By Abubakarr Bah
The newly-elected Member of Parliament for Constituency 28 in Bombali district, northern Sierra Leone has expressed dissatisfaction over “the low female representation in the House of Parliament.”
Speaking to Politico following an orientation programme for newly-elected MPs at Parliament Building last week, Mabinty Kadija Sillah said she felt “uncomfortable” after realizing that the 2012 - 2017 Parliament did not have the minimum 30% quota representation for women that was advocated for by civil society groups like 50/50 and other Gender Advocacy organizations in the country.
She said that although the various political parties had tried to meet the quota during the awarding of symbols, their efforts “did not reflect in the new Parliament” and urged political parties especially the APC and the SLPP to give more priority to “women representation in parliament in future elections”.
The newly elected House has only 15 female MPs down from 17 in the last which was criticised by women's groups.
Failure to meet the 30 percent quota representation was also observed by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Orientation programme, Joseph Carpenter a former clerk of parliament.
Carpenter congratulated the MPs especially those coming to the House for the first time on their victory. He spoke to them about the parliamentary Standing Orders and their functions as MPs, noting that their main task would be debating bills tabled in Parliament.
The MPs were taken on a conducted tour of parliament building.
