President Ernest Bai Koroma will today officially launch the Constitutional Review Committee at the Miattia Conference hall in Freetown.
The Constitutional Review process will last for 24 months and the Chairman of the Committee is Justice Edmond Cowan who is the Ombudsman.
According to the Attorney- General and Minister of Justice, $4.1 is the proposed amount for the process and government has committed to provide $1.61 million, while the UNDP has provided $300,000. There is a shortfall of $2.67 million.
He said there is a likelihood that the budget will increase, considering the activities and that this amount excludes the Referendum process, which will be conducted by the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
The Attoney-General, Frank Kargbo said that the process will be open and transparent and it will be done in the spirit of inclusiveness.
He said Sierra Leone currently operates on the basis of the 1991 Constitution titled “the Constitution of Sierra Leone, adding that Article X of the July 1999 Lome Peace Accord provides for a review of the Constitution and that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission established in 2002, also urged the government to give “serious consideration to a new constitution” in order to contribute to human rights.
The launching will be witnessed by many and issues expected to be addressed by the CRC includes the 1965 Public Act part 5 which criminalizes libel, the present slow pace of the judicial process and the entire justice system.
It is also hoped that the land tenure system will be nationalized; that is the same laws for Freetown will be applied in the provinces, gender issues, official Secret Act, as against the Freedom of Information Bill presenting in Parliament, working conditions and the minimum wage issue.
By Abibatu Kamara
July 30, 2013
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