By Musa Paul Feika
Six Months gone without any backlog paid to APC (All People’s Congress) members of parliament, an omission seen as a breach of a communiqué signed in October last year.
The communiqué which ended a three-month post -election stalemate is the product of a three-day dialogue between the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) and the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
In one of its resolutions, it provided that opposition law makers should be paid for the three months they stayed away from parliament in protest to the election rigging.
“Upon assumption of their elective governance positions, all elected APC officials (Members of Parliament, Mayors, Chairmen and Councillors) will have the issue regarding their entitlements addressed accordingly by the appropriate institutions,” a portion of the communiqué reads.
By inking the agreement, government accepted to pay the backlogs in the interest of peace and national cohesion to put back Sierra Leone on the path of progress and development.
However, signs have shown clearly that government is in no mood to bear the financial burden which they see a waste of money since APC parliamentarians did not work for it.
It has been mooted at various quarters that government will not pay the APC law makers forgetting that it is part of an agreement to which they submit on free will.
The prolonged non-payment of backlogs usually generates heated debates at any time the issue is raised within the walls of parliament, but the authorities either damns it or turns a blind eye with the hope that situation would day solve itself.
However, contrary to government’s expectations, the matter came up again last week in parliament when Deputy APC Leader, Honourable Aaron Aruna Koroma voiced out disappointment of APC parliamentarians over government’s failure to dispense their financial obligation.
The APC Deputy Leader is representing Tonkolili district, Northeastern region, and appears less comfortable with the current situation.
“We have seen neither headway nor willingness on the part of the ruling party to pay the backlog,” Honourable Koroma expressed his concerns adding that nothing has been done to solve the problem.
Holding talks with President Julius Maada Bio and other top government officials about the backlog has made no difference.
It a big slap on the face of government since the document was signed in the presence of morale guarantors.
As an opposition party, he said, they had fulfilled their own promise by taking seats in parliament and local councils across the country and denouncing social media bloggers who perpetrate cyber bullying and incite hate speech.
Non-payment of backlog affects not only APC law makers, but Sierra Leone whose image is smeared in the eyes of development partners who may see the country as one where agreements are disrespected.
It is no gainsaying that in the absence of opposition law makers in parliament, Sierra Leone will get less support from the outside world.
However, Honourable Koroma assured colleague law makers that he would still negotiate government to see that the backlog problem is laid to rest. According to the Deputy leader, APC parliamentarians are bonafide members of parliament and therefore entitled to their pay even in their three-month absence.
“We were still members of parliament as shown by Clerk’s the,” he argued adding that during the three-month period their names were called as parliamentarians.
He said government would deprive them of their pay only if they should they had failed to show up in 30 sittings.
“In our absence, they did not sit up to 20 sittings, and that did not render us ineligible for the backlog, and government has no legal grounds to deprive us of our salary as there is no law that stops them from paying,” he argued as he urged president Bio and his party to fulfil his commitment. saying they were not forced into signing the communiqué.
Buttressing the Deputy Leader’s stance, Honourable Hamidu Mansaray representing Koinadugu district said although payment of backlog was not the main reason that took them to Parliament, it is however one of important factors that made them agree to participate in state governance.
“We are in Parliament as a result of the outcome of the agreement signed by the two parties but there is no headway for our backlog,” Honourable Manasary voiced out his concerns on behalf of other APC law makers.
However, APC Chief Whip, Honourable Abdul Karim Kamara told Nightwatch Press that negotiation had been in progress between the two political sides.