By: Mohamed M. Sesay
The Speaker of the Fifth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone Hon. Dr. Chernor Abass Bundu, has on the 24th November 2022, dammed the Violent Confrontation that erupted in the Well of Parliament over the tabling of the Constitutional Instrument regarding the Proportional Representation System (PR) for the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
Speaker Bundu also gave a notice over the unfortunate conduct displayed by Members of Parliament on Thursday the 23rd of November that those perpetrators would not go unnoticed and would not go without consequences.
He assured citizens of Sierra Leone that he would ensure severe consequences is applied to those initiators of the ugly incidence in Parliament.
“I have exercised patience beyond endurance and what I observed yesterday was an affront to the dignity of this House and an affront to my office as speaker and it will no longer be accepted. Enough is enough and the law will be allowed to take its consequences. A word for a wise is quiet sufficient”, he warned.
Abass Bundu drew the attention of Members of Parliament to two cardinal provisions in the 19991 constitution which are section 97 and section 99. He said those two provisions crystalized and sanctified the responsibilities and privileges accorded to a Member of Parliament.
He added that it appears to him that persistently some Members of Parliament are not aware of the import of those provisions in the constitutions. He referenced Sections 97 which reads as fellows; “the responsibility is of the Member of Parliament include the following; (A) all Members of Parliament shall maintain the dignity and image of Parliament both during the sittings of parliament as well as in their act and activities outside parliament.
(B) “All Members of Parliament shall regard themselves as representatives of the people of Sierra Leone and desist from any conduct by which they seek improperly to enrich themselves or alienate themselves from the people”.
Dr. Abass Bundu equally drew the attention of Members of Parliament to section 99 which he considered as the most important that is enshrined in the constitution regarding the notion of parliamentary privileges. He said a section 99 clearly circumscribes the limit of the privileges enjoyed by Members of Parliament. “Subject to the provision of this section but without prejudice to the generality of section 97, no civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted against a Member of Parliament in any court or place out of parliament by reason of anything said by him in parliament.
He however, edified Members of the Public that the privileges of Members of Parliament are restricted to what they say in parliament and not what they otherwise do. He said Members of Parliament can shout to high heavens if they like and they are privileged for such.
But he sent a strong worded warning that when Members of Parliament go physical coupled with violence eruption, then they are not entitled to the privileges enshrined under section 99 of the 1999 constitution.
He stressed that Members of Parliament who involved in violence confrontation are not entitle to enjoy any immunity or protection under the law.