The President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maado Bio, has through a Cabinet Reshuffle demoted his teacher, Prof David Francis.
Prof. Francis until his demotion was one of the powerful men in the Government of President Bio.
He had held the position of chief minister which was specifically created to fit his influential role.
His Chief Minister position replaced that of the presidential chief of staff.
The reshuffle was announced on Friday by President Bio, three days after Sierra Leone marked its 60th independence.
A statement from the presidency announced that Prof Francis was redeployed from the office of chief minister to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He was a professor at the UK’s Bradford University.
After Bio’s election in 2018, he came to the limelight.
Prof. Francis served as Bio’s supervisor when he was pursuing his doctoral studies, which has been put on hold following his election.
But he has been replaced with new chief minister, Jacob Jusu Saffa.
Saffa is expected to oversee Sierra Leone’s Finance Ministry “until further notice,” the statement from the presidency announced.
Then Foreign Minister, Nabila Tunis, has been dropped from the Cabinet.
By Melvin Tarlue