CSO on Public Accountability Demands Public Apology from House Speaker

Urges President Bio to act…

National Consortium on Public Accountability has called on the Speaker of the House of Sierra Leone Parliament, Hon. Sengepoh Thomas, to tender public apology to Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Madam Fatima Bio, and the entire nation for the public embarrassment and insult meted on her by Members of Parliament and party supporters in the Well during the last official state opening of Parliament.

 Addressing a news conference at their Fort Street Office in Freetown, Daniel S. Pewa said that they want to bring to the notice of the public that the embarrassment meted against the First Lady is also an embarrassment against the President. Pewa added that as credible civil society activists they are calling on the Sierra Leone Parliament to do the needful by publicly apologizing to the First Lady for the embarrassment faced in the Well of Parliament.

Adding his voice to the briefing, Boima JB Boima, a journalist, blogger and activist said:

‘‘What happened in Parliament on the State Opening is uncivilized, unparliamentary and totally uncalled for. We should be seen rising above such attitude. The First Lady is the wife of the sitting President of our nation. Therefore, she deserves respect, and any act of embarrassing the First Lady is an act of embarrassing the President.

“This is a bad precedent. It is not good for this nation. The Speaker needs to apologize unconditionally. He needs to apologize not only to the First Lady, but also to the people of Sierra Leone for such embarrassment to the nation. We should be as mindful as Sierra Leoneans on how to treat and respect our leaders. This is a very cardinal issue and must not be tolerated in future. The office of the First Lady is an office we must not disrespect. It was wrong and it is wrong in all form. The SLPP, as a party, needs to institute an immediate investigation, bring all those responsible for such action to book, and if possible, to be suspended’’ he ended.

David Hindolo Conteh, a member of the National Consortium on Public Accountability, said that as an organization they are not taking this lightly, especially when it has to do with First Family. ’’We are not taking this lightly, especially when it has to do with the First Family. People are saying it was the First Lady who was molested. To me, it is not the First Lady, but the office of the President,” he said. “Therefore, we should know that the House of Parliament is our Parliament and it is there for all of us.

They should be seen taking up issues of national interest like the kush endemic, bad roads, cost of living, electricity etc., but not lower themselves into trivialities,” he said.

“Parliament should be seen as a house of exemplary leadership, where our children should be able to learn and emulate good things that will prepare them for their future. For that reason, Parliament should apologize to the First Family, the People of this country and our children, because the song: ” the coco roast”, is not good for us as a nation. We have never had such an act of lawlessness under previous parliamentary leaderships, and we squarely blame the President,” Conteh said, adding that President Bio should stand tall to defend his wife and take necessary actions against all those who conspired to embarrass the state. “This is not something to smile about,” he said. “We want the Sierra Leone Parliament to know that the people of this country are not happy, and President Bio needs to act on this for some heads to roll.”

Speaking in the capacity as a journalist, social and political commentator, analyst and media personality, Melvin Tejan Mansaray buttressed and echoed the statements of previous speakers. He referenced Section 11 and 13 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone in building his case. He maintained that even though the First Lady’s Office is not a constitutional office, but rather a ceremonial one, that does not in any way demean it, but rather sees it as a public office, because it works with public institutions and international organizations.

Mansaray argued that ‘‘Section 13 of the 1991 Constitution did not say Sierra Leoneans should stand when the President is entering Parliament, adding that, even if the First Lady refused to stand up, that does not in any way constitute criminal offence. From our records, the First Lady has, over the years, demonstrated that honor to always stand up whenever the President is walking to do official State Opening of Parliament, and that there is no justification to crucify her because of one isolated incident, Mansaray stated.

The Director of Child Rights Advocate, Mohamed Galimah Esq. described the whole scenario as something unfortunate and therefore enjoined on Parliament to apologize. He pointed out that while they are striving as a nation to empower women, there are those who are hell bent on trying to bring them down. This, he said, is not good for the country. “As we speak, we are yet to achieve the 30% quota for women, yet we are here demeaning strong and eminent women who want to stand firm in defence of women. We consider what happened in Parliament as unfortunate. Our First Lady has contributed immensely towards the development of this country in so many ways, and so she does not deserve this kind of embarrassment.”

The Executive Secretary for National Consortium on Public Accountability, Ahmed Yillah, who read the official press statement, said in few words that the National Consortium on Public Accountability condemn what happened in Parliament.

“We considered what happened as an attack against the President and the Presidency.”