There is this widely held view that the Speaker of Sierra Leone’s Sixth Parliament, Hon. Sengepoh Solomon Thomas must not and cannot apologize to the First Lady, Fatima Bio over the taunting directed at her in the Well of Parliament on the occasion marking the State Opening of Parliament last Thursday, 7th August instant.
The general public with a clear insight into what transpired in the Well of Parliament that day, have to the conclusion that the First Lady and propaganda social media handlers are in the vague attempt to spin the disrespectful conduct exhibited by Madam Fatima Bio in that August assembly of dignitaries including foreign Diplomats to now find a scapegoat in the Honourable Speaker of the House who not even present when the chanting of: ‘U coco roast ooh…How u manage so taay U coco Roast ooh’ was chanted as she was ushered across the aisle to her seat on the daze in Parliament.
The question now being morally asked of Mrs. Fatima Bio and her surrogates is: How can the Speaker take responsibility for an act whose execution he was part of?
It is these and several unanswered questions that appears to have prompted an SLPP Member of Parliament who spoke to this medium on anonymity, to categorically assert that the Speaker has no moral responsibility to apologize to Madam Fatima Bio and cannot do so for any other reason because the incident falls out of his Constitutional and Standing Order mandates.
“The ranting by the First Lady and her social media henchmen and women suggesting an apology from the Speaker to the First Lady, is out of place and lacks no moral uprightness. Since she has already identified those responsible for the act in her own way, the vile and spurious attacks on the Speaker for an apology should have been directed at those she now identifies as the culprits and masterminds of the taunting,” the Honourable from Pujehun stated.
According to the lawmaker from Pujehun, it is the First Lady who apologize to the wider Sierra Leonean public for her outright public display of disrespect and disregard for the President, the Fountain of Honour, who is her husband when she remained seated while the entire Well of top-notch personalities rose to their feet and worse still, she maintained an earpiece stuck in her ears when the Nation’s First Gentleman was delivering his State of the Nation Address. There is nothing awful and of disdain than what Madam Fatima Bio so publicly arrogated to herself. As a matter of fact, it is Madam Fatima Bio who should be apologizing to the President, the Vice President and the Speaker for the open show of disrespect to their honour as they were being ushered into the Well of Parliament.
The Honourable Speaker is no mean personality in the political realm of Sierra Leone and cannot he cannot be seen reducing himself into a propaganda pawn to be ridiculed later by surrogates.
The Speaker is a Honourable man with an impeccable track record in Parliament as a representative of his people and as the current Right Honourable Speaker.
Over the years, he has been a vociferous advocate on issues healthcare, unemployment as it affects youths, education, agriculture and socioeconomic infrastructural development as they squarely affect not only his Constituents, but for his compatriots across the board.
He is deeply involved in the legislative and oversight functions to ensure the effective and efficient mobilization of resources aimed at changing the standard of living of Sierra Leoneans.
His role as Speaker of Parliament is very crucial in upholding the integrity and functionality of the Legislative Arm of Government, which therefore puts the Constitutional and Standing Order responsibilities squarely on his shoulders in ensuring the fair, transparent and equitable management of proceedings and the welfare of Members of Parliament and parliamentary staff. He moderates debates, maintains order and interprets parliamentary rules as a neutral arbiter.
Beyond the Chamber, the Speaker also handles relations with other Parliamentary Committees and he also oversees key Committees.
In the realm of governance and administration, the Speaker as Head of Parliament (The Legislature) is responsible for its overall governance, including executing powers granted by the Constitution and Standing Orders. On Chamber matters, he presides over debates, decides who speaks, and ensures that rules are complied with. He also manages the allocation of seats to members and chairs several important parliamentary committees, including the House Committee on Ethics, the Committee on Absenteeism, the Standing Order Committee and Public Petition Committee, among others and he provides strategic direction for the Parliamentary Service Commission.
External Relations: The Speaker has the authority to enforce rules and maintain order during parliamentary proceedings, including taking disciplinary action against Members of Parliament who contravene rules of the House.
Acting as a Neutral Arbiter: The Speaker acts as a neutral figure in debates, ensuring fairness and impartiality in the legislative process.
Bottom line, if not for the continued exhibition of arrogance by the First Lady and her bunch of nonconformists, she wouldn’t be paying people to be going to Parliament to make noise in the name of bullying the Speaker into succumbing to her demand for an apology. It is this her too much of intrusion into matters that are far beyond her status as wife of an elected President that especially SLPP members are fed-up with and beyond what happened at the SLPP National Delegates Conference and recently in Parliament, she needs to be taught another bitter lesson for her to know and understand that she has no constitutional legitimacy to warrant her too much unwarranted interference in what are legitimate state affairs.
