By Ragan M. Conteh
Members of parliament and observers on press gallery were yesterday taken aback by the perceived incompetence of the Attorney-General, Anthony Brewah over presentation on the Covid-19 emergency regulations in parliament.
Mr Brewah, seen a as fit man for the top job, dodged most of the questions posed by parliamentarians on the Covid-19 regulations. He told parliamentarians that he was not part of the drafters of the Regulations.
The AG is however expected to be au fait with pertinent issues in the document, and must be well prepared before taken to parliament for debate. He requested for more time to prepare for future presentations on the controversial issue.
“Mr. Speaker, I beg for a suitable date to look at the concerns and questions and will come back to the house to answer those concerns,” Mr Brewa Appealed.
The regulations are crucial to the continued existence of the state of emergency in combating the pandemic. The Constitution of Sierra Leone, the supreme law of the land provides in section 29 for the formulation of regulations whenever a situation leads to the proclamation of a state of emergency (SOE).
By law, the regulations provide the legal basis for the continued operation of SOE, but were never submitted since the presidential proclamation. Failure to present the regulations after months of the existence of the SOE was also another area of critical concern for many MP’s.
The appeal for more time came after Leader of Government Business; Sahr Matthew Nyuma insisted that the questions could be answered only by the “Learned Attorney-General” since he tabled the document in parliament.
In his response, Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Chernoh Abass Bundu backed up the AG, and upheld the appeal. The appeal would enable the AG to critically look into the provisions of the Regulations in line with the supreme law.
Opposition leader for the main opposition, All People’s Congress Hon. Chernoh Maju Bah bemoaned at the deliberate refusal of the sacked Attorney-General, Dr Priscillia Schwartz to present the emergency regulations to Parliament within the stipulated period.
Since the SOE got parliamentary approval, he said, emergency regulations were never brought to parliament for scrutiny. But, government is continuity meaning Mr Brewah must take responsibility for the failings of his predecessor.
Many opposition MP’s including the Speaker, Opposition Leader and among others sympathized with the new AG for the embarrassment suffered from what he inherited. Members of Parliament unanimously agreed for the AG to be stood down so that he could do the correct thing.
In subsequent appearance before parliamentarians, hopes and expectations remain high that the AG would address suspected loopholes in the document.
The approval of SOE in the absence of rules and regulations was one that went without criticisms at the outset from a number of parliamentarians. In the approval stage in March this year, MP representing Constituency 027 in Kono District under the ticket of one of the opposition parties, Deputy Leader Coalition For Change, Hon. Saa Francis Bhendu expressed concern over misuse of SOE by state functionaries.
Hon. Bhendu said the SOE was very important at this point noting that the “SOE had no powers without regulations.”
Regulations, he went on, was the guiding principle in the SOE, and that it would be rendered powerless if they are not prepared to ensure that security operatives conduct themselves within its framework. The MP also spoke about the 12-month timeline pronounced by the President for the SOE, and urged authorities to make the regulations available within 14 days to the house for approval.
Leader of another opposition party, National Grand Coalition (NGC), Hon. Kandeh Yumkella said no MP denounced SOE, but regulations were crucial. Dr Yumkella informed parliamentarians that section 29 (10) of the 1991 constitution says SOE expires within 90 days with possibility for extension after consideration.
The NGC Leader also added his voice to the fear held for the abuse of the SOE especially by the security forces.
The regulations, Dr Yumkellah emphasised, was a substance in the SOE, and that through consultations with various leaders across the board, it was “gracefully” passed in Parliament to support government in the fight against COVID-19. Promises that nobody would be intimidated following the proclamation of the SOE were made by key parliamentarians of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
They assured Sierra Leoneans that SOE would be tailored only to the campaign against Coronavirus. An SLPP MP who was Leader of Government Business at that time, Hon. Mohamed Sidi Tunis assured Sierra Leoneans that nobody would be allowed to intimidate political opponents in the name of SOE.
Canvassing an SOE approval, Hon. Tunis entreated various political leaders to provide leadership in the fight against the deadly virus. The Deputy Minister of Justice, Umaru Napoleon Koroma too assured MP’s that the SOE would be used only to prevent COVID-19 from entering Sierra Leone.
“No opposition member will be subjected to intimidation and harassment under the SOE,” he assured.