The House of Parliament was on Tuesday reduced to a battle field after the Speaker, Honourable Chernor Abass Bundu ruled that the President made the proclamation for the mid term census under Section 86 subsection 1 of the 1991 Constitution and not section 4 subsection 3 of Standing Order (S.O).
Members of Parliament were seen throwing punches, scattering table and chairs and also using invectives at each, while some lost their hats, others were left with torn suit and ties breathing like wrestlers. This ruling came after the Leader of the Opposition Hon. Chernor Maju Bah challenged the sitting on a Point of Order citing section 34 of Standing Order 4 subsection, explaining that the Order Paper they are using for the sitting is flawed citing Standing Order 4 subsection 3 and Standing Order 18 subsection 1 and 3.
According to him, Parliament cannot use the Order Paper that was presented to the House containing the Census Act 2002 (Act No. 14 of 2002) and the Statutory Instrument No.4 of 2021, the Government of Sierra Leone and MACCEM Industries SL Limited date December 2020, and also an agreement between the Government of Sierra Leone and the PLAST and FERRO Fabric Sierra Leone limited dated January 2021 and the Cybercrime Bill 2020.
He maintained that S.O 4(3) cannot allow the Speaker to continue with the sitting as according to the section cited in the S. O. for any change of sitting especially when the House was adjourned sine dine, a 21 days notice should be given to MPs, adding that for any emergency sitting to commence the speaker should consult the leader of the majority and minority which was never done in this case.
In response the Speaker maintained that it is his understanding that the provision is applicable in the particular issue but the issue is that they have a proclamation made by the President under Section 86(1) of the 1991 Constitution that gives the president the power to summon sitting at any time.
According to the Speaker, Section 86(1) of the 1991 Constitution supersedes Standing Order 4(3), maintaining that the Constitution is the parent law of the land.
The Clerk, Hon. Paran Umar Tarawally was reading the Presidential proclamation while the Leader of the Opposition Hon. Chernor Bah at the same time was calling on the attention of the Speaker to look into Standing Order 18 (1&2). Then the APC MPs went up the podium requesting for their leader to be heard which forced the Speaker to leave his seat unceremoniously and the stage was set for the first battle.
The APC MPs disrupted the entire process claiming that the laws should be respected and procedures must be followed as part of the country’s democratic principles. Less than 10 minutes some normal duty and Operational Support Division (OSD) police personnel entered the Bintumani Conference auditorium where the sitting was held.
Without identifying anyone, everyone in the auditorium starting sneezing as some people were saying ‘na peper spray den don spray’, which made the entire environment unhealthy but yet the APC MPs refused leaving the podium.
Around 2:20 pm, the Speaker resumed his seat with the normal duty police and OSD barricading the podium but the APC MPs insisted that they should go out of the well as the Police have no business in Parliament, which was respected as the police retreated to the entrance of the auditorium.
The Leader of the Opposition was requesting for the microphone to make his point but there was no microphone, which prompted him to continue standing together with other MPs and for the second time read the Presidential Proclamation and requested the Attorney General to lay it on the table.
This set the stage for the second battle as the APC MPs attempted to take the floor to disrupt the process the Clerk ordered the police to whisk them out. This time around chairs were beign thrown together with water cans and another pepper spray was released.
This time around the SLPP MPs were on the rampage chasing some of the police officers they alleged did the unfriendly act. The Chief Whip was also seen chasing an OSD Inspector claiming he was the one spraying the pepper spray.
It was a confused situation as the APC MPs were trying to disrupt the process while some SLPP MPs were chasing police officers and also some APC MPs were seen exchanging blows with other SLPP MPs.
With his facemask on, the Speaker was rushed out by some security personnel with the help of the SLPP leadership all-sneezing as a result of the pepper spray, while MP’s were battling with the police. The media was also not left out as the AYV Camera man received heavy hand on his back while some other journalists were stopped from taking videos and still photos.
AMK/20/04/2021