By Amin Kef Sesay
In a letter dated 24th June 2021 and written by the Chairman and Leader of the National Grand Coalition (NGC) Party Dr. Dennis Bright and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament Dr. Abass Chernor Bundu, he highlighted that the NGC’s representation in Parliament comprises four MPs headed by their Parliamentary Leader, Hon. Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella.
Dr. Dennis Bright pointed out that the leadership of the NGC notes with grave concern a worrying trend of marginalization and undignified treatment of their Party’s Parliamentary Leader and, by extension, of the Party at the hands of the administration of the House of Parliament.
He said the most recent manifestation of such treatment is the decision to exclude the NGC Leader from the Supervisory Committee which monitors the activities of all Parliamentary Committees arguing that it is in contravention of the provisions of Standing Order (70) sub-clause (13) (a) as follows:
“A Supervisory Committee of all Committees consisting of all leaders, chaired by the Majority Leader of the House with Clerk of Parliament as Secretary, shall monitor the activities of all parliamentary committees to ensure the proper conduct of their mandate”
The NGC Chairman and Leader stated how it is difficult to fathom why one of their party leaders in Parliament, in this case the Hon. Dr. Yumkella, could be singled out for exclusion when the standing order so clearly indicates that he is as of right a member of that important committee.
“My party is deeply worried that if basic rules such as this can be so easily flouted or ignored at the level of the Legislature, the stage is set for lawlessness in a society where disregard for rules and regulations would become the new normal,” he pointed out.
He added that they also note that their Parliamentary Leader sent to him, the Speaker of Parliament, the attached letter requesting his assistance for his private member bill to be gazetted.
That Bill, according to Dr. Bright, would have opened up the political space giving women thirty percent of the seats in Parliament, allowing diaspora greater participation in governance and providing greater involvement of young professionals in Parliament revealing how it is almost a year now without receiving a response, nor did the Government printers publish the Bill.
He argued that such a particular issue is of greater concern because it implies unfortunately that Members who do not belong to the ruling party cannot present Bills to Parliament.
The Chairman and Leader of NGC said it is the tradition of Parliaments across the world for Party leaders in Parliament to take the floor at the end of debates, with ample time to react to the issues raised and present their parties’ position, a tradition which he said is named “rounding up the debate” saying it is the convention in the Sierra Leone Parliament for decades.
He lamented that, however, they have observed that since the third Session of the Fifth Parliament, the Speaker has refused to allow their leader to “round up the debate” but rather relegated him to compete for his attention along with other members.
That action, Dr. Bright, stated thwarts the will of the people who, through the 2018 general elections, voted four political parties into Parliament.
The NGC Chairman and Leader maintained that the leaders of these parties, by the mandate of the people, are accorded rights and responsibilities, consistent with their selfless public service and the dignity of their honorable office.
He said to put that sad and unfortunate situation into context, the Speaker may be aware that there have been several attempts to frustrate the Hon. Dr. Yumkella by transferring him frequently around from one Committee to another, as if to prevent him from making any impact.
Dr. Denis Bright revealed that in the recent allocation of vehicles to Party Leaders in Parliament, it was only the Hon. Dr. Yumkella who was not assigned an official vehicle. “We have drawn our own conclusions about the reasons for these actions that are basically telling us the sad story of where our democracy currently stands,” he bemoaned.
He said, however, on the precise issue of the exclusion of Hon. Dr. Yumkella from the Supervisory Committee, they believe that for as long as Hon. Dr. Yumkella continues to be the NGC Leader in Parliament, and in the spirit and letter of Standing Order 70 (13) (a), he is ipso facto member of the said committee.
In conclusion Dr. Denis Bright stated that he therefore has the honour to request the Speaker’s intervention to effect Dr.Yumkella’s inclusion in the Supervisory Committee and thereby restore public faith in Parliament’s adherence to its own rules and regulations as inspired by the Constitution of Sierra Leone.
