By Nasratu Kargbo
The Clerk of Parliament Umar Paran Tarawally has said that any elected Member of Parliament who does not attend the swearing-in ceremony tomorrow stands to lose their pension as stated by the newly enacted Parliament Act of 2023.
“If you fail to take an oath on Thursday, it means you have not done one term. So you are not qualified for pension”.
Speaking in a radio Programme on the 11th of July 2023, Tarawally said that an MP who does not take oath of office will get both financial and legal losses.
Speaking on the financial losses, he explained that the Parliament Act states that MPs should be given a certain amount as pension, but that the individual must have served one terms. Tarawally further explained that MPs who do not attend the ceremony for no substantial reason will not be considered full term MPs, but contractual ones.
Explaining the different end-of-term benefits, the Clerk mentioned that one is the gratuity based on the period, stressing that MPs that do not attend the first sitting will be entitled to a gratuity that will be calculated based on their time spent in parliament.
However, he said that if one is sick or has a good reason outside politics and could not attend the first sitting, the President has the power to call the first sitting anywhere, citing that if one is sick they can administer the oath of office to them in their hospital bed.
He explained that the MP's term of office will be calculated, noting that contractual MPs will lose out because they have not served the complete term.
He was also asked about the stance taken by MPs of the main opposition All People’s Congress Party to boycott parliament due to their dissatisfaction with the electoral processes, to which the Clerk said he has not received any official correspondence from any MP of them not coming to parliament. He stated that he will therefore not assume that people elected by citizens would refuse to serve their people. “So, any programme that am preparing, I’ll prepare for one hundred and forty-nine people,” Tarawally said.
He spoke about the relevance of the first sitting, which he said will determine when the sixth parliament will dissolve. He said the sixth parliament will dissolve exactly five years from tomorrow, which will be the 13th of July 2028.
He also spoke on the preparations made citing the induction, for the MPs to go thorough orientation. He said they have prepared two months package to inform the MPs about how they should operate in parliament, amongst others.
Tarawally said unlike the fifth parliament where they had one hundred and forty-six seats, they now have one hundred forty-nine, and that they have prepared the chambers in order to accommodate all members of parliament.
Sierra Leone’s Main Opposition APC in a press release dated 30th June 2023 had expressed their party’s position of boycotting legislative and local council governance if fresh elections are not conducted within six months. However more congratulatory messages on President Julius Maada Bio’s re-election continue to pour in, the most recent being from the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (12/07/23)
