By Sunday, President Julius Maada Bio will have clocked two months of what many say an “illegal stay” in power. For many Sierra Leoneans, Bio holds a “stolen mandate” as the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) reportedly won the June-24 polls.
Calls on President Bio to step aside or hold a re-run elections have been rebuffed, and ways sought to entrench himself in power. Since he does not hold genuine mandate, political analysts argue that everything done is illegal. Going by the political arguments, ministers, deputies and heads of agencies appointed by President Bio are illegal.
In legal terms, the ministers are not supposed to work with a government that does not genuinely enjoys the people’s mandate. June-24 elections are not only rigged but also “stolen,” international and local election observers say. In democracies all over the world, it is the will of the majority that prevails and not the will of the leaders.
In Sierra Leone, the supreme law which is the 1991 Constitution remains clear about the people’s will and in whose hands political sovereignty lies. The constitution says sovereignty belongs to the people from whom government, through this constitution, derives its powers, legitimacy and authority. By the constitutional provision, government gets its mandate to govern through elections.
In any democratic dispensation, people vote in elections to choose leaders, but this purpose is defeated when leaders, using the power of incumbency, steal elections. The move, many say, is a “coup against democracy” and all those taking part in such governance are “coupists.”
As long as the officials are illegally appointed, salaries earned are also illegal and the officials might be asked to return money paid to them, one day, when power changed hands. It is now being argued that the officials could be investigated for corruption offences if they fail to pay back. Before now, President Bio had increased tenfold salaries of ministers, parliamentarians, mayors, chairmen and councillors, a move that ballooned the country’s wage bill.
With fabulous salaries, the new appointees will not hesitate to take up offices to tap the political largesse. Increase in number of ministries and creation of new agencies and departments worsen an already polarised situation. Ministry of Education has been divided into two instead of one.
Now, Sierra Leone has a Ministry of Basic and Senior School Education and a Ministry of Technical and Higher Education with new appointees and new salaries. Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs which was one had been split into two.
The Ministry of Social Welfare is separate from the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs. Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment was also made two ministries. The Ministry of Agriculture is different from the Ministry of Environment.
Quite recently, Ministry of Information and Communication has been divided into two. Information Ministry is quite different from Communications Ministry. The creation of several commissions which are of little relevance to national development is also another challenge the Bio regime has been grappling with.
A popular argument holds that the creation of offices by the President is a compensation scheme of those who supported the campaign financially and morally. The Renewable Energy agency currently occupied by former NGC (National Grand Coalition) leader, Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella is a shiny example. Yumkella threw his weight behind President Bio after he abandoned his party which many Sierra Leoneans looked up to as a viable third force in the country’s political landscape.
He was with Bio in the heat of the day and the cold of the night to ensure an Electoral victory at all cost and at all force, and it came to pass. For his painstaking effort, Yumkella has been rewarded with somewhat lucrative office although information filtering through the public holds that Yumkella might leave at anytime.
His appointment does not befit his status as former UNIDO (United Nations International Development Organisation) boss and former leader of a strong political party.
However, the new office takes a fair share of the country’s meagre resources. As long as the salaries are illegal, there is no argument that the allowances and Imprest earned are illegal too. Every minister or senior government official enjoys allowances and Imprest while in office, and the higher the status, the more allowances and Imprest.
Government officials enjoy house, medical, transport and leave allowances, and the current ones too enjoy the same facilities although they hold illegal appointments. The more they stay, they become illegal. He does not seem to be cooperating with the international community in allowing outside investigators to look into alleged election irregularities.
Rather, he wanted to see his Vice President, Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh heading the investigation, an act that, many say, would prolong the stalemate. At the moment, Several countries particularly US and UK have not congratulated President Bio since he was declared winner.
The diplomatic community also did not attend Bio’s swearing in and inauguration ceremonies. If they recognise Bio’s presidency, they do so in low key and for the country’s peace and stability. Inter-governmental agencies such as
UN, EU, Commonwealth, AU and ECOWAS do not recognise Bio’s presidency as they still maintain that the election “lacked transparency.”
Like the international community, APC too does not recognise Bio as President of Sierra Leone evidenced by their refusal to take part in governance. APC parliamentarians, mayors, chairmen and councillors have not gone to parliament and councils since Bio was announced Sierra Leone’s President by ECSL (Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone), a body mandated by law to conduct and supervise all public elections.
All effort to bring APC parliament has failed, and it is not clear when Bio and his cabal will leave or allow an investigation.