May 26, 2021
The Chairman of the Legislative Committee in Parliament, Hon. Abdul Sulaiman Marray-Conteh will today Thursday 20/05/2021 present to the Committee of the Whole House the scrutinized Bill entitled: “The Cybercrime Act of 2020” for subsequent consideration and enactment.
The Bill is now at the Committee Stage, where it will be later thoroughly looked into line by line, clause by clause. At the said committee stage actions to be taken on the draft bill will reflect concerns raised by stakeholders before it could be passed into law.
Parts of the proposed amendments in the Committee’s Report include insertions and deletions of old and new clauses and phrases, definitions of terms as established in the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, regulations to be made by the Minister and brought to Parliament for ratification, recommendations of severe penalties including huge fine and imprisonment or both for cybercrime such as phishing and cyber bullying.
It has been noted that the commission of cybercrime by an individual, on conviction, that person may either be sentenced for a number of years or fined not less than Le 100 Million and not more than Le 250 Million and in the case of a corporation, partnership or association, conviction may range from several years or imposition of a fine not less than Le 500 Million and not exceeding Le 1 Billion or both fine and imprisonment depending on the nature of the crime using electronic devices such as voice or pictorial messages or depictions.
This Bill is critical to protecting privacy, data, cybersquatting, cyber bullying, cyberspace, and the information infrastructure in Sierra Leone in tandem with global best practices. The Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rado Swaray sat through the long and arduous presentation of the Report, subject to approval by Parliament.
During the course of reading the Report, the Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Abass Chernor Bundu commended the Chairman for his clear use of the English language, audibility and pronunciation, much to admiration of both sides of the aisle.
The Hon. Speaker also commended MPs in the House after 5:00 PM today and other stakeholders including CSOs and other individuals who made inputs in the said Bill.
The Hon. Speaker also thanked the Minister of Information and tasked him to work with the Office of the Attorney General to codify the proposed amendments and present it in the form of a Bill for consideration and ease of reference before passage into law. Speaking on the importance of the Bill, he told the Minister of Information that once it is passed into law, it will be part of his lasting legacy relative to the repealed infamous and obnoxious Public Order Act of 1965 under his watch.