By Ragan M. Conteh
The Deputy Speaker of the 5th Parliament of the 2nd Republic of Sierra Leone, Hon Segepoh Solomon, has disclosed that the All People’s Congress (APC) party awfully failed the people of Sierra Leone during their 11 years in governance.
He said the APC lacks the morals to judge the Bio government in terms of policy implementation.
Hon Thomas noted that the state opening speech delivered by the president on 18th May 2021 was aimed at informing the people of Sierra Leone through their Members of Parliament (MPs) to be au-fait about what the president had done so far and what he intended to do going forward.
He added that it is the duty of MPs during the debate on the president’s speech to guide the Executive Branch of Government in the implementation of those policies especially in their respective constituencies.
He admonished that they are in Parliament to represent Sierra Leone which is divided into different constituencies. He stated that in such debates on government policy, MPs are to guide the process of implementation.
Hon Thomas observed that APC MPs have decided to use the period of the presidential speech delivery as a moment to unduly criticise the party.
He added: ‘The sad thing about the main opposition APC party is that even when they criticise, they fail to even draw attention to their very own constituencies that have benefited from some of Bio’s policies.’
The Hon Deputy Speaker emphasised that APC parliamentarians have completely removed their minds from their constituencies, something he considers as extremely unfortunate.
‘APC cannot be the judge for SLPP. You cannot be the judge of this current government because all the ideas that you had, you failed the people during your 11 years in governance. The only judge of the current government can only be the voters come 2023.
‘The APC Government was given the opportunity to serve this country for 11 years, but the failure of the party reflected in the 2018 election…,” Hon Thomas bluntly asserted.
He continued that it was rather ironical for the APC to think that they can judge the SLPP Government when they themselves failed the nation awfully. He warned that whenever they criticise as MPs, they should equally have the capacity to provide solutions. He also said the APC has failed to provide solutions to their baseless and unfounded criticism against the Bio Government.
Hon Thomas further admonished fellow MPs, especially from the main opposition APC, to ‘be very honest and sincere with the people of Sierra Leone.’
He said the APC just left governance three years ago and that former President Koroma took several policies into the House of Parliament, including the Agenda for Prosperity, ‘but all turned out to be an Agenda for Austerity.’
He said all the former president promised this nation is now in a dilapidated form, including the electricity supply, adding that ‘they were never a durable solution to the problems of the nation.’
He reminded that the people of Sierra Leone are no longer fools but rather have become more politically intelligent. He acknowledged that the nation’s problems cannot be solved within five years.
He stressed the need for Civic Education so that people can actually understand how governance works.
He also urged the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education to reinsert the topic in the country’s national history syllabus, particularly the one dealing with the causes of the 11 years civil war, which was deliberately expunged by the APC government.
The Deputy Speaker continued that ‘the extracted topic in that syllabus regarding the causes of the civil war has a direct link with APC’s ill motivated governance style.’