By Melvin Tejan Mansaray
On Wednesday 22nd April, 2020 at Committee Room No. 1 Parliament Building, all opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) that are members of the Committee on Appointments and the Public Service failed to attend the public hearing of Dr. Alex Prince Harding.
Prior to that, the Office of the Clerk of Parliament issued a public notice informing MPs and members of the public about the parliamentary vetting of nine presidential nominees.
The vetting marked the fourteenth sitting of the Committee on Appointments and the Public Service which was supposed to have interviewed and scrutinise the appointment of Dr. Alex Prince Harding as proposed Chairman National Commission for Privatization among nine other nominees but unfortunately when Dr. Alex Harding was called upon as the first interviewee, no member of the APC, C4C, NGC, Independent and even Paramount Chief MPs was present except the SLPP MPs.
Dr. Alex Prince Harding who is the current Leader and Chairman of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) has been described in certain circles as a controversial politician.
Just recently Dr. Harding was the mastermind behind ousting of Hon. Sidi M. Tunis as Leader of Government Business after allegedly handpicking Hon. Mathew Nyuma to replace Tunis and Hon. Bashiru Silikie.
It however turned out that Hon. Tunis final presided as Chairman of the Appointments Committee and there was less probing (no question asked, no answers proffered) for the appointee in question.
According to Peter J. Kulangbanda, Director of Committees, the sitting had five members at the time of Dr. Harding’s interview which was enough for a quorum.
