HOME AND AWAY: The Cabinet Reshuffle in Sierra Leone

Network for the Welfare of Sierra Leoneans Overseas

The news on the recent cabinet reshuffle by President Ernest Bai Koroma sparked the eagerness to know who are on the list. When I browsed through the list I saw names that were removed from cabinet due to gross misconduct brought back in the cabinet. The decision by the President made me wonder whether he is a man of principle or just someone who is bound for Hague for constitutional abuse letting go of people in the same basket of misconduct. In my opinion, the President’s reshuffle would have included him. True leadership goes with the bold step of resigning when you feel your promises are not delivered, but, is President Koroma in for such unique leadership? No, as he is busy building an empire of dictatorship and a world best leadership scenario, something not reflective of the claims his political stalwarts are making.

On a positive note, I have to commend the President and the All Peoples’ Congress Party (APC) for giving political opportunities to the young. The recent appointment of comrades Momoh Vandi (MOV) and Nannette Thomas is worthy of praise. When I look at the Cabinet as a whole, I can see young breeds like Shekito Tarawally, Arrow Bockarie, Ismail Koroma (Molante) and others not mentioned. The APC party scores a high mark on political appointments of the young compared to Sierra Leone Peoples’ Party whose appointments are mainly full of the ageing and people with Doctorate degrees who cannot even deliver if you give them a chicken to breed.

Cabinet reshuffles are an inevitable part of any political system but what actually matters is the effect of such reshuffle on the people. Looking at Sierra Leone, cabinet reshuffles has never yielded ongoing positive results, instead, the performance indicators of the line ministries continue to be in the red. Sometimes one would want to wonder whether the nation is really getting true value from the operations of the line ministries based on the huge amount spent on maintaining the ministries. A benefit-cost analysis of the entire operations of the line ministries will clearly show that the nation is running at a cost or loss. This can be justified by the negative impact of the operations of the line ministries on the people. Sierra Leoneans, in general, are suffering except for few. The ratio of poor and rich in Sierra Leone is 95%:5% and this clearly justifies that the nation is in a horrible state of affairs that requires a total overhaul.

The hard truth here is that there are good Sierra Leoneans ready to fix the problem but cannot survive in the midst of those with a seasoned level of corruption. I know the young in the APC cabinet would want to turn things around but this will never be possible where the crux of the core in the party are buried in chronic greed.

We are still watching the world best with the conviction that he would come to the realisation to fix the nation’s ailing problems, something he can do if he wants to do, particularly for a country where the wealth hugely outweighs the population. President koroma is digging the way to The Hague and we the concern Sierra Leoneans are preparing the legal papers to prosecute him when he leaves power. God forgives, and so, we will forgive him if he improves the situation at home.

President Koroma, Sierra Leone is your country and your country of birth and all Sierra Leoneans are part of your national family, apart from your biological family. Treat them like your family and give them their due. The national cake belongs to all of us, so a fair share or reasonable distribution is all your national family needs. You have the right to reshuffle your cabinet but it is your obligation to empower them to dispense their duties in the line ministries to the desired expectations. Our people are starving, a large proportion of them are jobless and homeless and the provision of the entire social capital (like electricity, pipe borne water, and so forth) continues to be a huge variance between the expected and actual. We need true leadership from you and looking forward to seeing the difference you would make from now to the end of your term in 2018 and hoping that this term cannot be extended by you.

Long live Sierra Leone and God bless those politicians and all those meaning good for our beloved country.

Prince Foday

Founder, Network for the Welfare of Sierra Leoneans Overseas