By Mustapha Sesay
Parliament on Tuesday approved Mohamed Alie Bah as the new Minister of State in the office of the Vice President.
Mr Bah, who replaces Harriet Turay, a respected veteran women`s rights activist, was approved together with seven other Presidential appointees who would serve as board members in different government parastatals.
Before their approval, the deputy Majority Leader in parliament Leonard Fofana said that all nominees were interviewed based on their academic qualifications and past records in the offices they held prior to their new assignments.
Reading from the responses of the nominees during their interview with the appointment committee of the House, MP Fofana said Bah had promised to draw from his past experience in the Ministry of Information and other departments in order to provide valuable service to the Vice President`s office.
An opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party Member of Parliament from Kono District, Komba Koedoyoma, who was also part of the committee that interviewed the appointees, noted that based on their resumes they were all qualified to hold the various positions they were nominated for. But he added that the nominees should consider themselves lucky because out of the six million Sierra Leoneans President Koroma had chosen them to serve their compatriots.
Thus, the opposition lawmaker said they must ensure that the jobs they were chosen for were properly done. He singled out the new Minister of State Mr. Bah, praising him for been capable and well experienced on contemporary politics.
MP Koedoyoma also called on the appointee who was going to serve on the board of Local Government, Salamatu Turay, to fully utilize her experiences gained both as Permanent Secretary and Council Administrator. The Kono MP then observed that council staffs were frequently transferred from one council to another. This, he said, was hampering quality delivery within the councils.
One of the approved appointees of the day is a former lawmaker and he is to serve as board member of the Sierra Leone Port Authority.
Another opposition law maker, Rado Foday Yokie, noted that the appointment of former members of parliament was an indication that there was life after parliament. He told his former colleague MP that the establishment he was heading to was faced with series of challenges and that he must ensure that those challenges were well managed.
Mr Yokie added that opportunities should be given to Sierra Leoneans to manage the affairs of such institutions because foreign companies like Bollore would only exploit the resources and return where they were coming from.
(C) Politico 26/06/15
