By Ragan M. Conteh
The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Mohamed Sidi Tuinis, has warned politicians and security forces not to use the Public Health Emergency to intimidate any citizens of not only Sierra Leone but the ECOWAS Member states, adding the “proclamation of a State of Emergency is not a license for harassment or scoring political points”.
He made this disclosure during the debate on the approval of the proclamation of the State of Emergency on Thursday 25th March 2020 in the House of Parliament.
According to Hon. Mohamed Sidi Tunis, the fight against the prevention of COVID-19 to enter into Sierra Leone required collective efforts as the case maybe. In 2014, during the Ebola scourge in Sierra Leone, the then President Ernest Bia Koroma proclaimed a State of Emergency in an effort to curtail the Ebola in Sierra Leone.
Hon. Tunis stated that no one should or will be using the emergency situations to score political points, adding that President Bio is a listening leader that he has no intention to use the State of Emergency to clamp down on the opposition.
He warned all those in the habit of using the name of proclamation to ostracize other citizens.
Hon. Kandeh Yumkella said the State of Emergency should not be an ulterior motive to harass other peaceful citizens or political opponents.
He said many problems faced by Government authority, especially in the House of Parliament, is the lack of prior consultations with leaders of various political parties or opponents.
He spoke about the need for continued meetings and consultations in the House, adding that the opposition had no intention to stand in the way of the President, but should be in place for dialogue on issues bordering the nation.
He added that the fears earlier expressed by the opposition would be assuaged by the regulations coming to Parliament for approval within 14 days, without ulterior motive. He advised the Government to cajole, consult and avoid the use of threats to get two-third votes in Parliament.
Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, said that the country was in imminent danger of contracting “a virus which nobody knows anything about”, describing it as “a strange enemy in the history of mankind”.
Hon. Sengepoh recalled how former President Koroma was late in declaring a State of Emergency to fight Ebola; and commended President Bio for being proactive in his preventive measures against COVD-19, confirming former President Koroma never misused the State of emergency.
The Deputy Speaker assured Members of the House that the emergency would not be used as was used during the dark days of the rebel war in our country’s history.
He emphasized that “nothing out of the ordinary will be done to anyone as a result of the State of Emergency”.
The Leader of the opposition, Chernoh Maju Bah, said “the All People’s Congress (APC) Party is not averse to the State of Emergency declared by President Bio to fight COVID-19”; and that they would support the regulations to give an effect to the State of Emergency.
Hon. Chernoh Maju Bah urged the Government to use the media for effective public education. He informed that “the Opposition APC is in sympathy with the people whose votes are needed in 2023 to vote the SLPP out of power”.