Asks Abdul Malik Bangura
I have clearly monitored the unfair aspersions and all sort of lashes directed to the Secretary to the President, Dennis Vandi, and I have paused to reflect whether our society is right to give the poor Secretary the blame, forgetting about the inappropriate ways the President has been handling national issues since his election two months ago.
Sadly, exactly a month ago, as a way of flashback, we all remember how the President in his executive orders unceremoniously sacked all political appointed diplomats. Few days after, we see him, the President, again writing the sacked diplomats begging them to please stay in their posts until government is able to send their repatriation package. What he failed to do by then was to follow due diplomatic process to recall them, but President Bio, who cannot control his anxiety or anger gave an order which until now his led government has not been able to fulfil- as I write no single diplomat has received his/her repatriation packaged yet. This leaves us wondering whether the President has self-control over his emotions or he has been wrongly advised.
However, on the issue of the Financial Acts, to me, I feel it is very unfair to castigate the Secretary to the President. Basically, because I personally feel that:
(a) the Secretary to the President is a Presidential adviser, but what ever wrong the President might have done is not on the Secretary’s shoulder because he performs functions assigned to him by the President. So what the Secretary puts out is actually what the President decides or said.
(b) To me, I believe that there is now way a Memorandum can be issued on Thursday 24th May 2018 (second to last working day of the week) onbehalf of the Presidency, without the President seeing it. Even on the Friday 25th it would have been countered. So I logically know that what the Secretary to the President puts out is in agreement with the President himself.
(c) In his counter dated 28th May 2018, the Secretary never said he misquoted the President. The Secretary is very clear to say in Paragraph 3 of his counter release dated Monday 28th May, 2018: *”The President DID NOT make such statement knowing that…”*. From the statement, it means, the President actually suspended the Financial Acts but that the President took the decision unknowingly. So why castigating the Secretary to the President for the misinformation of the President?? If actually the President was misquoted, why waiting for four (4) days for State House to counter such serious constitutional blunder??
Fairly enough, President Bio took that decision at the time when the country’s Minister of Finance, Financial Secretary and the Bank Governor were all out of the country attending a conference in Busan, South Korea, so I believe with the delegation back in town today, the funny decision of the President has been addressed. However very unfortunate that the Poor Secretary is been lambasted for the wrongs of President Maada Bio.
Please see the two releases below
© MALIK.
