Parliament yesterday referred the telecommunications amendment Act, 2009 to another date after the Information and Communications Minister Alhaji Ibrahim Kargbo requested that Sierra Leone was yet to sign the ECOWAS protocol on Communication.
The Minister stated that it would not be proper for Parliament to pass the amendment act and then return to Parliament after signing the ECOWAS protocol on communication. He promised to make available to MPs the parent Act of the telecommunications Bill.
He told Awoko that the amendment he was seeking would create the position of Director General for administrative purposes as it was a gap missing in the parent Act. He also stated that he requested for the bill to be referred because the ECOWAS harmonization amendment on communication was about to be made, and it would not be useful for him to return to Parliament to seek for another amendment. Asked whether the new amendment had anything that will do with strong regulation on the mobile companies, he said “there is a very strong component this is why we are appointing a Director General who is also an expert in telecommunications Science who should be able to strongly regulate the telephones and other telecommunications outfits” he said. Also in Parliament yesterday, the deputy minister of Finance and Economic Development, Momodu Kargbo tabled the loan agreement between the Government of Sierra Leone and the Islamic Development Bank for the construction of the Kenema-Pendembu road project and also laid the annual report and financial statements of the Bank of Sierra Leone for the year ended 31st December, 2008. Again, the deputy majority leader of Parliament, Hon Sheku Badara Bashiru Dumbuya laid the report on the study mission on the legislative process of the United States of America and the extractive industry oversight, electoral reform and poverty reduction.