A list of appointments has been made by Sierra Leone’s president Julius Maada Bio with some new faces into new offices to run the affairs of the country.

The latest appointments by His Excellency Retired Brigadier Maada Julius Maada Bio happened on August 24-25 this year followed by a long cabinet list of appointees on July 10, 2023.

This proclamation ensured just after Mr. Bio was declared a winner of Sierra Leone’s General elections on June 27, 2023. He was announced by the country’s electoral body, ECSL, Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone.

The elections which saw President Bio being touted the victor of June 24 polls are still marred by deep public mistrust and wider condemnation by both local and international organizations.

A local CSO called NEW had said before Mr. Bio was declared winner of June 24 elections, the said elections would have deserved a second round.

This was because no presidential candidate then had got past 55% Constitutional threshold to be declared a winner.

National Electoral Watch also said ECSL’s official results data before the latter called the presidential results on June 27 never matched the CSO’s elections data tally after the June24 polls.

And international electoral observers missions, UK, EU, Ireland, Cater Center from US, US embassy in Sierra Leone, also have continued to decry Sierra Leone’s 2023 general elections as fundamentally  “lacking integrity’’, transparency, and credibility.

As a result, international donor partners, UK, USA and others have insisted not to fund or support government activities until an investigation by an “outside independent source” is allowed by the government into Sierra Leone’s June24 elections.

Calls for a special investigation into Sierra Leone’s elections allegations of rigging, vote tampering, ballot stuffing, etc. conducted by ECSL headed up by Chief Electoral Commissioner Mr. Mohamed Konneh, on June 24, 2023, have been made unanimously by UK and USA and have been backed up by the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC).

APC party had called for fresh elections to be conducted by an outside team of credible electoral body of individuals after just few days in June 27 when Mr. Bio was declared by ECSL as the winner of 2023 presidential elections by defeating his tightest rival, Samura Kamara of the APC.

However, Mr. Bio’s government of Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) is still being regarded as incredible owing to unresolved concerns of the June24 elections which are said to have lacked a trusted, free and fair, and transparent process leading up to the polls, during and after voting day on Saturday June 24.

But, Mr. Bio, in spite of non-encouraging signs of lack of donor support by key partners of the international community, the president has appointed new positions and opened up new offices that were never created in his past administration and even not existed under the administrations of his predecessors.

President Bio is controversially running a second five-year term in office.

And the president has kicked away some old guys and has brought in new faces to head up new offices.

He is heavily criticized for this by a cycle of his party bigwigs and some angry grassroots supporters for the swift changes he keeps making in his new administration.

On August 24-25, Bio appointed a couple of new faces to occupy prominent offices in governance. Mr. Phrancis Hopanda Momoh was appointed as Special Envoy for Trade, Investment and International Relations.

This position is new and is almost akin to the functions supposed to be carried out by respective ambassadors and chancery officers who should be promoting Sierra Leone’s business and foreign policy interests abroad.

Apart from the new offices created by President Bio, a list of key appointments has been made in August 24 and 25.

One Mr. Abukakrr Karim is now Sierra Leone ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. Mr. Joseph Kaifala is made Chairman of the Monuments and Relics Commission. On July 10, Bio announced a list of cabinet positions and more new faces surfaced.

At the Ministry of Higher and Technical Education, Professor Alpha Wurie was replaced with Haja Dr Ramatulai Wurie. The current Chief Minister, Dr. David Sengeh, was replaced from the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education by a new man, Corad Sackey.

Bio’s old comrade, Minister Timothy Kabba of the Ministry of Mines and Mineral resources then, was replaced by Mr. Julius Mattai to head that office as the new mines minister.

Timothy Kabba is now the new Foreign Affairs AND International Cooperation minister who has replaced President Bio once trusted old ally Professor David Francis.

Under Bio’s era of uncertainty though, the State Public Fund is ticked to suffer a serious crunch as several new offices have been opened up by the president.

Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, ex-boss and founder of National Grand Coalition (NGC) party, is also Bio’s new comrade.

He has made to occupy and head up a new department as Chairman of Presidential Initiative for Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security.

This office is similar to the existing Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change now led by Mr. Jiwoh Abdulai as the new minister who has replaced Dr. Foday Jaward.

Mr. Chernor Bah is currently the Minister of Information and Civil Education which used to be called Ministry of Information and Communications.

The new information ministry is not too different from another new ministry being created by President Bio which is Ministry of Communication, Technology and Information, headed by Ms. Haja Salimatu Bah.

Meanwhile, President Bio’s new changes in cabinet and the creation of new offices have attracted strong condemnation by his critics.

They say the opening up of new offices and appointment of more cabinet officials will cause more damage on the economy which now struggles to peak up while inflation kicks up unstoppably which is influencing prices on basic needs and commodities in the country.