By Saio Marrah
The Leader of National Grand Coalition (NGC), Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella has condemned the action of the Speaker of Sierra Leone Parliament, Dr. Abass Bundu, for “bulldozing” the opposition members of parliament with the Census Order Bill, 2021 which led to a violent clash in the parliament that was summoned by President Julius Maada Bio on Monday 19th April 2021.
He made this statement at a press briefing organized by the leader of the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party in Parliament together with some members of the Coalition for Change (C4C) Party and the National Grand Coalition (NGC), immediately after the chaotic scenes that saw Parliamentarians trading blows and Police intervening.
Dr. Yumkella cited the Standing Order (SO) 4(3) (A) which stated that “In the case of any emergency of which a notice is given to Mr. Speaker by the president, a meeting maybe summon on such notice as Mr. Speaker may determine in consultation with the majority and minority party leaders of the house”, he said.
However, he said the speaker neither noticed nor consulted with them as opposition leaders of parliament which he said was “bulldozing” and that such bad precedent may be used by any bad leader in the future.
He added that the Speaker should have heard the concerns of the main opposition leader, Chernor Maju Bah, “If the leader of the opposition has raised procedural matter, don’t try to bulldoze because you know the context. Call the leadership out and stand parliament down. That is how we used to resolve issues, but if you have that attitude of bulldozing that people must comply , it is wrong it is not for today, every bad precedent will be used in the future by a bad leader, this was wrong,” he added
He added that the speaker should not have denied the main opposition leader the microphone when he requested it.
Speaking at the briefing, the leader of the main opposition, APC party Chernor Maju Bah, noted that section 86(1) of the 1991 constitution indeed gave the president the power to summon parliament to sit, but said the Standing Order, which is the law that guides the procedures and regulations of the parliament, described how such summons should be done.
The Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Chernor Bundu on the other hand, in his press conference, challenged Chernor Maju Bah’s reference to SO 43, noting that it is superseded by section 86(1) of the constitution of Sierra Leone. He said the constitution is the supreme law of the land but whenever another law contravenes it then the other law will become null and void.
He therefore said that section 86(1) vested power to the president to summon a meeting of parliament at any time and he said that is what the president did.
“It is by order his Excellency the President summoned this sitting of parliament. Where did he get that authority to do that? He did not derive such power under the SO, which is in fact a subsidiary subordinate legislation… it is a body of laws that are subordinate to the constitution of the land. The constitution is the supreme law of the land. No law supersedes what the constitution says. Any law that contradicts or contravenes what the constitution says, that law will not stand ,it is null and void,” he said.
He denied allegations that he did not inform the opposition leaders about the emergency meeting called, saying that once the president sent him a notice for a meeting of the parliament, he immediately authorized the Clerk of Parliament to immediately convene a sitting of parliament. He said unlike the SO 4 which requires 21 days notice, section 86(1) of the constitution did not require the same notice.
Dr. Bundu said that the main opposition chose violence to disrupt the process because they do not have the required three-third majority to stop the bill from becoming a law.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (21/04/21)
