dumbuya emphasized that the party will pursue the matter vigorously. “We will follow this to the letter. Anyone caught in such fraudulent acts will face the full force of the law,” he said.
Meanwhile, the APC’s Head of Verification and IT, Abu Bakarr Kargbo, disclosed that since introducing their secure, hard-to-counterfeit ID system, over 18 million hacking attempts have been recorded; none of which succeeded.
The party urged members to verify their membership through official channels and warned the public against unauthorized registration methods.
On a separate note, APC Census Coordinator Leonard BalogunKoroma raised concerns about the upcoming national census, criticizing alleged financial inconsistencies and procedural irregularities by Statistics Sierra Leone (StatsSL).
Koroma claimed StatsSL initially stated a budget of $37 million for the 2026 census, but the figure was later revised to $54 million. He also criticized the government for only releasing $400,000 of the pledged $6.5 million.
“The lack of transparency and preparedness casts serious doubt on the credibility of the process,” Koroma said, reiterating the APC’s demand for the census to be conducted in line with the 1991 Constitution to restore the original constituency-based electoral system.
