By Alpha Abu
President Julius Maada Bio has made some significant changes in his cabinet and diplomatic staff. The reshuffle was announced on Friday 30 April, 2021, just three days after Sierra Leone celebrated her 60th independence anniversary. There has been a number of high profile switching of positions or total relieving of some individuals of their duties. Arguably the most eye catching decision by the President was that involving the Chief Minister’s office.
The holder of that office for the past three years, Professor David Francis is now the new Foreign Affairs Minister succeeding Nabeela Tunis. Unless Nabeela Tunis springs up in another position in the coming days she is now out of government.
Jacob Jusu Saffa who was Finance Minister is the new Chief Minister and will also superintend the Finance Ministry until the President determines who will fully handle the office that controls the country’s finances.
Prof. Francis in a message on twitter graciously accepted his new position and offered support to his successor. He was said to have wielded considerable influence at State House over appointments and policy approaches.
Nabeela Tunis was a well-spoken Foreign Minister but her only serious challenge in that office was a significant and dangerous rupture in Sierra Leone’s relationship with close neighbour republic of Guinea. The heightened tension between the two countries over the long disputed border village of Yenga in the east and accusations by Guinea’s Alpha Conde of interference with presidential elections in that country last December aimed at influencing the vote in favour of the opposition forced President Bio to dispatch a formidable team of powerful politicians from all sides of the political divide, including the Speaker of Parliament to travel to Conakry and de-escalate tension between the two countries. He would then do a follow- up trip for a summit with President Alpha Conde, after which the borders were re-opened. The sacked foreign minister was not open to the media and was seen only at set piece events.
Saffa’s appointment as Chief Minister is seen by many as a way of re-connecting the seat of power to the grassroots of the party. He is seen as a grassroots politician who easily strikes a chord with the common people of the party who generally wield considerable influence and their votes could be crucial in the polls in just over two years.
Unlike his predecessor who spent over two decades abroad, Saffa has lived in the country all the time and was one of many in -country figures of the SLPP who braved it through the harsh political climate being in the opposition. He is credited with having a good grasp of local politics having served as Secretary General of the party.
Mamadi Gobeh-Kamara takes over as deputy Foreign Affairs Minister. During her tenure as deputy Information and Communication Minister, she conducted herself reasonably well. She was a familiar face at the weekly news conferences organised by the Ministry and played host to the numerous individuals from Ministries, Departments and Agencies that were there to explain the various activities being undertaken by their institutions. She has traded position with Solomon Jamiru who returns for a second stint as deputy Information Minister under this government.
Abu Bakarr Karim has also been confirmed Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, after acting in that capacity for some time now. This means there is no way back in that ministry for Dennis Vandy who is confident of walking free from the Court of Appeal where he is fighting adverse findings against him by the Commissions of Inquiry. It was thought that if cleared by the court, he could make a glorious return to lead the agriculture ministry.
The hike in the price of the staple food rice which is imported, has seen the government initiate an ambitious plan to produce rice in the country using private sector investment and high impact technology but sources within the Rice Value Chain project in particular have expressed concern that the slow pace of implementation of the project could be the handiwork of certain persons within the establishment with selfish interests. With this confirmation, Karim must now prove to President Bio and the people of Sierra Leone that he is up to the task.
Musa Kpaka is now deputy Minister 1 in the Agriculture Ministry. Dr. Theresa Dick is the new second deputy Agriculture Minister. The man who was occupying that position Sam King Brima has been sacked.
The vacant position of deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education has been filled by SLPP political organizer, Sajoh Aziz Kamara and so too that in the Gender and Children’s Affairs Ministry with the new appointee Hindowa Bindi the deputy Minister.
On the diplomatic front, the highly respected veteran career diplomat Rupert Davies has been appointed Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, replacing Solomon Gemeh who now becomes board member of NATCOM. This breaks the chain of ex-military officers being appointed to that job, going back to the days of Joe Blell in the days of President Tejan Kabbah.
Alie Kabba headed President Bio’s election campaign in 2018 has been sent over to the Arab Republic of Egypt as Ambassador whilst another career UN worker Fanday Turay takes charge of Kabba’s previous post as Sierra Leone’s Permanent Representative at the UN.
The new chairman national COVID-19 Emergency Response Centre is Sheku Fantamadi Bangura. The substantive holder of that position was Kellie Conteh who is at present the country’s Defence Minister.
The reshuffle has been interpreted by some as the first in a series of proactive measures by President Julius Maada Bio to ensure due process takes precedence in attaining the objectives of his administration, with the elections just two years away.
A number of ministries though have over the past years really stood out in terms of positive results. One such is that of the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education under the stewardship of former IBM staff Dr. David Sengeh. His innovative ideas and prudent policies have helped stabilise and propel the ministry into a path of transformative growth.
The Ministry of Information and Communication led by Mohamed Rahman Swarray supported President Bio’s promise to repeal of the seditious and criminal libel law that existed for 55 years. Governments had over the years promised and failed to abolish a law condemned by the world but the “unthinkable” in the eyes of many happened when it was finally buried in the dustbin of history. Swarray, a very suave and skilful negotiator has also broken the ice over the frosty cybercrime bill by listening to the many cries of disapproval of certain sections of the bill and taking actions that have seen the bill read a second time and passed to the legislative committee for final scrutiny. That too could soon become law. Sierra Leone has also improved its ranking in the 2021 World Press Freedom Ranking by Reporters Without Borders. The country moves 10 places to 75 this year from the previous position of 85 in the year 2020. Swarray should be credited a lot for relentlessly pursuing the President’s agenda of positively changing the country’s media landscape locally and for the country gaining recognition at international level. He is known as the minister who interacts very well with the public and the media.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online 04/05/21
