By Nasratu Kargbo
Member of Parliament from Moyamba District, Edward George has strongly urged the leadership of the Sierra Leone Parliament to ensure that they appoint Chairpersons who will put the country’s interest first and deliver and criticised the chairpersons of committees in the last parliament for not being effective.
The MP who was debating on the presidential speech said the leadership should make sure that persons with the country at heart should be named as chairpersons for committees that will be charged to monitor Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) aligned with the President’s ‘Big five’ vision.
George explained that the only way they can help President Julius Maada Bio achieve his vision is by executing their monitoring role, but noted that “We have colleague MPs here when they give them a job to do, they do it on the selfish basis”.
He recalled how in the last parliament most of the committee chairmen did not present a report to parliament throughout the five years. He stressed that this time the leadership should not appoint MPs that will treat the committee like it’s their property, mentioning how some would go on a one-man oversight instead of taking the whole group to execute the duty.
He said a lot of money was allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture but noted that much has not been seen. He explained that the underachievement was due to a lack of monitoring
George said there was a time authorities from the ministry stated that they had disbursed monies to farmers, but it would have been ideal for follow-up.
During the MP’s address, the house seemed unsettled with some of his colleagues interjecting from time to time, cautioning him to debate strictly on the presidential speech, with some even stating that they cannot bring an MDA for investigation when there was nothing to investigate.
President Bio in his speech at the State Opening of Parliament on the 3rd August 2023 said he holds parliament in high esteem. “Let this Parliament, this beacon of hope, continue to lead the way, exemplifying dedication to the noble task of nation-building”, he said at the time.
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