By Mustapha Sesay
Deputy Chairman of the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party has described as “paradoxical” President Ernest Bai Koroma’s recent sacking of the minister of works.
Dr. Prince Alex Harding told a news conference at the party’s headquarters on Wallace Johnson St. in Freetown that the sacking of Alimamy Petito Koroma by the ruling All People’s Congress (APC) government was “a paradox which discredited the infrastructural achievements of the president.”
He also noted that “the hardship, which is evident across the country, is a testament that the government is not up to the task of delivering to its people.”
Dr. Harding also questioned the competence of the staff of Anti-Corruption Commission, noting that the ACC had the highest paid staff, but “it has failed to win most important corruption cases in court which undermines the institution’s competence”.
Meanwhile, the party has also issued a press release claiming that the ruling APC had proposed to table a bill entitled “the constitution of sierra Leone (Amendment) Act 2013”.
The proposed bill would seek to alter a fundamental qualification for those aspiring to be Speaker of Parliament.
It states: “the present constitutional provision demands that only persons with legal background and with the experience of a judge of the superior court of judicature or qualified to be appointed as such can hold that office”.
The SLPP statement argues that “under the current 1991 Constitution, Section 79 sub-section (1) states that the speaker of parliament shall be elected by members of parliament from among persons who are members of parliament or are qualified to be elected as such and who are qualified to be judges of the superior court of judicature or have held such office”.
The release further states that the proposed amendment to Section 79 reads thus: “the Speaker of Parliament shall be elected by the members of parliament from among persons who are members of parliament and who had served as such for not less than five years or qualified to be a member of parliament.”
“Government is also proposing an amendment to section 80 sub-section (3) of the 1991 constitution by extending the tenure of the Deputy Speaker from being elected at the first sitting of each session of parliament to election at the first sitting of parliament which now gives the holder a five year rather than an annual term”, the release states.
The opposition secretary general, Sulaiman Banja Tejan-Sie, said the amendment had the tendency to undermine the 80-member constitutional review committee that had already started work, adding: “we do hope there is no sinister motive to replace the current Speaker”.
He called on government to allow the review committee to perform its mandate without direct interruption and to demonstrate a strong commitment to that venture by withdrawing the said proposed amendment.
© Politico 06/11/13
