Diplomacy is the profession or skill of managing international relations. This presupposes that it is people of skill and not all sorts of people who should be shunted into the diplomatic service on political grounds .With a change of government anywhere there is bound to be a change of guards especially with regards to political appointments. It makes no sense to leave people in government service who have different visions from the government that succeeds them.
In this regard President Bio is obliged to follow suit if only to see his policies through without subversion. As at now the President is on the verge of appointing personnel for our diplomatic representation .It is not an easy role .Many will show up. Many will be recommended by party faithfuls but few will be chosen. In the Sierra Leone Peoples Party the oldest in Sierra Leone and probably in West Africa, there is no dearth of personnel. In fact some of the personnel who mann important positions in the APC are of SLPP origin.
According to the code of Manu V11’’ An ambassador should be versed in all the sciences; he should understand the hints, gestures and expressions of the face; he should be honest, skillful and of good family.’’ These were some of the desiderata in which the out gone APC fell short .It is public knowledge that some of their appointments in ambassadorial positions were of dubious character .It was their recycling policy to appoint persons found wanting to higher positions.
President Bio should steer clear of such a retrogressive policy if he is to truly move in a new direction .This sort of policy can only be pursued when there is a dearth of competent personnel as the APC had. In their bid to promote womanhood towards the 30 percent quota they appointed all sorts of women including a notorious woman. Incidentally the electorate has seen that women appointed by the SLPP in the home service so far are all women of high caliber measuring with the men shoulder to shoulder.
The out gone government was establishing diplomatic relations with some countries from which Sierra Leone could gain no economic and social benefit all because of the prestige of numbers. To them fastest growing was congruent with fastest wasting. They could have established diplomatic relations with all the other 192 countries in the world to level up foolishly if they had won the last elections. It is in the sector of Information Attaches that the President should be most circumspect. Reverting to the former direction of recruiting Information Attaches from the Civil service rather than from the amorphous  political arena will certainly be a new direction from the past 20 years of politicizing the diplomatic service in the lower rungs of the diplomatic ladder.’’ Nobody not even the most rabid of democrats can imagine without actual knowledge all the emptiness and quackery that passes for diplomacy ‘’said Otto Von Bismack.
President Bio should do well to spare the nation the misrepresentation of charlatans this time round.