By Ragan M. Conteh
During the debate a few weeks ago, the Parliamentary Leader of the Opposition National Grand Coalition (NGC) Party, Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, said serious issues in the country’s Parliament were discussed, especially on the state of the economy, social cohesion, crumbling public institutions and poor leadership.
He has also, on several occasions, tried to put forward a private member’s bill that will bring forward new legislations. But he was systematically and consistently prevented from exercising his constitutional and parliamentary rights.
Dr. Kandeh Yumkella has, time without number, raised the red flag on a range of national issues that he said were not going right in the New Direction Government.
He has been calling for a Peace Commission that will guarantee ethnic balance through continuous ethnic audit, so as to ensure that no single tribe gets more than 30% of public sector jobs.
Hon Yumkella has also been calling for changes to the Constitution that will allow Sierra Leoneans, with dual citizenship, have the right to elect and be elected, without losing their dual citizenship status.
As a strong advocate of gender equality and balance, Hon Yumkella is calling for change that will guarantee a minimum of 30% quota for women in all public sector appointments, including Parliamentary service.
He stated, in Parliament, that some of the issues require rectification in the interest of democracy and good governance. According to KKY, this SLPP Government has a lot of work to do to show that the country is on a new direction.
He said many Sierra Leoneans have frowned at the way the economy is going, adding that Government programs and activities, including the much talked about decrease in inflation into a single digit, does not translate to the welfare of the people.
Dr Yumkellah stated that the country requires sustainable policies and not those policies that kill our democracy and move the country to one party state.
On the debt burden, the NGC Leader revealed that Parliament had summoned the Minister of Finance to give account of his stewardship by proving the House a tabulated analysis of the country’s debt in the nearly three years of the New Direction Government, but there has been no response to that effect.
In this regard, the country can benchmark the source of debt and how prudent the monies are being used.
Dr. KKY pointed out that revenue generation is gradually improving, but expenditure remains largely a cause for concern.
“As government speaks about allocation, Parliament should be speaking about results. What value are the people getting for these allocations? Our government has received over $1.5 billion over the past three or more years in loans and grants. Parliament should be asking what the government has done with these loans and grants. We need results to address the burning issues of our people,” KKY said.