The Chief’s Diary: The SLPP Government is Accelerating Progressive Political Governance Reform
I held a very engaging meeting today with the UN Resident Cordinator, ECOWAS Ambassador, and several of our resident Ambassadors and High Commissioners on the implementation of the “Agreement for National Unity”, the Tripartite Report and the newly appointed ECSL Commissioner. In the meeting also were Dr Gaima- former co-chairman of the Tripartite Committee and Mr Katta- the head of the Technical Committee for the Implementation of the Tripartite Report Recommendations.
Firstly, I assured our partners that we have implemented nearly 100% of the Agreement for National Unity (ANU). This isn’t theory- the signed agreement is available for public consumption. I walked them through each of the 8 Resolutions. As with every agreement, when you complete all the recommendations, it’s time to move on. We look forward to hosting the Moral Guarantors in April as we put this behind us.
With regards the Tripartite Report Recommendations (which is Resolution 3 of the ANU), they are well underway. It is our goal to strengthen state institutions. Most of those recommendations have institutions that own them and we look forward to seeing their full implementation. On the electoral reforms, they are now in Parliament- the competent body to see those through. The irony is that some of the APC members were asking to remove the Constitution Review Bill from Parliament just a few weeks ago. I encourage our friends from APC to stick to the plan and follow the process in Parliament.
As for the appointment of the ECSL Commissioner, we didn’t rush it. We did it for the State. The ECSL Commissioner has been acting for 7 months. We have an election in 2.5 years. For better planning and proper trust of ECSL, any appointment of a substantive Commissioner at any later date would be too late. There’s no definite ending to the ongoing processes in Parliament and given their independence, we focused on state stability. Note that Preamble C of the the ANU states: “Noting that the laws of the Republic of Sierra Leone, especially the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Act 6, 1991) are sacrosant”. Apart from it being the President’s Constitutional mandate to appoint, he is also thinking about our country as he makes these decisions. The recommendations of the independent review of ECSL have also been in limbo because they lacked a substantive head. Governance is processes- anything that emerges from Parliament will be used by H.E in the next year where two Commissioners come for reappointment.
I continue to encourage the APC to show up, debate and represent the people of Sierra Leone. If and when we disagree should never lead to state ransom. I have today asked my PS to invite the APC leadership and the Chief Negotiator to a meeting to discuss general governance issues later this week.
In spite of our diverging political ideologies, together #WeWillDeliver.
I held a very engaging meeting today with the UN Resident Cordinator, ECOWAS Ambassador, and several of our resident Ambassadors and High Commissioners on the implementation of the “Agreement for National Unity”, the Tripartite Report and the newly appointed ECSL Commissioner. In the meeting also were Dr Gaima- former co-chairman of the Tripartite Committee and Mr Katta- the head of the Technical Committee for the Implementation of the Tripartite Report Recommendations.
Firstly, I assured our partners that we have implemented nearly 100% of the Agreement for National Unity (ANU). This isn’t theory- the signed agreement is available for public consumption. I walked them through each of the 8 Resolutions. As with every agreement, when you complete all the recommendations, it’s time to move on. We look forward to hosting the Moral Guarantors in April as we put this behind us.
With regards the Tripartite Report Recommendations (which is Resolution 3 of the ANU), they are well underway. It is our goal to strengthen state institutions. Most of those recommendations have institutions that own them and we look forward to seeing their full implementation. On the electoral reforms, they are now in Parliament- the competent body to see those through. The irony is that some of the APC members were asking to remove the Constitution Review Bill from Parliament just a few weeks ago. I encourage our friends from APC to stick to the plan and follow the process in Parliament.
As for the appointment of the ECSL Commissioner, we didn’t rush it. We did it for the State. The ECSL Commissioner has been acting for 7 months. We have an election in 2.5 years. For better planning and proper trust of ECSL, any appointment of a substantive Commissioner at any later date would be too late. There’s no definite ending to the ongoing processes in Parliament and given their independence, we focused on state stability. Note that Preamble C of the the ANU states: “Noting that the laws of the Republic of Sierra Leone, especially the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Act 6, 1991) are sacrosant”. Apart from it being the President’s Constitutional mandate to appoint, he is also thinking about our country as he makes these decisions. The recommendations of the independent review of ECSL have also been in limbo because they lacked a substantive head. Governance is processes- anything that emerges from Parliament will be used by H.E in the next year where two Commissioners come for reappointment.
I continue to encourage the APC to show up, debate and represent the people of Sierra Leone. If and when we disagree should never lead to state ransom. I have today asked my PS to invite the APC leadership and the Chief Negotiator to a meeting to discuss general governance issues later this week.
In spite of our diverging political ideologies, together #WeWillDeliver.
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