By Mabinty M. Kamara
At a well-coordinated event hosted by the National Political Debate Committee (NDPC), women from various political parties in Sierra Leone on Thursday 14th January 2022 debated issues in the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Bill that is currently awaiting parliamentary approval.
The bill among other things seeks to reserve 30% out of the parliamentary seats for women and in the cabinet. The bill also aims to improve women's access to finance, and to link government spending to improving gender equality.
Speaking at the event held at the New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown, the Chairman of the NDPC who doubles as the President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla said that the goal of the Committee is to deepen democratic culture in the country through organizing political debates at all levels of the governance structure.
“We believe that debates will help our politicians to engage one another in a respectful and responsible manner, and also keep fellow citizens informed and focused on the development agenda of political parties and political actors,” he said.
Nasralla also said that by organizing debates on policy issues, they aim to influence shifts in the mindsets of citizens from divisive factors such as “tribal, ethnic and regional considerations to more substantive issues that could grow our national economy, improve essential national service delivery in the areas of healthcare, education, infrastructure, and food security, among other needs”.
He added that the debate gives hope that through the cooperation of all political parties and political actors, “we shall work together and deliver on this important aspect of our democracy as a team”.
The Chairman assured of the independence of the commission which stands to bring together different political parties to speak on issues in a serene environment. “NPDC will continue to remain non-partisan, unbiased, independent, and respectful of our ethnic, tribal, and political diversity as Sierra Leoneans”, he stated.
While saying that the funding support from the National Democratic Institute (NDI) will end this January, he called on development partners, corporate organizations and well-wishers, to support them as they continue on the path of deepening the country’s democracy and developing an enlightened citizenry through political debates.
Theresa George representing the National Grand Coalition Party (NGC) said her party believes in national unity and that they are everywhere in the country. She said her party would like to encourage other political parties in parliament to ensure that the bill is approved by parliament. “If the bill is passed, we will have more seats in parliament,” she said.
Femi Claudius Cole, former Presidential Candidate for the Unity Party and member of the Consortium of Progressive Political Parties (COPP) said parties should have been involved in the development of the bill. She noted that women’s empowerment does not just stop at getting seats in parliament but that there’s more to it. She called for the change of name of the bill to Women Empowerment Bill which would clearly state that it is focused on a specific gender that has for long been under- represented in all spheres of life. “A women’s bill that will really address the issues of women empowerment... Why have women not been in politics? Because it is aggressive…why are women not involved in things concerning power? We see recently deputy ministers were all assigned to women. The gender bill is going beyond an act. It’s going to go beyond the law,” she said.
Speaking at the end of the debate, Mohamed Ibrahim Konneh, Resident Programme Director of the National Democratic Institute NDI applauded the political parties saying that the country has a long way to go in terms of bringing the parties together to discuss critical issues of the country.
He said women's empowerment is not just limited to political power but that even the technical skills to be able to stand up and talk on such issues in public is an empowerment to the debaters.
The debate was moderated by two staff of the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, Hawa Barrie and Patrick Salia.
The NPDC is made up of elections management bodies, the media and civil society organisations.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (17/01/22)
