By Umaru Fofana
In what looked like an announcement by a newly-elected president, State House put out a government reshuffle on the night of the 13 March that stunned and surprised many people for many reasons.
I cannot recollect a reshuffle as major in terms of turnover as this one since 1998 when President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah returned to power after his brief but far-reaching overthrow by soldiers.
Except that two years since he was elected, Kabbah had by now learned the lessons of having a broad-based or inclusive government that would bring in an unprecedented number of newcomers - from the northwest - into a government of the mainly southeastern party - the SLPP. They included Dr Julius Spencer, Allie Bangura, Dennis bright and Alpha Timbo to name but four.
He would also bring in social activist, Zainab Bangura to head a Parastatal. Koroma’s reshuffle, however, falls flat on that. If anything it reinforces the pattern of his government since he came to power more than eight years ago with a largely northern-based outlook laced with cronies.
That said, without a doubt this reshuffle was a bold move by President Ernest Bai Koroma. Whether that boldness translates into the interest of the country or simply to consolidate his grip on power is something else. But in summary, the announcement got rid of feuding ministers and their deputies, brought in more women whatever the suitability of some, and brought in dogged Koroma loyalists including the new youth minister who was not long ago all over the place asking for President Koroma to be allowed to stay in office beyond the term stipulated by the country’s constitution. Isn't that interesting!
Sacking is not cool
I tend to not like the idea of sacking ministers with such ignominy as it is done in Sierra Leone. It is like a class teacher who wants to prove to his pupils that he is in charge and tries to instil fear in them. Often they hear about their dismissal like we all do - through a public statement - without a foreboding. So when the newly appointed ones start jubilating as if the world will never come to an end for them I pity them. Could it be that they are bereft of any process that should make them think again and again when such happens, I wonder.
Courtesy would require that appointees who are being replaced, especially ministers and deputy ministers, should have their minds prepared even if through an ordinary phone call from someone at the presidency a day or two beforehand. I know of some ministers who were sacked over a year go and have still not received phone call or a letter of dismissal which should thank them for their service to the nation. I am saying this on the assumption that they are actually hired to serve the country and not some parochial political interest or simply to hero-worship the president.
Resignation is more civil
Whatever the real intentions of appointing ministers they should not be scorned or humiliated when relieved of their duties. Unless of course if they have been involved in some big scandal. Even at that they should be forced to resign. Certainly some of these appointees were diligent in office. The vogue now is for them to be asked to resign. Many of the resignations I hear about in the civilised world - including in Ghana - are at the behest of the president. Recently the Ghanaian transport minister resigned after he did what our own transport minister did - and worse - to the recent buses. The same country’s energy minister stepped down because of the challenges the country faced with its electricity situation. And he did so after he had helped fix it in fact.
Feuding ministers and deputies:
It would seem one of the real causes or reasons for the reshuffle was the public quarrel between or involving ministers and their deputies. There were reports of a feud between the following: the internal affairs minister and his deputy - they have both been sacked; the youth minister and his deputy - also sacked; sports minister and his deputy, the minister sacked. There were also reports of a fist fight in a love triangle involving the information minister and the deputy trade minister, they have both been sacked as minister and deputy minister.
Ebola reward
There was especially one interesting appointment: the Ebola spokesman as I often called Sidi Yahya Tunis has been brought in as tourism minister. The soft-spoken man is no doubt diligent and thorough. His boss, Pallo Conteh has been put in charge of the police and the prions after a very confusing exit from the defence ministry. We were all told that he had been sent to the Ebola Centre on secondment. So when we saw him using his military paraphernalia we were not surprised. But his inability to return to his defence ministry proved strange. The fact that no defence minister has been announced is as baffling and curious to me as the appointment of another former soldier to be Pallo’s deputy in the internal affairs ministry. Whatever the endgame!
Recycling
In what is like an old recipe into a new sauce - almost all of the people sacked have been recycled - sent elsewhere else. What’s more, those who had been sacked even more ignominiously have been brought back in to do one thing or another. Alimamy Petito Koroma, perhaps the only person to have been dismissed from cabinet with a clearly stated reason of incompetence as claimed by the president at the time, has been brought back as ambassador. Or was something wrong with the president’s own judgement?
Boldness
President Koroma, it would seem, has always kept his boldness for the ministry of information and communication. When Kanu’s predecessor, IB Kargbo was sacked it surprised virtually everyone. Like Kargbo, Kanu has been the president’s very close confidante. In the run-up to the 2007 presidential election that would usher Koroma in to power, I was producing a report for Aljazeera TV.
Because Koroma had mentioned the issue of homelessness and youth unemployment in our interview, we wanted to show the rundown life of youths who had only the collapsed City Hall building to call home - and they lived a very rough life in there.
So we drove behind the opposition leader at the time as he went to a spontaneous rally at King Jimmy market. Alpha Kanu drove as Koroma waved. We filmed them from behind. There are things about Alpha Kanu you van pooh-pooh him for, but certainly not his education and intelligence. So seeing him driving Koroma was hair-raising for me. It tells about how long the two men have come.
So sacking Kanu from cabinet was always going to be tough. So bold of Koroma to have dismissed him. But for all the wrong reasons, it was also extremely bold to have chosen the successor he did in Mohamed Bangura, the garrulous fella and often loose canon of a talker. He has to be extremely careful to not land the government and the country is some mire through some statement of his.
Interesting Asset Declaration Forms
In all of these sackings, it would be interesting what the asset declaration forms now compare to those they filled out when they were appointed. The Anti Corruption Commission Act of 2008 as amended states very clearly that public officials must declare their assets upon assuming office, renewed every year and when they leave. I bet my life some of the assets now owned by some of those men would make complete nonsense of what they owned when they went in. And the law provides for unexplained wealth and illicit enrichment as corruption offences. And the ACC has never bothered in the past few years to check assets of public officials who have left. Even the annually renewable ones I doubt they do as should. It tells a lot about how serious we are in fighting graft. So the new kids on the block have nothing to fear - they can follow in the acquisition-spree of some of those they are replacing. God save the nation! A government shakeup indeed! But for what and for who?
(C) Politico 17/03/16
