By Sulaiman Aruna Sesay
In a show of unity and democracy, former Members of Parliament (MPs) of Sierra Leone have on Monday 15 July, 2024 gathered to pay their respects to the newly-elected Speaker of the Sixth Parliament, Rt. Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas.
The motive of the visit was to introduce their newly formed Association of Former Members of Parliament (AFP) and also congratulate him on his milestone achievement as the youngest Speaker ever in the history of Sierra Leone Parliament.
According to them, the Association is registered with Cooperate Affairs Commission. They assured the Speaker that they are looking forward to work with parliament if only they are given the opportunity. They spelled out that they want to help the Sixth Parliament through publicity and outreach on bills before they are passed into law and sensitizing Sierra Leoneans on existing laws. They added that there are certain Sierra Leoneans who are not aware of existing law in the country until that law catches someone before that person knows about it.
They assured the Speaker that the Association will contribute to national cohesion and peace building, and also promised to add the membership of the Association cut across Sierra Leone. On behalf of the Association, Hon. Bendu asked for an endorsement letter from the Speaker partners to know about the Association’s existence. He further thanked the Speaker and prayed he will continue doing good work for the interest of Sierra Leone.
The former MP of the All People’s Congress (APC), Hon. Siraji Rollings Kamara said, as members of the association, they want to help parliament in other areas including legislations as they are now free from political grief. He said, now they can better think on national policy and intervention. He added that they want to avail themselves with the slogan “we are not done yet” meaning that they still have knowledge and experience and more to offer to the house of Parliament. Hon. Kamara assured that in the event they are call for higher service they will avail themselves. “We have all what it takes to render service to Parliament and the current government as we see ourselves as prone eyes of the government by extension the House of Parliament to create national cohesion.
The association, he said comprises members of other political parties, not only the traditional ones. After the launch, he assured that they will bring other members on board who have been in Parliament before this time. He said the association wants Speaker’s blessings and enjoyed good relationship as the third gentle man in the state. Most importantly, he said they can’t operate within the premise of Parliament saying that as former members, they want to launch the association in the Committee Room One in the House at an agreement date. On the day of the launch, he said the Speaker is going to be the distinguish grand-chief patron and also want to extend their tentacles like for instance popularizing the Tripartite recommendations to the length and breathe of Sierra Leone.
Elaborating on Social Media, he said it has taken a bad route in sharing information dissemination, but he said for some of them they are still credible in their constituencies. As a result, they want to use it as an opportunity to popularize the tripartite recommendations to the list corners of Sierra Leone. He said through the Speaker they can ask the House for funding, but they can only need an attestation for him to know the existence and for the association to enjoy his blessings and for people to know that they are working in line with Parliament.
Hon. Speaker heartily welcomed and also apologized for profusely for keeping them waiting. He assured them that in future; when they come, they don’t have to wait saying that he don’t know people who come to visit him. “I was only informed by my Secretary that people came to see me, next time when you come you are free to enter,” he assured. Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas thanked them for thoughts to congratulate him as they were in the Fifth Parliament together. He said they have served the nation together and they were extremely genuine in serving Sierra Leone. But he said they have been compensated adequately for their services, disclosing that the dangerous of coming to Parliament is that when you go to Parliament, they are no longer employable.
He said, that is the more reason even the state should look at MPs in such lens as it hardly for a former to be employed except probably they are engaged in personal enterprise. “As nobody wants to employ former MPs because they know that their authorities they can’t handle,” he explained. He explored to the state to properly adequately look at some of the things and ensured that they are probably care for during their time when serving the nation. The Speaker assured them that the association is a powerful idea and asked a question why former MPs have not thought about the idea before now.
As former Members of Parliament, he said they need to come together to form an association of such nature to help as their works do not end for leaving Parliament. He said, they can even continue working for country after leaving Parliament as MP emphasizing that “A group like this is very important for bringing opposition sides together.” He said especially those who were in the Fifth Parliament he said, it was as though as they knew the reason why they fought saying that they have enough capacity to handle the difference in Parliament.
“As a group like this, it’s very important in promoting peace and unity in Parliament,” he noted. He assured of giving his best to the association to continue working for Parliament and Sierra Leone. Next year, he said no matter the little, he will ensure them budgetary allocation that will help foster the ideas and objectives of the association.
“Because I want to make this group extremely relevant and making sure that the right authority and recognition is given to you, I will ensure that I present this group to the Parliamentary Commission at the next meeting for official recognition by Parliament,” Speaker assured. He encouraged them to give the date for the launch of the association and ensure them putting relevant things in place for the launch to be done. He said they are always welcomed in the House as it will continue to be their house and ensure that they are recognized. He suggested date they will come to Parliament for them to be recognized by the House. He said they are desire to be recognized by Sierra Leone.
