Following President Julius Maada Bio’s recent controversial appointment of a Resident Minister Western Region in the person of Nabeela Tunis sacked from the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), most Sierra Leoneans have frowned on the president’s decision, saying it is not only ambiguous, but gives way to a clash or responsibilities, duplication of duties and general confusion between the city’s Resident Mayor in the person of Yvonne Aki Sawyer and the person appointed to serve in the position of Resident Minister Western Region.
Several comments on this issue have been made on social media. One very prominent and influential SLPP member who is a social media blogger, MYK Brewah and who has thousands of followers on social media had this to write, “We SLPP are doing almost everything for which we condemned and booted the former Government of President Koroma. What is the rationale for even creating such office for Nabeela Tunis who’s not even politically known in Freetown?”
Another school of thought has it that there is no need for the Western Area (Freetown) which is the seat of the president and has an elected Mayor of the Freetown Municipality to have a Resident Minister Western Region because that would only trivialize the importance and work of the Mayor while putting into ridicule even the very Office of the President which most people argue will not in any way benefit from the creation of such an office when there is clearly the Mayor of the City of Freetown who already has the constitutional and municipal duties of taking care of the city.
Even yet another school of thought has if that because President Julius Maada Bio could be looking to spite the Mayor of Freetown, is the reason he made such an appointment knowing full well that it would create a conflict of interest between the Mayor and the newly-appointed Resident Minister Western Region (if approved by Parloiment) because their roles and duties are likely to be intertwined or similar in nature which could lead to misunderstanding and further confusion. This school of thought also believes that another reason for the president to make such a controversial appointment is because he is doing so simply to spite the Mayor who gained this office under the opposition APC ticket. It could be recalled that since she assumed the office of Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki Sawyer has been faced with numerous deliberate administrative bottlenecks, insubordination from employees who make it no secret that they are affiliated with the SLPP and are bent on making her stay at the FCC uncomfortable. But thankfully, the Mayor has cleverly and religiously steered clear of issues having the tendency to distract her from the job she was elected to do.
As all of this is going on, it is left with our House of Parliament to approve or reject this controversial appointment. Disapproval is highly expected in order to ensure that the cabinet and the wage bill are not bloated, taking into account that this has been the mantra of the SLPP; that the government will do the right thing by maintaining a small a cabinet as possible so that the ministerial wage bill will also be kept at the very minimal.
A parliamentary approval of the appointee to this highly controversial appointment on the other hand, would not necessarily mean an end to the debate. Rather, it would prove that our Parliament which is supposed to consider the negative economic and political impacts, disruptions and political upheavals such a controversial and unneeded appointment at such a time could create for a country struggling to maintain a fragile peace and national cohesion, either do not have the country at heart, or are too selfish or blind to reason between what is good and essential for national development and what is only of gain to the SLPP members.
May common sense prevail and save Sierra Leone from greedy politicians.
