By Ragan M. Conteh
Member of Parliament representing Constituency 028 in Kono district, eastern Sierra Leone, Hon. Sahr Charles has accused the Speaker of parliament, Dr Abass Bundu of bias.
The bias, according to Hon. Charles, revolves around favouring some members of parliament to express their views during parliamentary debates at the detriment of C4C members.
Hon. Charles said although the Standing Order 32 (2) conferred enormous powers on the Speaker, he should also consider that Parliament was not for only two political Parties.
The C4C MP said, most times, he had expressed grave concerns over the persistent sidelining of C4C members during parliamentary debates adding it still continued. “The Speaker has not done justice to us,” he said.
Hon. Charles also made reference to the debate on the approval of the Inspector-General of Police.
He said during the debate, the Speaker of parliament denied him the opportunity to express his views.
“I have stood several times while debating on the approval of the newly appointed Inspector General of Police, but I was never given the opportunity to do so,” Hon. Charles alleged.
“C4C is the third largest political party in the country,” he warned.
Apart from the accusation of bias against the Speaker of Parliament, the C4C MP made few remarks about the spread of Corona Virus in the country.
“COVID-19 has become a threat to the world as Italy has now surpassed China in terms of number of cases,” he said.
Hon. Charles was however appreciative of government’s effort of bringing on board members of the defunct National Ebola Response Centre to the fight against the Corona Virus.
He appealed to the Speaker not to disenfranchise the C4C members because they could make better inputs on national matters devoid of political affiliations.
In his response, the Speaker of parliament cleared his name of the allegation, but promised to consider it.
“It is not any member of parliament that catches the Speaker’s eyes,” Hon Bundu said.
However, the Speaker promised to take into consideration the blame from Hon. Sahr Charles.