As Parliament started debating the Bill entitled “The Appropriation Act, 2021,” on Monday 23rd November 2020, as the first allotted day, Independent Member of Parliament from Pujehun Honourable Shiaka Sama, called on Parliament to see 2021 as a year of change. The Independent Member of Parliament called on MPs to debate the 2021 budget with all sincerity rather than trying to create fear in the minds of the people, urging that the budget speech should be seen as a guide to their oversight process.
He noted that increasing the salaries of security personnel and the intention to employ more teachers by the government is laudable but however warned that the government should be careful in allocating resources as more attention should be paid on the existing teachers rather than employing more.
Hon Sama disclosed that over the years government has been allocating resources for road projects but one major challenge is the implementation process, which according to him, MPs should focus on while performing their oversight functions.
He called on the Ministry of Finance to encourage responsible investors in the area of agriculture as over 60 percent of Sierra Leoneans are employed in that sector. The Independent MP maintained that while lands are given to investors the government should ensure they make provision for the local farmers to continue with their faming as a way of survival.
“Corruption is one of the threats towards the success of this budget,” he assured, explaining that government is allocating Billions of Leones on projects but what Parliament is doing is to ensure those funds are utilized for their intended purposes as also ensure value for money.
The Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament, Hon. Francis Amara Kai-Samba, expressed appreciation on the work of the Ministry of Finance for holding the economy together, despite the COVID-19 pandemic that negatively crippled many economies across the world.
The policy on public debt he said has serious consequences on the country’s economic growth, disclosing that the government’s aim is to improve education, health, marine, tourism, water, infrastructural development and youth empowerment. He noted that 25 of the 28 agreements in the 2020 Supplementary budget has been or are in the process of completion, adding that government also increased allocation to Fisheries and Tourism as part of the economic diversification process.
The Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Hon. Sallieu Osman Sesay, applauded the Minister of Finance for allocating 6 percent of the national budget to agriculture, but however drew their attention to the Maputo Conference that made provision for at least 10 percent to agriculture, which all African Leaders agreed on.
He disclosed that almost all other sectors rely on the agricultural sector for their existence, disclosing that despite the 22 percent allocation to education the government is finding it difficult to address the issues relating to education. Hon Sallieu Osman Sesay called on the Ministry of Finance to see how best they can increase the allocation to the Sierra Leone Agricultural Institute which is the centre for rice production in the country, disclosing that the 2012 budget as compared to the 2020 shows some decrease.
By Alhaji Manika Kamara