President Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio has on Wednesday, 27th July, 2022 sacked the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ambrose M. Sovula, the Presidential Spokesman, Yusuf Kekehtoma Sandy and other senior government officials, with William Fayia Sellu appointed as the new Inspector General.

The top three in the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) lost their positions as the Deputy Inspector General, Elizabeth Turay and AIG Operations, Amadu Mannah were sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to serve as Director of Police Affairs and Senior Technical Adviser, respectively.

Alhaji Alpha Kanu replaced Yusuf Kekehtoma Sandy as Presidential Spokesman and it is not clear whether or not he still holds his position as Minister of State for the Northwest Region. The President also appointed Rtd. Colonel Binneh Conteh as Commissioner for Sierra Leone Small Arms Commission with Mr. Sahr Hemore now the new Deputy Minister 2 at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security.

According to sources within the corridors of State House, President Bio’s decision to make such changes in his administration is just a tip of the iceberg as he will, anytime soon, announce a bigger cabinet reshuffle in which many big names are expected to face the axe as he plans to usher in a competent team comprising both old and young folks to drive his ‘New Direction’ administration forward ahead of the forthcoming 2023 multitier elections.

The source also disclosed that President Bio is currently not happy with the overall performance of some key Ministers in his cabinet, adding that the behavior of some current cabinet ministers is nothing good to write home about with just 11months to the 2023 multitier Elections.

Since he acceded to power in 2018, President Julius Maada Bio has made several cabinet reshuffles with this expected to be the last before the forthcoming 2023 multitier elections.