July 2, 2021
BY MOHAMED M. SESAY
During the Fourth day of the debate of the Speech delivered by H.E president Bio, the Deputy Speaker of the Fifth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas has yesterday disclosed that the All People’s Congress (APC) Party awfully failed the people of Sierra Leone during their eleven years in Governance. He said the Party lacks the morals to judge the Bio government in terms of policy implementation.
Hon. Thomas noted that the state opening speech delivered by the president on the 18th May 2021, is to inform the people of Sierra Leone through the Members of Parliament so that the people will be au-fait about what the President has done so far and also intends to do going forward. He added that it is the duty of Members of Parliament during the debate on the president’s speech to guide the Executive Branch of Government in the implementation of those policies especially in their respective constituencies.
He admonished that they are in Parliament to represent Sierra Leone which is divided into different constituencies. He stated that in such debate on the policy of government, members of Parliament are to guide the process of implementation.
Hon. Thomas observed that the APC Members of Parliament have decided to use the period of presidential speech delivery as a moment to unduly criticize.
He added that the sad thing about the main Opposition APC Party is that even when they criticize, they fail to even draw attention to their very own constituencies that have benefited from some of the Bio’s policies. He emphasized that the APC completely removed their minds from their constituencies, something he considers as extremely unfortunate.
“APC cannot be the judge for SLPP. You cannot be the judge of this current government because all the ideas that you had you failed the people during your eleven years in governance… The only judge of the current government can only be the voters come 2023. The APC Government was given the opportunity to serve this country for eleven years but the failure of the party reflected in the 2018 election…” Hon. Thomas bluntly asserted.
He continued that it was rather ironical for the APC to think that they can judge the SLPP Government when they themselves failed the nation awfully. He warned that whenever they criticize as members of Parliament, they should equally have the capacity to provide solutions. He also said the APC has failed to provide solutions to their baseless and unfounded criticism against the Bio Government.
Hon. Thomas further admonished colleague Members of Parliament especially from the main Opposition APC Party to be very honest and sincere with the people of Sierra Leone. He said the APC just left governance three years ago and that the Former President Koroma took several policies into the house of Parliament including the Agenda for Prosperity but all turned out to be an Agenda for Austerity. He said all what the former president promised this nation are now in a dilapidated form including the electricity supply adding that there were never a durable solution to the problems of the nation.
He reminded that the people of Sierra Leone are no longer fools but rather have become more politically intelligent. He acknowledged that the problem of the nation cannot be solved within five years. He stressed the need for Civic Education so that people can actually understand how governance works. He also urged the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education to reinsert the topic in the country’s national history syllabus particularly the one dealing with the causes of the eleven years Civil War which was deliberately expunged by the APC government. He continued that the extracted a topic in that syllabus regarding the causes of the civil war has a direct link with APC ill motivated governance style.