According to our National Constitution the Head of State has the prerogative to hire and fire at any time as was evidenced in the case of P.M.D.C. Leader, Charles Francis Margai. Unlike what obtained immediately after Independence, our Constitution has widened the provision of the Separation of Powers by which Ministers of State are now appointed outside Parliament. The President is primus inter pares and therefore has an almost dictatorial power over cabinet policies whose approvals are sine qua non for government to be carried on.
The cabinet rises and falls together and it is supposed to meet weekly according to Britain, the mother of parliaments.
According to the principles of Cabinet rule which are largely disregarded by pseudo-democrats in developing countries, democracy is not technocracy. Ministers should not normally be appointed to Ministries to which they are experts.
This is simply because there is likely to be conflicts of execution of policies. If a medical doctor is appointed as Minister of Health and Sanitation they are bound to be agreeing to disagree and in the process wasting tax payers’ time and money. The duty of a minister is to oversee the application of broad outlines of policy as decided by Cabinet.
Though we have to start somewhere, ministers are usually appointed as junior and kind of understudy before they are appointed as cabinet ministers. They learn the ropes and thereby become more efficient in their cabinet posts instead of relying on the advice of bureaucrats who may be going in the Old Direction. This is not to say that there can be exceptional cases that prove the rule. Politics is a profession for which no preparation is necessary.
The inclusive nature of the presidential appointees can only be commended especially the appointment of a woman to head the Foreign Ministry in addition to that of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
That way, women are inching towards the 50-50, their ultimate aim. They would even want to wrench the post of Vice President from Dr. Juldeh Jalloh in the next reshuffle.
The reshuffle is not without shocks which really make the news albeit repugnant. The most notable is that of the demotion of Dr. Alie Kabba, former Foreign Minister who was listed not as another cabinet member but under other appointments. Dr. Morie Manyeh and Mr. Raymond d’Souza George, etc., were also demoted.
Charles Francis Margai who was the first ministerial casualty is waiting in the wings. He may yet be reappointed to another post Ernest Koroma style. Who knows?