The Devil is in detail, not the dance off – Part 2
The implications of the Alliance Agreement.
Point 12 of the Alliance Agreement between SLPP and NGC, provides the mechanism for allocating jobs between SLPP and NGC, in the event of an SLPP victory at the Presidential elections. It merits further examination, as in my view, it is unlikely to be adhered to by the SLPP, which NGC members should be alert to.
The Agreement notes that ‘…NGC shall included in an inclusive government, wherein the NGC shall be allocated a number of positions as mutually agreed in various categories of appointments in governance (Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Ambassadors, Head of Parastatals and Board Members, etc.). Every appointment shall be subject to the approval of the elected President.’
The Agreement creates the impression of joint decision making and parity between the Parties, but the reality is that if Julius Maada Bio is returned to office for a second term, he will do as the incumbent SLPP President. NGC will be in a weaker position, as it is unlikely to have any parliamentary, municipality or local representation, and for all intents and purposes, Kandeh Yumkella and his NGC colleagues will be private citizens, not elected officials.
Therefore, the notion that a party with no representation at any level of governance, will have the ability to make mutually agreed decisions about appointments, with an elected President in the true sense, will create a significant constitutional crisis, which is worse than the recognition of the First Lady, as Her Excellency. It is just not possible that any President will delegate their Presidential prerogative to make appointments to private citizens. If the NGC had obtained quality legal advice, it would have understood that this statement about mutually agreeing appointments of Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Ambassadors, Head of Parastatals and Board Members, was utterly meaningless.
However, let’s just assume that President Bio would be true to his word and incorporates NGC members into governance, if he is successful in securing a second term. One of the challenges that will need to be addressed is how NGC members will be accommodated in governance. During the tenure of the Bio government, the government wage has exponentially increased. According to the government ’s own records, the wage bill has increased from Le 160.4 billion in March 2018 to a projected Le3.90 trillion in 2022 (7.7 percent of GDP).
Yumkella has been a staunch advocate for a reduction of the bloated government bureaucracy, which is so harmful to the economy. Given Yumkella’s pronouncements about the bloated government bureaucracy and wage bill, and its impact on the economy, will the NGC ignore further expansion of the bureaucracy, in order to be accommodated in governance, or will it challenge the SLPP to reduce the number of jobs allocated to their own party members? Sierra Leoneans will be aware that on Tuesday 25th April 2023, MPs in Parliament voted themselves a generous compensation package of US$50,000 pension package for one-term MPs. NGC MPs did not vote against the measure. Their actions would provide a useful guide as to their likely behaviour, where governance appointments are being proposed. In my view, NGC representatives are more likely to ignore further expansion of the government wage bill, as long as they are offered plum jobs. It has always been about jobs.
We must also ask whether NGC have the talent pool to fill jobs in the various categories of appointments. The dearth of high calibre candidates who are likely to come forward to contest elections for the party, provides a good yardstick to assess NGC’s capability and capacity to fill governance appointments. You only have to look at the aspirants for the Freetown Mayoralty and for parliamentary seats, to realise how hollow the NGC is and how unattractive it has become, especially in the last four months, as a party of progressives. Will a party that has been so desperate to string together a shoddy Alliance Agreement, genuinely be interested in attracting technical and subject matter experts into governance roles, in preference to its own party members? It seems unlikely. Unfortunately, under the current leadership of the party, NGC is more likely to position square pegs into round holes, and at the detriment of Sierra Leoneans.
As uncomfortable as these issues are, which I am raising about Yumkella’s NGC, these are critical questions which the public need to ask, as they consider whether to put any faith in the Alliance or seek a change of government.
Within NGC, their members also need to ask how the Alliance agreement benefits their party. Prior to entering into an alliance with SLPP, the party had was the first opposition party to complete its Lower-Level Elections, during which over 10,800 Executives were elected at ward, constituency, district and regional levels. Their expectation and that of the rank and file of the party, was that NGC would put forward a flagbearer to contest for the Presidency and candidates to contest elections at local, municipality and parliamentary levels. Instead, they have been made to accept an alliance with SLPP, which they were not involved in negotiating. I understand that a virtual meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee on 24th April 2023, which was hastily arranged the day before, to approve the Alliance Agreement, did not happen, or even if it did take place, did not meet the quoracy requirements for decisions.
Yet it is these Executives and rank and file members, potentially with no NGC candidates to campaign for in their districts and nationally, who would be required to mobilise support for SLPP, in order to increase the number of jobs which may be allocated to senior party executives within the National Elders and Trustees Council (NETC) and National Officers corp. A classic case of ‘Monkey woke, baboo eat,’ if I ever saw one. What the 10,800 NGC Executives and rank and file members need to understand is that in reaching the Alliance Agreement, their representatives made a poor job of the negotiations with SLPP. SLPP did not agree to the NGC’s request to allow them to have a clear run against the APC, in their North-western stronghold.
Rather, the SLPP intends to field a full list of candidates in NGC heartlands, while NGC is expected to give SLPP a clear run in the Southeast. This arrangement practically pulled the floor from under the feet of all NGC candidate, leaving their campaigns in a quandary and unlikely to achieve the six percent share of votes, the party received in 2018.
The Alliance agreement further enhances the two-party duopoly and undermines political pluralism in our democracy. Political pluralism is a cornerstone of the post-war democratic settlement which came out of the Truth and Reconciliation Process and it is necessary to sustain peace and stability in our country.
Our country has been beset by what is referred to as ‘do me, ar do yu’ politics between the two main political parties. Yet, Yumkella argues that NGC’s decision to align with one of the protagonist, is in order to ‘save Sierra Leone.’ In doing so, he has completely alienated the APC, despite his rhetoric of reaching out to APC progressives. The entire country heard him proclaim on Saturday 22nd April 2023, at the Bintumani Conference Centre, that there will be no run-off at the June 2023 elections. In contrast, despite all the complaints about the Voter ID cards; selective prohibition of political rallies; PPRC action in stifling Unity Party from holding its convention; the response of the government-controlled police against the opposition Presidential Candidate at Mile 38; Yumkella has made no comment about these issues, even though he held the Chair of the Public Affairs Committee in Parliament, which oversees both the PPRC and ECSL. Can someone who is selective about the issues he focuses on, be relied on to heal a divided nation? Yumkella has the tendency to believe his own hype, to fool his audience with verbosity, such as when he talked about introducing ‘disruptive politics.’ There is nothing disruptive about his politics, but some of us can see a con for what it is, and we are unwilling to be the mark.
Unfortunately for NGC members, their association with their Parliamentary Leader, means that they are now being viewed with suspicion, not just by APC supporters, but by the country at large, which is desirous of relief from the current economic hardships, human rights abuses, denial of basic freedoms, which they encounter daily, at the hands of the SLPP government and its state controlled Police and justice systems. NGC has lost all legitimacy and credibility and has no role in unifying the country.
The entire Alliance Agreement is nothing short of grandstanding, to mask Yumkella’s desire to return home to SLPP. The problem is that for Yumkella, it is beneath him to do an Alpha Khan or Sam Sumana, and cross-carpet like any other opportunistic politician. He has to contrive something that looks benign, motivated by a sense of patriotism, national interest, unity and development but the evidence tells a different story. I understand that Le600m was provided by Orders from Above to fund the launch of the Alliance. As you go to the polls in June, let that figure of Le600m stay in the forefront of your minds, and just think about how many hungry people could have been fed with the money that was used to satisfy one person’s ego trip. Just pause and think and go out and vote for change.
Alan Luke
26 April 2023
