By Ralph Sesay
The debate on President Julius Maada Bio’s speech, on the state opening of the Second Session of the Second Republic of the Fifth Parliament of Sierra Leone, on the 2nd May, 2019, was delayed on Monday due to a boycott by Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
The Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Abass Bundu, has to adjourn the business of the House on Monday for an hour when lawmakers realized that it was only the senior Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture was present, among dozens that were supposed to witness the debate as provided for by law.
Few MDA representatives showed up even after the one hour adjournment. Some MDAs have sent low ranking officers to represent them. This led the Speaker and the entire leadership of Parliament to summon the Secretary to Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service to immediately appear before the House.
John Sumailah, the Secretary to Cabinet and Head of the civil service, appeared before the House and apologized on behalf of all MDAs for their absence. He appealed to Parliament to humbly notify them with a circular in subsequent hearings as a way of complementing radio announcements.
His apology, on behalf of MDAs, was accepted by the Speaker of the House.
Various Members of Parliament were angry after having learnt that Ministries, Departments and Agencies were conspicuously absent to witness the debate on the President’s speech. They pinpointed the fact that MDAs are used to treating lawmakers with levity when it comes to making their presence visible in such debates.
The House was not certain as what to do with defaulting MDAs after it was established that they were duly informed by the Clerk of Parliament through several correspondences and public announcements to attend the start of the debate.
However the three days’ debate, which started on Monday, kicked off almost at midday with a full House composed of members from both the ruling and opposition parties. Most MDAs showed up at the well as the debate gained momentum.
It will be recalled that the main opposition All People’s Congress Party had boycotted the State Opening of Parliament, which created huge embarrassment for the President especially as he was fully invigorated to tell the nation what he has achieved in the last one year.
A similar fate has also met the debate on the President’s speech, where MDAs failed to show up despite having sufficient notice from Parliament.
The House, under Dr. Abass Bundu, is poised to take stringent actions against the defaulting MDAs.