By Mabinty M. Kamara
Sierra Leone’s Parliament has signed a communique with the leaders of 52 Civil Society Organisations working in Sierra Leone in an effort to foster a healthy and mutually supportive relationship between the lawmakers and the civic group.
The signing of the communique was done after a two day discussion between the groups held in Freetown from 17th to 18th August 2021 on the theme, ‘’building a healthy and mutually supportive relationship between Parliament and Civil Society Organisations in Sierra Leone”, with support from the United Nations Development Programme.
Speaking on behalf of CSOs at the engagement, Abu A. Brima said that the CSOs have always been working with sectoral committees in Parliament and that there was need for the formalization of such a relationship between them and the House as key players in the development of the country.
He added that as CSOs, they serve as a bridge between governments, which entails Parliament, and the people, by holding them to account for effective democratic governance in the country.
Brima noted that in as much as part of their role is to promote public participation and understanding about the work of parliament, he said they would not compromise their responsibility to the people.
In his keynote address at the engagement, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Sengepoh Thomas said the collaboration between Parliament and the SCOs to strengthen the country’s democratic practices is timely.
He noted the similarities in the roles of Parliament and the CSOs, stating that Parliament is an elected embodiment that holds the government to account, whereas the CSOs are influencers who on behalf of the people hold Parliament and the other arms of government to account.
Therefore, he said CSOs should not be seen as opposition to parliament but rather they should collaborate for the development of the country.
Part of the resolutions reached by the two groups is the establishment of a CSO desk in parliament to develop a comprehensive CSO-Parliament programme. “The desk will be overseen by a steering committee comprising MPs and CSO leaders and will work to solicit funding for first two years,” the communique reads in part.
It added that the CSO/ Parliament programme will comprise joint public education on the role of parliamentarians, the establishment of accountability forum for sustained public on the roles and responsibilities and accountability of parliament, CSOs to educate parliamentary constituencies in real time on bills, policies and programmes discussed, approved or rejected by parliament. Parliament to invite CSOs in pre-legislative briefings and as expert witnesses on committee, CSOs to share thei8r thematic work areas with relevant MP committees among others.
“CSOs to advocate for the operational and financial sustainability of parliament. Parliamentary leadership to engage political parties’ leadership on retention of MPs and recruitment of highly qualified parliamentary candidates,” it added.
The two groups have over the years been critical of each other with the parliament playing the oversight role on the projects and activities undertaken by the CSOs and NGO on behalf of the people while the CSOs monitored the parliament to ensure that the wishes and aspirations of the people are reflected in the policies and laws they make.
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