By Albert Baron Ansu
President Julius Maada Bio must have been constrained to take the recent decision in firing the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Charles Francis Margai. The reason is simple to explore…
The President had demonstrated immense respect for the legal doyen until just recently. This respect could have been nurtured from the President’s secondary school days when in Bo, Margai had crafted a cult profile of being one of the most versatile court room impresarios. His baritone and enunciation of the English language made him a celebrity of sorts for students and intelligentsia crème of Bo.
Amidst the vicissitude of time, the inter and intra party twist and turn of the political trends in the country could not have dissipated that respect the President wielded for Charles Margai in his aging phase of life. The President’s respect for his political senior must have been evergreen. So we saw Margai being the first to be appointed two months ago. Those who know Margai know that his greatest ambition after the botched shot at the presidency for a couple of years was to serve as Minister of Justice. He has been in the courtroom for too long to know the rot of the legal system; and his maverick disposition could just have been ignited to wistfully look forward to a moment when he would have the leverage to clean the stable of legal decadence. We have heard the two men saying “it will no longer be business as usual in this country…”
President Bio and his political big brother could have envisaged a perfect match for the new directional sojourn.. Many diehard SLPP supporters could have harbored grudge that Margai was a prime factor in the defeat of the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party in 2007. This was when he used his splintered Peoples Movement for Democratic Change, PMDC to declare for the All Peoples Congress Party.
When Margai in 2007 chose to declare for the opposition APC against the SLPP of his forebears by some cash inducement and grudge for being denied the flagbearer position, those who saw him that day said that it was moody and morose moment.
The appointment of Margai was seen as consistent with the expressed determination to instill discipline in the public sphere. In the personality of Margai is the character trait of a firebrand. His understanding of the Sierra Leonean jurisprudence is extensive… In a short time of his political comeback we have noticed that he was poised to take some hard decisions. He granted an inquest to probe a murder matter that has some political link. He was pushing for making the justice system accessible by instituting the system where districts could have judges and magistrates, he was saying that ministers should seek advice for decisions they want to take that border on law. He also wanted to make the dispensation of justice very transparent by creating a public relations outfit.He was suggesting an overhaul of the Anti-Corruption Commission and the office of Chief Justice… There is another unconfirmed story that has come up to suggest that Margai had been issuing orders without consulting the President.
Former President Ernest Koroma and Margai have a strained relationship and it has been rumoured that Margai has been making subtle moves to belittle Ernest Bai Koroma. Hard to confirm this last strand of the indictments, but the possibility is very likely that the outgone President Ernest Bai Koroma could be breathing a sigh of relief by this recent sacking of an influential politician in government.
What about the something also intriguing in this story that must not be ignored? No information is clear on the relationship between the Chief Minister Professor Francis and Margai. From the realm of filtered gossip has seeped the suspicion that a cold war has been going on between the two aides to the president. Margai in his characteristic high-faulting interpretation of law is possibly predisposed to objecting the creation of the office of Chief Minister. He could have provided legal opinions on this new political construct based on the convenience of the President. The new office holder of Chief Minister is supposed to be the senior prefect of cabinet minister and where Margai’s ego can be grated by what he considers a legal aberration, if he had been willing to be pliant to the Chief Minister?. And one can just imagine the bad blood that had been cuddling.The Chief Minister Professor Francis is surely President Bio’s closest confidante and advisor.
The political test has come so soon! These are difficult decisions that are bound to grate some feelings. And here we are in search of answers. The President must have been bothered that the fired Minister of Justice was turning into a loose cannon. This must have been a cause for alarm. And Margai is not someone that is bound to fight back. Or has age gotten the better of him to want to retire graciously without opening another can of worms?
Reasons why Margai has been fired have been advanced by the Information Minister in the glib flow that is bound to warrant a rejoinder from Margai. That Margai did not rise to the challenge, no roadmap, making of veiled threats… That it is the desire of the President to use a woman to restore decorum in the ministry. This is the woman Margai had recommended to head the law school. These are hard indictments against the fired minister of Justice.
It is too early that the President has embarked on firing those he thinks are not matching his resolve and governance style. The implication is that he is going to engender fear among the appointees. It has the advantage of checking sleaze and even brazen abuse of office. The President has no fear for now for elections are still very far away. What could this trend snowball into? Not the making of even a benevolent dictator that Margai had aspired to be…we are within earshot to hear the reply from the second casualty of presidential disciple is it?