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Ex-rebels get ministerial posts in unity government

Former Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels and their Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) allies have been given four ministerial posts in a unity government designed to consolidate peace in Sierra Leone. Presidential spokesman Septimus Kaikai told IRIN on Thursday the new ministers were Mike Lamine (Trade and Industry), Alimamy Paulo Bangura, (Energy and Power), Peter Bandy (Lands, Housing, Country Planning and the Environment) and A.B.S. Jomo-Jalloh (Tourism and Culture). Deputy ministerial positions went to Emmanuel Sabai (Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government), Susan Lahai (Ministry of Transport and Communications), Idrissa Kamara (Ministry of Labour and Industrial Relations) and Francis Musa (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Marine Resources. The appointments, which were announced on radio on Wednesday, bring the number of cabinet members to 18. A peace deal signed in July in Lome stipulates that the rebels would be offered one senior cabinet position such as finance, foreign affairs or justice. However, it left the decision as to what constitutes a senior ministry to President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. “It has been determined that the Ministry of Trade and Industry is a senior ministry,” Kaikai said.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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