APC Plots Against VP?! It is normal for a President and a Vice President to have disagreements, because they are humans. It is also normal for either of the two to hurt each other. What is however abnormal is for such conflicts to be displayed for public hearing and viewing. Unfortunately however, this is the current case in Sierra Leone. It is widely believed that there is a major conflict between President Ernest Bai Koroma and his Vice President Sam Sumana. This belief emanates from the manner in which the President and several other government officials are relating with the Vice President in the public domain. To say it as it is, the Vice President is a subject of molestation and public ridicule. While the President is actually trying his level best to contain his reservations against the VP in public, his conspicuous silence on the attacks being launched against the VP by ministers and other government officials is being interpreted as an endorsement from above. It is been seen that a huge percentage of APC government functionaries have teamed up to molest and ridicule the Vice President; judging by the manner in which the VP is being verbally attacked, marginalized and rendered redundant. The only secret in this episode is the crime committed by Sam Sumana to deserve this public molestation. While some believe the Vice President is suffering these sustained attacks because several government ministers and functionaries see him as a threat to their 2017 presidential bid, others are simply just jealous because the President reappointed him to serve as Vice President. However, another school of thought is arguing that the VP has given so much bad name to the current government because of his alleged involvements in dubious deals. This school of thought believes that the government is under immense pressure by the international community to distance itself from the VP, thus the inhumane treatment being meted out on Sam Sumana. All of the aforementioned are just speculations emanating from the visible conflict within and among the APC government and party with regards to the status of the Vice President. In all of the above however, Sam Sumana remains composed, silent, mature and unruffled. This action by the VP to contain public ridicule is currently portraying the attackers as ‘desperados’ and comedians. They are failing to realize that an attack on the Vice President is by extension an attack on the whole government including the President. If they succeed to make the Vice President useless in the eyes of the local public in particular and the world at large, it will simply mean we are being governed by a failed government which could not even maturely handle internal party or government differences not to talk of public affairs. Show me one government functionary that is publicly close to the VP, and you will succeed to dismiss my argument that the VP is being marginalized. Very reliable sources informed me that ministers do disguise themselves whenever they want to transact anything with the VP for fear of being victimized for associating themselves with the man that is so much hated by the powers that be for unclear reasons. Notwithstanding the fact that the Vice President is constitutionally empowered to act as President whenever the President is out of the country, we have not seen him assuming that role. Instead of the VP representing the President in public functions whenever the President travels outside Sierra Leone, we see very junior ministers like Moijueh Kaikai stepping in the shoes of the President. What an embarrassment! On a particular occasion, the Vice President and Moijueh Kaikai nearly clashed to serve as keynote speaker while the President was away. But who will think that Moijueh just took upon himself to represent the President when he has no authority from the President himself? And as if to ridicule the VP the more, Moijueh Kaikai is on record to have repeatedly bluffed during that session that he was not only there as a minister but as an acting president representing the president. And talking about overseas travels, when last did the Vice President travel out of the country to represent Sierra Leone? You see what I am saying. The man has been rendered useless. The President is flying all over the world while the VP is being squeezed to a very tight corner. He cannot even act as President when the substantive President is out of Sierra Leone for fear of being publicly attacked by Junior Ministers. Also, the President keeps appointing people to the extent that such appointments are being viewed as an attempt to disarm the Vice President of his constitutional duties. The reality now is that the Vice President is just being seen and not heard. He makes it a point of duty to attend most state functions, even if not invited, but without saying a word. You don’t even see government officials going close to him to greet him during these events. In fact, he is hardly now ushered to the high table. The maximum some government functionaries will go during public occasions is to keep their distance and give the Vice President a wink or a quick and skillful hand wave. How much of state affairs are to the knowledge of our current Vice President? What a plot against the Vice President?!
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 21:00:16 +0000
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