By Alfie Barrie: A columnist and Television Anchor
Those who postulate the libertarian concept will give a nod to the notion that the fundamental role of Parliament in any democracy is to make laws and provide effective and efficient oversight over the State (including the private sector).
Through effective oversight the Executive will be able to robustly and substantially push through the country’s development agendas. It is, however, generally agreed that our Parliament and the Executive over the years have fallen far short of this democratic dictum.
To make matters worse, the spine tingling admission of the Chairman of the Legislative Committee in Parliament, Hon. Hindolo Moiwo Gavao, that Members of Parliament normally extort money from presidential appointees and or from Ministries, Departments and Agencies is not just shocking but by all equal measures recidivistic! That shocking confession has thrown an already over stretched Anti Corruption Commission into the limelight.
The ACC is now in a rock and hard place. There seem to be daylight corrupt practice happening right under their glare, but having iron clad evidence within their grasp seem to be evasive as mere admission of guilt will not stand the test in court.
Meanwhile, the resignation of Hon. Tawa Conteh prior to his resignation as the Chairman of the Transparency and Accountability Committee in Parliament has been touted by many as heroic.
His resignation has thrown fresh spanners in the works of this rumbling imbroglio. Conversely, there seem to be a sliver of positive from this saga.
Hon. Tawa going toe -to- toe with the Minister of Information and Communication on the unbundling of SALCAB shows patriotism. It equally connotes that there are men and women in this country who are ready to go against their own selfish gains for the greater good. Hon.Tawa has set a high bar for others to mimic. The same could be said of Hon. Chernor Bah of the APC when they were in governance. Parliament should no longer be a rubber stamp institution.
The culture of resigning when one feels arm-twisted should be the modus operandi in our body politics.
Moving forward, we need to support stronger institutions and proliferate them with people of integrity and competence. Also, policy takers when voting for policy makers should vote based on policies rather than some anachronistic political considerations.
