New Sierra Leones government includes opposition in cabinet
News & Trends •
source63 sierra leones president julius maada bio has rolled out names of his cabinet including some members of opposition1 mr margai was one of 16 candidates who contested the march 7 first round presidential election1 he backed brig rtd bio in the second round on march 311 the veteran politicians father and uncle both of who served as prime ministers were among the founders of the governing sierra leones peoples party slpp1 mr margai ditched his kins party in 2007 after losing the contest to lead it in presidential elections that year1 he formed the peoples movement for democratic change mpdc which joined forces with president ernest bai koromas all peoples congress apc to defeat slpp in a hotly contested run-off1 mr margai soon fell out with president koroma who he accused of undermining his party1 veteran politician and lawyer charles francis margai was named as attorney general and justice minister1 a total of 12 ministers were named on thursday including those for finance health and energy1 former world bank development expert jacob jusu saffa takes over the finance ministry while medical scientist and renowned educationist dr alpha wurie was given the health docket1 primary and secondary education went to dr alpha ousman timbo and the energy went to mr kanja sesay1 other ministerial appointments include information and communication mohamed swaray marine resources mrs emms kowa labour and social security adenkunle joliff milton-king water resources dr jonathan tengbe and social welfare gender and childrens affairs ms baindu dassama1 there were also appointments for internal affairs edward a. suluku and deputy defence minister brig rtd simeon n. sheriff1 mr sahr lahai jusu was named financial secretary1 president bio also named his long term personal assistant yusuf keketoma sandi as press secretary1 his appointment will particularly provoke questions around the commitment of the new president to his campaign promise of separating the office of attorney general from the justice ministry which has been seen as a hindrance to justice delivery1