Cabinet rule in democratic governance was inaugurated by the Mother of Parliaments – Britain. For the benefit of our less educated compatriots, a Cabinet is a committee of senior government ministers.
Under the parliamentary system, from which we emerged, all Cabinet Ministers were chosen from Parliament, but under our present Parliamentary system, the President has the leverage to choose his/her Ministers from outside the legislature.
It is a pity that the latter system has been abused by the appointment of unsuitable friends and relatives. Not only that. In spite of many suitable citizens, the last President appointed cabinet ministers from Parliament contrary to his promise not to do so. That way, unnecessary by-elections were held to fill the vacancies. Adroitly the new President has not made any pronouncement on the issue.
Until philosophers take to government or those who now govern become philosophers, so that government and philosophy unite, there will be no end to the miseries of states,” said Plato.
With philosophic insight and a disciplinary background, the retired Brigadier is better suited to keep to the principles of Cabinet rule for effective governance. According to those original principles, members of the Cabinet rise and fall together.
The duties of Cabinet Ministers consist in the implementation of broad outlines of policy and not to be involved in the minutiae. It is sad that leaders, who are not au fait with these principles, make a hash of this principle by appointing citizens to Ministries in which they are experts thereby causing conflicts.
In a proper Cabinet system, a medical doctor should not be appointed to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation where there will be avoidable clashes. Similarly an engineer should not be appointed to the Ministry of Works.
Another principle of proper Cabinet rule is that persons are appointed to senior Ministerial posts after serving as non-Cabinet Ministers, thereby understudying their seniors. Such ill-advised appointments have been responsible for some of our mis-governance, like that of the Minister of Health in the last government who was mainly responsible for the spread of Ebola.
The President would do well in right-sizing and avoiding an unwieldy Cabinet to save much-needed revenue. Sierra Leone is such a small country as not to be saddled with a bloated Cabinet in comparison with states like China or Nigeria, to name only two. No patriotic citizen would expect him to carry an excess baggage of Deputy Ministers.
And talking about the reduction of expenditure, there is urgent need to amalgamate or abolish certain Ministries. For instance, when there is a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Deputies, as well as Resident Ministers, there is no need for a Ministry of Political Affairs unless we are told that other Ministries are not political.
Apropos of Cabinet appointments is that of State House appointments that also have been carrying a large chunk of our revenue down the drain.
As a gentle word of advice to our new Head of State, if he is a good listener, he will run the government as a mission instead of a profiteering business. Meritocracy should be his desideration.