This question begs the question whether a Head of State, who should be primus inter pares, should in fact be supervised. But recent events, in connection with appointments by our Head of State, seem to point to a NEW DIRECTION in which his functions are being shared by a newly-created post of Chief Minister.
Incidentally, in our constitutional development, there was a Chief Minister when there was a Prime Minister and that position should not be equated with the present creation.
No leader is perfect and President Julius Maada Bio is no exception unless sycophants tell us so. The doctrine of infallibility of the Pope has long since been consigned to history. The President’s prerogative cannot be a “rightogative”. This does not mean that he has not hit the ground running in terms of recouping the country’s lost revenue and instilling discipline.
We should be at pains not to slip down to a new direction of technocracy after all the laborious exercise of elections fraught with accusations breeding bad blood. While the appointment of the illustrious Professor David Francis as Chief Minister Designate would definitely have a beneficent effect on governance as a whole, it raises the question of chipping away some of the core functions of the President and Vice President who are duly elected on the basis of the party’s manifesto.
It is all very well that the Chief Minister serves as the central hub responsible for the overall co-ordination and implementation of government policies across all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). But how “under” will Professor Francis be under the directive of the Executive President whom he is supervising for a doctorate degree? There lies the conundrum. One supervises the other in academia and the other supervises the one in politics.
Aside from the indistinguishable difference between the roles of President and Chief Minister, in practice the Cabinet, which is the main policy making body of the government, cannot have its role compromised by extra-constitutional provisions.
According to the Principles of Cabinet rule it is expected to meet weekly and they rise and fall together with the President presiding. In a democratic Cabinet there is no provision for a Chief Minister to preside over it. There is the unconstitutional development named Kitchen Cabinet, a kind of cabal of close friends and/or relatives who confidentially advice Heads of Governments and in this case our Chief Minister cannot be ruled out serving astride Cabinet and Kitchen Cabinet.
Vice-Presidents are usually fifth wheels though Vice-President Sam Sumana was rendered a lame duck V.P. by former President Ernest Bai Koroma. The position was only revived by the appointment of Vice-President Victor Bockarie Foh. Now that a Chief Minister has been appointed one wonders whether the position of Vice-President Juldeh Jalloh will be a sinecure.
The Achilles heel of President Bio is that he bends over backward to help his benefactors, which is why he has brought in his supervisor, Professor David Francis, Mr. Charles Margai and others who stood with him through thick and thin. Who does not have an Achilles heel?
In consonance with our policy we do not always tell the President what he wants to hear but sometimes the strange truth which is our avowed middle course. Our aim is for Sierra Leone to return to its former status quo ante of the Athens of the sub-region.
Our unanswered question is: Who is The Real President and who is the Virtual President?