By: Mohamed M. Sesay
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hon. Solomon Segepoh Thomas, has on Wednesday the 20th of July 2022, allayed the fear of the Main opposition Members of Parliament and the General Public that, National Identification Number does not in any way disqualifies voters but rather, attached a unique identification number to citizens and none citizens of Sierra Leone.
This comes as the 2022 Public Elections Bill transitions to the Committee Stage of the whole House of Parliament, coupled with erroneous perception around the National Identification Number (NIN),
The Deputy Speaker also assured that the clause in contention relating to the NIN, is not intend to disqualify anybody from voting but rather referencing details in the Electoral Register. He encouraged Members of the Main Opposition APC to take their time to read the 2022 Public Elections bill for better comprehension.
“NIN does not disqualify anyone from voting. Take your time and read. Clause 13 sub clause 1 which says there shall be a National Register of voters to be known as the register of votes which contain the content of the electoral register. We have over 2000 Foday Kamaras for example and all the NIN number is doing is to attach a unique number to a particular Foday Kamara for easy identification”, he exemplified.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mohamed Lamin Tarawally, also affirmatively expressed that the NIN is not in contravention of any constitutional provision of the 1991 constitution.
He added that Sierra Leone is not the first country to generate NIN process as the NIN process is almost applicable in countries around the world.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mohamed Tarawally also disclosed that clause 13 sub clauses 1 is not in contravention of section 31 of the 1991 constitution.
He referenced section 33 of the 1991 constitution which gives Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) the Mandate to make laws for electoral purposes. He added that on the 17th of April 2022, the House of Parliament ratified an agreement with the National Civil Registration Authority to ensure that NIN number is used in all National Services.
The Attorney General also expressed that one of the services which the NIN number aims to address is the Electoral Purpose of the country. He continued that the essence of the NIN is for government to have adequate data for citizenry and none citizens who are illegally residence in Sierra Leone.
He emphasized that the intention of the NIN is to actually augment, implement and address some of the lacunas in the laws of Sierra Leone. The Attorney General also took into cognizance of sub section 89 B and sub section 108 paragraph (A) of the 1991 constitution whilst making his submission.
He also allayed the fear of the Main Opposition that the enactment of the 2022 Public Elections Act, will go down in history that indeed the Fifth Session of the Fifth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone, made a standardized law governing electoral processes.
