Former Citizens Democratic Party (CDP) Chairman Gibril Thullah has confirmed that former party leader Musa Tarawally resigned from the CDP in 2018 and subsequently joined the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).

Thullah made the disclosure during an interview with Ecko Media, while recounting events that followed the 2018 presidential election, which went into a runoff between the All People’s Congress (APC) candidate Samura Kamara and the SLPP candidate Julius Maada Bio.

According to Thullah, as CDP members considered their position ahead of the runoff, Musa Tarawally took some party members to meet then-SLPP presidential candidate Julius Maada Bio at his residence in Goderich, where they were expected to pledge their support for his candidacy.

Thullah said the proposal created divisions within the CDP, as some members were not willing to support the SLPP in the runoff.

He explained that while Tarawally proceeded to support Bio and the SLPP, he and other CDP members chose to support Samura Kamara and the APC.

Thullah further stated that following the disagreement, the CDP suspended Tarawally from the party. He added that Tarawally subsequently resigned from the CDP and joined the SLPP.

Reiterating his account, Thullah said Tarawally had resigned from the CDP during his tenure as chairman and subsequently became aligned with the SLPP.

The disclosure comes amid renewed discussions over Tarawally’s membership of the CDP and his political affiliation with the SLPP, following claims by SLPP Chairman Jimmy Batilo Songa that Tarawally remains a member of the CDP. Songa subsequently announced that Tarawally had been expelled from the SLPP, a claim Tarawally has strongly challenged, citing evidence of his resignation from the CDP.