By Nasratu Kargbo
Newly elected Member of Parliament from Kailahun District Emilia Loloh Tongi has called for more women in appointment positions, saying that they will ensure they consistently remind President Julius Maada Bio of the 30% female appointment for women in all positions.
The MP returning to the House for a second time made this call in an interview with Politico, assuring that “We will make sure he implements everything, we will keep reminding His Excellency and his government to give us 30% in all spheres”. Tongi added that the country has beautiful laws and policies that are sometimes not implemented, emphasizing they will this time ensure that the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Act is implemented.
The MP said that in the last parliament, she was a member of the appointment committee and that if she is privileged to be there again, she will make sure they note down the nominees and the percentages of the gender.
When asked what she hopes to achieve regarding women’s empowerment, Tongi looked forward to introducing new laws and improving on other laws in order for them to favour women, noting that most of the laws favour men. “We really want to enrich and improve the laws and policies and make some changes at our advantage, not that we want to bully the men, but let’s have the laws”.
Speaking on the GEWE Act, the MP expressed appreciation to the President, explaining that he has left a legacy that will forever be remembered. She added that if not for such laws, most of the positions would have been monopolized by men, whilst women would have been left to take the smaller positions.
She added that before the GEWE Act, women encountered challenges when they competed with men, who most cases ended up getting the jobs. Tongi added that in some areas, women are forbidden to contest for paramount chieftaincy, noting that the Act has opened up all those areas.
The MP said the relevance of the Act will not only be felt now but also many years down the line. She said after some years, they’ll request for more quota, adding that in other countries such as Rwanda, they have more women as compared to their male counterparts in parliament.
Tongi is a second-term MP under the ticket of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). She was an independent MP in her first term.
Part Two Section 3 sub-section 1 of the GEWE Act guarantees a specific quota for women in the area of governance- “In making appointments to cabinet and other government positions, the President may take due consideration of the possibility of appointing women to at least 30%”.
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