Even the Speaker is disgusted! He looks more like he is not needed in the seat – to be made to sit there for an hour or less, in order to have a quorum before sittings could commence! Imagine that, the frustration and helplessness!
Tell me, why is he a Speaker in the first place, if he is not respected and obeyed when it comes to house sittings and the like? Why is he unable to remedy the situation, or is it just the remainder of us that he thunders over to do this and that while those under his remit do as they like?
Well, take it from me, the tardiness of MPs didn’t start today, like he mentioned. It is a generational thing! Long before this Speaker got into the position, it was like that.
So a Speaker called Hon Abel Stronge before now had to put his foot down and say no to such nonsense! His word was law because he favoured no one. The thing is, or was, he didn’t belong to a political party, nor was a political party that catapulted him to the position. He was a retired judge who took instructions from no one except the Constitution. So he ruled the House with proper leverage. That was a time when Parliament was Parliament. Everything was clockwork and efficient.
The political cats didn’t like that anyway. They rallied round and got Speaker Stronge removed, and placed in the seat one of their kind. And so the infighting and disrespect began, as did the issue of late coming, of who should be in this or that committee, which bill should get prominence and passage, and so many other things. Today, Parliament is like a byword for inefficiency, cronyism, and patronage to those in the executive branch of government. Sad, isn’t it?
It pains and galls me when the Speaker, Hon Segepoh Thomas, went to town this week with his displeasure about the unacceptable behaviour of ‘honourable’ members.
That unacceptable behaviour will continue, if you ask me, if nothing drastic is done. Like slicing or withholding the salaries of those tardy MPs, not just naming and shaming them. He has to be colour-blind in or order to implement that, regardless of which political party the said culpable MP belongs. After all, Sierra Leone supersedes the political party that they are in parliament to represent, or so it should be.
Once the Speaker is able to remedy the behaviour of MPs and their work ethics, handling the clerks of the various committees becomes easy. ‘The wind that doesn’t spare the mortar wood, wouldn’t spare the pestle and the fanner,’ says the ancient adage. So we will wait and see if it is just talk and no action, or if the promised disciplinary measures will be effected. We hope they do, so we can have value for money from our elected MPs and those who are paid from our Consolidated Fund. elbangura@gmail.com/+23278369366
