By Nasratu Kargbo
Deputy Leader of the Opposition Daniel B. Koroma has blamed Parliament for the country’s accountability issues despite the constitution empowering parliament to address such issues.
The MP made this statement on the 18th January 2024, whilst debating passionately on the bill entitled ‘National Monitoring and Evaluation Agency Act (NMEA) 2023’; and Koroma said “If parliament is made right, in less than six months this country will turn to paradise”.
Koroma said his party cannot go against promoting accountability, noting that they support the bill, but stated that if they as MPs were up to the task, there would be no need to create a new agency.
He said there are other institutions that perform monitoring and evaluation functions, highlighting National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA), Audit service, parliament amongst others. “With a real political will of this parliament, I challenge you Mr. Speaker this problem will be history. Parliament can do anything in terms of accountability, there is nothing that can stop us” he said.
The MP stressed that “one of the things that is haunting us is party loyalty” and called on his colleagues to come together to fight corruption.
The Deputy Leader said he has a holistic picture of how parliament operates, having served for three terms on both sides of the aisle.
The MP explained that there are persons in the government that want the country to progress, citing a discussion he and others had with a certain Minister. He explained how the Minister said the only way to move the country forward is to ensure that every government taking office should replace the entire system with another.
He added that the Minister said he has observed that one cannot break the barriers to non-accountability and that when a civil servant does something wrong, they are moved to another ministry but that everything remains the same. The MP however said that during the discussion, he personally blamed parliament.
One of the main purposes of the NMEA Act is for the establishment of an agency that will be a semi-autonomous body with authority to ensure greater accountability and transparency in disbursement and use of government funds.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (18/01/24)
