By Alpha Abu
The suspended Labour and Social Security Minister, Alpha Timbo, has said he is his happy to be back in cabinet, after he was reinstated to his position.
Timbo’s reinstatement came after he was recently acquitted and discharged by a High Court following allegation of corruption against him.
Mr Timbo was accused by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) of misappropriation of public property while he served as Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education. He was suspended by President Julius Maada Bio in January, following his indictment and pending investigation.
Timbo was accused alongside four other people, including his former deputy in the Ministry of Education at the time, Emily Kadiatu Gogra, who has also be reinstated, according to sources.
They were accused of misappropriating rice donated by the Chinese government for the Sierra Leone government’s school feeding programme.
High Court Judge Cosmotina Jarrett on the 16th July discharged the accused on the basis of lack of evidence by the anti-graft agency.
News of Timbo’s reinstatement to cabinet surfaced late Friday.
The minister himself confirmed it to Politico on Saturday, saying in an interview that he was pleased about the president’s decision as he always believed to be “part and parcel” of the SLPP administration.
Timbo dismissed any idea of him returning to his post with mixed feelings following his ordeal, asserting that his objective in politics is to serve the people of Sierra Leone.
“I am still determined to serve in the way that I used to do”, the Minister said on a telephone interview. He said throughout his trial, he had managed to be his very self.
“It is part of governance and I was head of an institution where the unfortunate incident took place, which became the subject of an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission. What I am gratified about is we allowed the Commission to carry out its work,” Timbo said.
He registered his faith in the country’s justice system and said he was very pleased at the way the judge conducted the trial.
The Secretary to the President, in a letter to Mr Timbo, confirmed his reinstatement as Minister of labour and Social Security.
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