How infighting stalls presentation of Sierra Leone Country Report

By Linus Aleke
Attempts by the MPs from the ruling party to suppress facts about negative political and socio-economic issues in Sierra Leone and the opposition’s resilient to expose them at the ECOWAS Parliament, has finally stalled the presentation of the Sierra Leone Country Report at the ongoing 2023, First Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja.

The internal cold war between the MPs from the ruling and opposition parties amongst the Sierra Leone delegation to ECOWAS Parliament is not a fresh crisis.

Recall that the opposition MPs, last December at the 2nd Ordinary Session in Abuja, stage a walk out during the presentation of the Sierra Leone Country Report.

Discussing the report at the plenary, the Liberian MPs called out the Sierra Leone MPs over the infighting, a situation that degenerated to verbal war amongst the two countries with Sierra Leone MPs accusing Liberian MPs of ingratitude.

The Sierra Leone MPs said that Liberia as a country depends 80 percent on rice smuggled from Sierra Leone.

To that end, they threatened to close the borders with Liberia to teach the MPs bitter lesson, saying that no household in Liberia can survive without rice, as rice is their major staple food.

However, investigation by ThisNigeria reveals that the opposition MPs staged a walk out because the Country Report were doctored by the Speaker to favour the rulling party in Sierra Leone and also save the government of embarrassment.

The Speaker, the opposition MPs said, expunged their contributions to the report, with a skewed notion that their input were against government and therefore, shall not be allowed to scale through.

This lingering internal squabble has again prevented Sierra Leone delegation from presenting its long awaited country report at the plenary on Monday evening in Abuja as both rulling and opposition MPs were conspicuously unavailable to present the report.

An opposition MP, who did not want his name in print for fear of victimization, had earlier alleged that the speaker is using his privilege position to sideline the opposition MPs by not sending the draft reports to them for input.

The two faction openly traded words at the ECOWAS Commission, venue of the ongoing session, after the adjournment of the plenary last week, because Sierra Leone delegation said, the report was not ready as the speaker and the leader of delegation were not in Nigeria.

Speaker spent only three days at the ongoing session that is supposed to last for three weeks. MPs from various countries have criticized the Speaker’s habit of always abandoning legislative businesses for personal political pursuit.

The Speaker has since gone back to his home country to campaign for the coming elections in the country.

Rumours were rife on Monday that all the Sierra Leone MPs have left the country to join their parties’ campaign train.

They however, did not inform authorities that they will not be around to present their report.

Hon. Shiaka Musa Sama had earlier mocked the Parliament, when he told another MP after plenary that the one they presented last year had not been implemented.

Earlier, in an interview with reporters, Hon. Sama explained what delayed the presentation of their Country Report last week.

According to him, “The report has been written. You know that this is a very busy time for us, we have been busy with election except Hon. Ajibola Manly-Spain, who is not going for reelection. But we need to look at the report, we have shared it. We are waiting for inputs from all members of delegation. If we get all the comments today, then Monday it will be ready”.

Giving further reason for the delay, the Sierra Leone MP, said, “We have a new system now in Sierra Leone and that was why we came late. I was over one week late, and Hon. Veronica Kadie Sesay was over one week late. We have come and we have looked at it, both of us have looked at it, remaining two more members to have a look, when that is done then we can present it”.

On whether the last year’s incident, where opposition staged a walk out will not repeat itself, Hon. Veronica Kadie Sesay said, “I think that is the reason for this delay because we want every body to make an input. We don’t want to face that ugly situation again. When they said people walked out. The leader of delegation is very busy because he is a running mate to the presidential candidate of the opposition party. So, to get him is very difficult, but we have sent the report across to him to ensure that every body makes their input. So we would not be faced with the last year’s embarrassment. The propositional representation is a new system, and all the political parties were having primaries at same time. So we have to leave that one after the nomination to come here to attend to the work of ECOWAS Parliament”.

Hon. Sama however, debunked the report that opposition MPs walked out during the presentation of the Sierra Leone Country Report last year.

He argued, the fact that the opposition members stepped out to take coffee and use the restroom during the presentation does not translate to a walk out.

Regrettably, after all the back and fourth, the Sierra Leone delegation left the country without presenting the report or even inform the leadership of the Parliament of their departure.

The Second Deputy Speaker, Boukari Sani Malam Chaibou, who presided of the plenary on Monday, told the audience that the Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone Country Report will be taken at the First Extraordinary Session billed to hold in Ghana.

He was however, silence on whether Sierra Leone would be sanctioned for leaving the Parliament in the dark, on why they exited the country without prior notice to the leadership, while the session is still ongoing.

Some MPs said that the Sierra Leone delegation copied that habit from the Speaker, noting that when a mother goat is chewing grass, the kids watch the mouth.