Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698835881280.pdf (Sierra Leone)
OAU DRIVE, TOWER HILL, FREETOWN P A R L I A M E N T A R Y D E B A T E S ____ [HANSARD] ______________ OFFICIAL HANSARD REPORT FIRST SESSION - FIRST MEETING THURSDAY, 24TH MAY, 2018 SESSION – 2018/2019 OAU DRIVE, TOWER HILL, FREETOWN P A R L I A M E N T A R Y D E B A T E S ____ [HANSARD] ______________ OFFICIAL HANSARD REPORT VOLUME: I NUMBER: 7 First Meeting of the First Session of the Fifth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone.
Proceedings of the Sitting of the House Held Thursday, 24th May, 2018.

2 CONTENTS I. PRAYERS II.

RECORD OF VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS FOR THE PARLIAMENTARY SITTINGS HELD ON TUESDAY, 8TH AND THURSDAY, 10TH MAY, 2018 III.

MOTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPOINTMENTS AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE BE IT RESOLVED: THAT THE FOURTH REPORT OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPOINTMENTS AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE BE ADOPTED BY THE HOUSE AND THAT THE RECOMMENDATIONS CONTAINED THEREIN BE APPROVED.
3 THE CHAMBER OF PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE Official Hansard Report of the Proceedings of the House _____________________________________________________________ FIFTH SESSION – FIRST MEETING OF THE FOURTH PARLIAMENT OF THE SECOND REPUBLIC _____________________________ Thursday, 24th May, 2018.

I. PRAYERS [The Table Clerk, Mrs Bintu Weston, Read the Prayers].

[The House met at 10:42 a.m. in Parliament Building, Tower Hill, Freetown].

[The Speaker, Hon.
[The Speaker, Hon.

Dr Abass Chernor Bundu, in the Chair].

The House was called to Order 4 Suspension of S. O.

5[2] HON.

SIDIE M. TUNIS [Leader of Government Business]: Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to move that item IV on the Order Paper be expunged.

THE SPEAKER: Well, I am sure you will agree with me that it is beyond the control of anybody in this House that we are starting late.

Indeed, I can also understand why it is necessary for us to expunge that particular item from the Order Paper.
But let me admonish that at our next meeting there would be no need for us to expunge that particular item.

I hope I have that assurance from the Leader of the Opposition.

HON.

SIDIE M. TUNIS: Mr Speaker, we have been ready since two weeks ago.

HON.

CHERNOR R. M. BAH: [Leader of the Opposition-APC]: In any case, Mr Speaker, I am sure by Monday, the two Whips would have met for a tete-a-tete to tidy up.
THE SPEAKER: Mr Leader of the Opposition, what you are saying now was not the assurance… - [Interruption].

HON.

CHERNOR R.M.

BAH: You mean the Majority Opposition Leader.

Mr Speaker, the assurance is yes.

THE SPEAKER: Thank you very much, Honourable Member.

COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, before we proceed to that particular item, I have an announcement to make.
The announcement I am about to make is pertinent to Section 77 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, in tandem with Standing Orders 77.
Section 77[e] of the Constitution of Sierra Leone states: “A Member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament if he is absent from sittings of Parliament for such period and in such circumstances as may be prescribed in the rules of procedure of Parliament.” And according to the rules of Section 77 [2] [a] of the procedure of Parliament: “any Member who, without good cause, during any 5 session, is absent from the sittings of Parliament on a number of days amounting to an aggregate period of thirty days, shall vacate his seat.” Honourable Members, those two provisions must be read and taken very seriously.
Accordingly, Members of Parliament should make sure that they thumb print on the biometric machine before entering the Chamber.

There is also an internal registration in the Chamber by the Clerks-at-the-Table.

We want to keep proper record of Members‟ attendance.

If a Member thumb prints and fails to enter the Chamber, where there is an internal registration by the Clerks-at-the-Table, then you are deemed to be absent for that sitting.
At the end of every session, Mr Speaker would be asking for the matrix of Members attendance from the Clerks-at-the-Table to tally the aggregate number of times a Member is absent without reasonable cause.

Therefore, Honourable Members, I sincerely hope that I will not find myself in any position at any time to enforce the provisions that I have just read out.

We may now proceed with today‟s proceedings.

II.


CORRECTION OF VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS FOR THE PARLIAMENTARY SITTINGS HELD ON TUESDAY, 8TH AND THURSDAY, 10TH MAY, 2018 THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, we go through the record of Votes and Proceedings for the parliamentary sitting, held on Tuesday 8th May, 2018.

We go page by page.

Page 1?

Please, Honourable Members, when you rise, you have to announce your name and constituency.

HON.

KEMOKOH CONTEH: Mr Speaker, my name is not correctly spelt.
I am „Kemokoh‟ and not „Kamokoh.‟ THE SPEAKER: Any other correction?

Page 2?

HON.

ALUSINE O. KAMARA: Mr Speaker, I want you to take a look at serial number 54.

My Constituency number is „067‟ and not „058.‟ 6 THE SPEAKER: I can readily confirm what you have just said.

I know where 067 is located.

Honourable Members, any more correction to be made?

HON.

ABDUL T. KAMARA: Mr Speaker, my name is „Abdul Titus Kamara‟ and not „Titus Abdul Kamara.‟ THE SPEAKER: What is the page No, Honourable Member?

HON.
HON.

ABDUL T. KAMARA: No.

63, Page 2.

THE SPEAKER: Any more corrections to that page?

HON.

ALIEU M. KOROMA: Mr Speaker, I am Honourable Alieu Manuel Koroma.

My middle name is not properly spelt.

I am not „Emmanuel‟ but „Manuel.‟ THE SPEAKER: Honourable member, please refer us to the page number.

HON.

ALIEU M. KOROMA: Mr Speaker, Page 3, No.

78.

I am not „Emmanuel,‟ but „Manuel.‟ THE SPEAKER: Order!

Order!

The Honourable Member is perfectly entitled to be named the way he wishes to be named.
HON.

ALUSINE B. KAMARA: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, Page 2, No.

53.

I wanted to confirm what the speaker has just said.

Constituency 067, Kambia District is written against my name, but I am from Constituency 058, Karene District.

Thank you.

THE SPEAKER: As indicated earlier, I think I know where Constituency 067 is located.

HON.

MARK M. KALOKOH: Mr Speaker, I want to refer you to Page 2, No.

47.

My name is „Kalokoh Mark Mahmoud,‟ and not „Kalokoh Mahmoud Mark.‟ I thank you.
THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, you may have observed that I am quite flexible and tolerant.

I do hope the changes that you are making correspond with the names that you submitted to the National Electoral Commission when you filled your nomination forms, and that you are not taking the liberty now to make alteration to what you submitted earlier.

7 HON.

MATHEW S. NYUMA: Mr Speaker, I am sure the problem was with the Secretary who was imputing these names at the National Electoral Commission [NEC].
I do not know if that person was trained to impute these names.

For instance, my name is Honourable „Nyuma Mathew Sahr‟ and not „Saa.‟ Some of these names are generic because you are born with them.

I am the first born and we have a tradition that the first male child should be named „Sahr.‟ I think I made the submission the last time that first of all let us correct our records here, but I was rebuffed.

Our officials here could also make the same mistakes.
I want to repeat that we should correct our names here and later approach NEC.

We have our oversight role and we can always invite them here.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

HON.

HASSAN A. SESAY: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I want to refer you to Page 3, No.

119.

My name is Sesay „Abdoul‟ and not „Abdul.‟ THE SPEAKER: Sorry, Honourable Member, would you please go over that correction?

HON.

HASSAN A. SESAY: I am referring to no.

119.


My name is Honourable Sesay „Abdoul‟ and not „Abdul.‟ I am just confirming what the Deputy Leader of Government Business has said that these are typographical errors.

THE SPEAKER: And what do you have on your own paper?

HON.

HASSAN A. SESAY: It is written on this paper as „Abdul,‟ but the correct spelling is „A-b-d-o-u-l.‟ THE SPEAKER: So, it is „Abdoul.‟ HON.

HASSAN A. SESAY: Yes, Mr Speaker.


THE SPEAKER: That sounds like a new spelling, but never mind we would accept it.

HON.

HASSAN A. SESAY: You would always have new spellings, Mr Speaker.

THE SPEAKER: Very well.

HON.

P.C MATILDA YAYU LANSANA MINAH: Mr Speaker, Page 3, No.

86.

My name is „P.C.

Matilda Yayu Lansana Minah‟ and not „Lansana Matilda Yayu Minah.‟ 8 THE SPEAKER: Thank you, Honourable Paramount Chief.

Are there other corrections to be made on that page?

Page 3?

Page 4.

HON.


SAMUEL G. PANDA: Mr Speaker, my name is Samuel Genewai Panda.

THE SPEAKER: Any other observation or correction to Page 3?

Page 4?

Let us hope that this is the last time we shall be making corrections to these names and that the clerk has taken due notes of the various corrections made.

Page 5?

Page 6?

Page 7?

Page 8?

Page 9?

Page 10?

HON.

SAHR CHARLES: Mr Speaker, there is a typographical error here again.
My name is correctly spelt on the certificate given to me by the NEC.

The Sahr is spelt as „S-a-h-r.‟ and not „S-a-a.‟ I am Honourable Sahr Charles, representing Constituency 028, Kono District.

Some people spell their name as „S-a-a,‟ but mine is spelt as „S-a-h-r.‟ I thank you.

HON.

SAA F. BHENDU: Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Page 8, THE SPEAKER: Are you taking us back?

HON.

SAA F. BHENDU: Yes, Mr Speaker.

I am Sorry about that.

I have just seen the mistake.


My name is Honourable Saa Francis Bhendu.

THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, by the end of this session, we shall have a new lexicon of names depending on whether we come from Kono or from Kenema or elsewhere.

HON.

JOSEPH W. LAMIN: Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, my name is correctly spelt on Page 4, but if you look at Page 10, No.

5, it should be Honourable Williams Lamin Joseph.

THE SPEAKER: Where are you taking us to, Honourable Member?

HON.
HON.

JOSEPH W. LAMIN: Mr Speaker, Page 10, No.5.

It should be Honourable Joseph Williams Lamin.

Thank you.

THE SPEAKER: I want the Honourable Member who made the correction just now to please rise.

I would like to draw your attention to two things which are completely 9 different.

If I hear any more noise, I will ask for that part of the gallery to be cleared.
You will notice that on the front of the record is the surname of Honourable Members that is indicated first before any other name, but later on, you will notice that it is the other way round instead of starting with the surname.

What is your first name, Honourable Member?

HON.

JOSEPH W. LAMIN: Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, my name is Honourable Joseph Williams Lamin.

THE SPEAKER: If that is the order of your name, so it shall be.

HON.
HON.

JOSEPH W. LAMIN: I have the certificate from the NEC with me and it is written is Joseph Williams Lamin.

THE SPEAKER: Save me that evidence, Honourable Member.

I think I accept what you have said.

HON.

JOSEPH W. LAMIN: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

THE SPEAKER: Page 10?

HON.

MOHAMED B. SHAW: Mr Speaker, I want to take you back to Page 1.

I was not fortunate to catch your eye.


The name should be Honourable „Mohamed Billoh Shaw,‟ not „Billoh Shaw Mohamed.‟ I come from Falaba District, Constituency 039.

THE SPEAKER: What No., Honourable Member?

HON.

MOHAMED B. SHAW: Mr Speaker, No.

16.

THE SPEAKER: Mr Clerk, please take note.

I hope we are not going back and forth.

Are you taking us to the current page, Honourable Member?

HON.

MOHAMED S. KASIM-CAREW: Page 1.

THE SPEAKER: Page 1?

HON.


MOHAMED S. KASIM-CAREW: Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, my name is Mohamed S. Kasim-Carew.

THE SPEAKER: What is your surname?

10 HON.

MOHAMED S. KASIM-CAREW: Mr Speaker, Kasim-Carew is the surname.

It is a compound name, Mr Speaker.

THE SPEAKER: What No., Honourable Member?

HON.

MOHAMED S. KASIM-CAREW: Mr Speaker, No.19.

THE SPEAKER: So, your surname is not Carew?

HON.

MOHAMED S. KASIM-CAREW: No, it is „Kasim-Carew‟ and „Mohamed‟ is the first name.
THE SPEAKER: Mr Clerk, please take note.

Honourable Members, we are not going backwards.

We have to move forward.

Page 11?

If there are no further corrections or amendments, can somebody move for the adoption of the record of Votes and Proceedings for the parliamentary sitting, held on Tuesday, 8th May, 2018 as amended?

HON.

ALUSINE KANNEH: I so move, Mr Speaker.

HON.

JOSEPHINE MAKIEU: I so second, Mr Speaker.


[Question Proposed, Put and Agreed to] [Record of Votes and Proceedings for the parliamentary sitting, held on Tuesday, 8th May, 2018 has been adopted as amended] THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, we move to the record of Votes and Proceedings for the parliamentary sitting, held on Thursday, 10th May, 2018.
Before that, I want to state here that if the mistakes that appeared in the record of the 8th May, 2018 reappear in the record of Votes and Proceedings of the 10th May, 2018, you do not need to mention that anymore.

The correction would be made in due course.

Page 1?

Page 2?

Page 3?

HON.

MANSAMAYAO K. KAMANDA: Mr Speaker, Page 2, No.

48.

I am Honourable Kamanda Komba Mansamayao.

Mansamayao has not been spelt properly.

It is supposed to be „M-a-n-s-a-m-a-y-a-o.‟ I thank you.

HON.
HON.

HINDOLO M. GEVAO: Mr Speaker, my name is Hindolo Moiwo Gevao and I spell my surname as „G-e-v-a-o‟ and not „G-a-v-a-o.‟ 11 THE SPEAKER: Any more corrections to that page?

HON.

P.C FASALIE KULAKO DEMBA MARAH III: Mr Speaker, I am Honourable Paramount Chief Fasalie Kulako Demba Marah III.

I am referring the Speaker to No.

100.

The surname is spelt as „M-a-r-a-h.‟ It should be single „r‟ and not double „r.‟ I thank you.

THE SPEAKER: Page 4?

HON.

REV.

SAMA I. SANDY: I am Honourable Rev.


Sama Ishmail Sandy of constituency 080.

The „Sama‟ should „precede‟ the „Ishmail.‟ It should be „Sandy Sama Ishmail.‟ THE SPEAKER: Page 5?

Page 6?

HON.

PAUL S. SAM: Mr Speaker, when you look at the front page, it is „Second Republic of Sierra Leone, First Session 2016/2017.‟ It should be „2018/2019.‟ THE SPEAKER: That is a very important observation.

Thank you very much, Honourable Member.


Frankly, the Secretariat should be little more careful in proof reading these documents before they are finalised.

If there are no further corrections or amendments, can someone move for the adoption of the record of Votes and Proceedings for the parliamentary sitting, held on Thursday, 10th May, 2018 be adopted as amended?

HON.

ALUSINE KANNEH: I so move, Mr Speaker.

HON.

JOSEPHINE MAKIEU: I so second, Mr Speaker.


[Question Proposed, Put and Agreed to] [Record of Votes and Proceedings for the parliamentary sitting, held on Thursday, 10th May, 2018 has been adopted as amended] 12 III.

MOTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPOINTMENTS AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE PROPOSER: HON.

SIDIE M. TUNIS SECONDER: HON.


SAA E. LAMINA BE IT RESOLVED: THAT THE FOURTH REPORT OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPOINTMENTS AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE BE ADOPTED BY THE HOUSE AND THAT THE RECOMMENDATIONS CONTAINED THEREIN BE APPROVED.

HON.

SIDIE M. TUNIS: Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I present to you the Fourth Report of the First Session of the Committee on Appointments and the Public Service: 1.
Introduction Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the Committee on Appointments and the Public Service met on the 22nd and 23rd May, 2018 and interviewed twenty-six presidential nominees for appointment as: [i] Minister; [ii] Minister of State; and [iii] Deputy Ministers of Government.

2.

Procedure The Committee maintained strict consistency to its established procedure.
Pertinent questions put to the nominees were related to their educational backgrounds, track records in public office, declared assets, tax obligations and their visions for a successful and nationally productive tenure.

Issues of unsuitability or otherwise were closely looked into.

1.
1.

Fourth sitting of the Committee on Tuesday 22nd May, 2018 Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the following nominees were interviewed on oath: 13 i. Dr Denis Moinina Sandy, Proposed Minister of Lands, Housing and the Environment.

Dr Sandy has, in the past ten years, been a lecturer in the Department of Economics, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, where he lectures Applied Economics, Economic Development, Project Planning and Management and Macro Economic Analysis.
He previously served as Minister of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment; and Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children‟s Affairs from 2009 to 2011.

Responding to inquiries on land reforms under the „New Direction,‟ Dr Denis Sandi said, “I was in that Ministry before and it is like a lawyer entering his Chambers for the second time.

In terms of innovation, I intend to work according to the ideology of the „New Direction‟ in terms of discipline, leadership, professionalism and delivery.
I am a result oriented individual and my record speaks for itself.

This time around, I want to emphasize that state land, government housing and the environment in particular, is of paramount concern to His Excellency the President.

I have plans of reclaiming all state lands for the good of all Sierra Leoneans.

His Excellency the President‟s New Direction is calling for land redistribution in the interest of all Sierra Leoneans.
I also intend to establish a tangible land bank, so that when investors come to this country, they will have a specified area for the development of this country.” ii.

Mr Rex Bonapha, proposed Deputy Minister of Lands, Housing and Environment Mr Rex Bonapha is a social worker who has accumulated a wealth of experience in managing the social wellbeing of local people in their communities.

In his response to the Committee, Mr Rex Bonapha opined that land issue in Sierra Leone has a lot of challenges.
“What I will do is to first look at the provisions of the land laws and government policies on land acquisition.

These will guide me as to what 14 to do next to help the Minister address the numerous land issues and to protect the environment.‟‟ iii.

Ms Patricia N. Laverley, proposed Deputy Minister of Finance.

Ms Patricia Laverley is a financial expert who has served for a considerable length of time with the African Development Bank, [ADB].
She is currently serving as the Principal Macroeconomic and Public Financial Management Officer from 2011 to date.

Addressing issues of leakages in the economy, Dr Patricia Laverley said that His Excellency, the President, recently signed an Executive Order on expenditure management and cleaning up the payroll in order to address the leakages.

“Some of these leakages,” she said, “include expenditure of vehicles, fuel, top-up cards and so on.
What I intend to do as the Deputy Minister of Finance is to work closely with the procurement agency to review all expenditure that are supposed go through the Ministry of Finance for proper scrutiny before payments are made.

I also intend to ensure that expenditure processed by the Ministry of Finance are consistent with the budget approved by Parliament.

I will ensure that the Ministry of Finance takes the public expenditure reviews seriously to ensure that they are in line with the budget.‟‟ iv.
Dr Turad Senesie, proposed Deputy Minister, Technical and Higher Education.

Dr Turad Senesie has over 25 years of professional teaching and a proven competence in monitoring and evaluation.

He has a track record of timely implementation of institutional policies, norms, systems, control, and above all he maintained quality educational standards throughout his career.
Outlining his strategies to improve on the quality and standard of education, Dr Turad Senesie said: “I think we should start by making partnership with other sectors if we want to address the problems facing the University education.
15 When it comes to developing the human resource in our tertiary institutions, the government and the private sector should invest in that direction.” Responding to further questions on imbibing good moral standards in students of tertiary Institution, Dr Senesie said: “The younger ones need mentorship.

We have most of our children entering the University system with the academic capacity, but poor moral standards.
To counter these problems, we need their colleagues and peers with good moral behaviour to mentor them.

To do that, we need to give awards and prizes for good behaviour and to inspire others.” v. Hon.

Philip Tetema Tondoneh, proposed Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Hon.

Philip T. Tondoneh is a former Member of Parliament who was very active and served on several Parliamentary Committees.
Addressing the Committee, Honourable Philip Tondoneh promised to work with the Minister and stakeholders in addressing the challenges of the Ministry.

He said: “We need to hold a national consultative conference to enable the country develop a policy document on de-amalgamation and rural development.” vi.

Dr Augustine Anthony Sandy, proposed Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation.
Dr Augustine Anthony Sandy is a public Health Specialist with over 22 years of work experience in the Health Sector; eleven out of his 22 years was spent on Health Planning, Policy and Management.

He also spent eight years as Director of Human Resources in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.

Dr Augustine Anthony Sandy played a leading role in the establishment of the Master degree programme in Public Health at the Njala University College.
Answering to enquiry questions, Dr Anthony Sandi said: “I have worked in various capacities in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation for twenty-two years.

If I obtain the approval of this Honourable House to go back to that Ministry as a 16 Deputy Minister, I will first do a situation analysis to know the policy issues that are in place, whether they are being implemented, whether they are workable or not.

I will pick up from there to give professional advice to the Minister.” vii.
Mr Sadiq Sillah, proposed Deputy Minister of Transport and Aviation.

Mr Sadiq Sillah has a wealth of experience in economic development analysis, corporate and political governance, performance appraisal, contract management and, monitoring and evaluation.

He has proven records of managing contracts and people to ensure effective and timely performances.

Mr Sadiq Silla was Chairman of the Pujehun District Council from 2008 to 2018.
Addressing the concerns raised by the Committee, Mr Sadiq Silla said that it is the responsibility of his Ministry and Government to provide an efficient and affordable transportation system for all Sierra Leoneans, regardless of their ethnic, regional or political affiliation.

He said: “If I am given the blessings of this Honourable House, I will work hard with my colleague Minister to ensure that the President‟s vision under the „New Direction‟ for efficient public transportation is actualised.
I will also endeavour to make sure that bus service is provided all over the country at affordable prices.” viii.

Mr Lawrence Lahai Leema, proposed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Mr Lahai Lawrence Leema is an ex-Military Officer who, while in active service, enrolled in Fourah Bay College and obtained a Law Degree with Honours.

Mr Leema was elected the official mouth piece for the ruling SLPP about two years ago.
Responding to probing questions, Mr Lahai Lawrence Leema said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is one of the key Ministries of state because it deals with the security and safety of the state.

The Ministry, he went on, monitors and supervises the Sierra Leone Police, the Immigration Department, the Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the National Fire Force and the Prisons.
He said: “The Minister appointed by His 17 Excellency is the Political Head of that Ministry, assisted by the Deputy Minister and the Permanent Secretary who is the Administrative Head.

The Ministry collaborates with other security sectors agencies like the Military High Command, the Ministries of Defence Finance, Information and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to enhance the security of the state.” ix.

Ms Francess Piagie Alghali, proposed Minister of State, Vice President‟s Office.
Ms Francess Piagie Alghali has over 27 years of University work experience, public service, administration and management with substantial experience in Human Rights issues at the National and International levels.

At the same time, she has held various leadership positions such as Deputy Registrar, University of Sierra Leone, Foundation Registrar, Njala University and Executive Secretary, Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone.
Responding to prompts on coordination in the Office of the Vice-President, Mrs Francess Alghali opined that she believed that as an experienced administrator, she would need to put in place processes and policies that would ensure that the activities of the Vice President are properly coordinated.

“We have to also ensure that people adhere to those systems and procedures,” she said.

x. Mr Abdulai M. Bangura, proposed Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
Mr Abdulai M. Bangura is a family legal practitioner.

He is a legal retainer to several institutions, NGOs, International Organisations, Public and Private Companies and Enterprises.

Reacting to probing questions about amending or repealing specific laws from our law books, Mr Abdulai Bangura said: “I will work with my boss, the Minister and with the cooperation of this Honourable House.

I intend to look into some of those laws and if need be, to amend or repel or update them to modern realities.” 18 xi.
Mr Solomon Alphonso Jusu Jamiru, proposed Deputy Minister of Information and Communication.

Mr Solomon Jamiru is a Barrister and Solicitor of the J & T Solicitors, a Firm of four Lawyers.

Reacting to the Committee‟s enquiries, Mr Solomon Jamiru said he did not want to presume that he knew all about the Ministry.

He however assured the Committee that he had fair knowledge about his terms of reference.

He expressed concern about why the Government-owned Telephone Company was not working.
Why is it that „SIERRATEL‟ has not been in the position to compete with other Mobile Operators?

Why is it that the „SLBC‟ has not been an envy of its peers?

These are the questions he was hoping to find answers if he obtains the blessings of the Parliament.

Mr Jamiru promised to cooperate with the substantive Minister to ensure that we change the narratives of the Ministry.

xii.
xii.

Ms Nematulai Bah Charm, proposed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Corporation Ms Nematulai Bah Charm is an International Social Worker who has a wealth international experience in Human Development, Human Rights, HIV Aids, etc.

In 2010- 2018, she implemented a Women‟s Development Programme in Uganda.

IMA aimed at empowering women in various communities.
In 2007 to 2009, she was a professional Human Rights Officer with the United Nations Peace Keeping Offices of UNAMSIL in Sierra Leone.

From 1997 to 2002, she served in various capacities in Pakistan, Israel and Croatia, promoting women refugees and young peoples‟ rights.

Outlining her strategies, she said that her first priority would be to work collaboratively with the Minister in-charge for the realisation of His Excellency‟s Foreign Policy dreams for this country.
“I will draw on experience from regional and international organisations for the success of the Ministry,” she said.

19 xiii.

Rev Abraham Sesay-Jones, proposed Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.

Rev Abraham Sesay-Jones started life with the noble profession of a classroom teacher.

In 1993 he went to the United States of America where he lived and worked in various fields before returning home in 2002.

He is currently the Senior Pastor, Family Chapel Ministries at Allen Town, Freetown.
Reacting to questions on enforcement of the Local Contents Policy, Rev Jones said: “If I am approved by this Honourable House, I will work with my Minister to enforce the Law.

I will have to build the capacity of our fellow Sierra Leoneans.” xiv.

Dr Eldred Tunde Taylor, proposed Deputy Minister of Energy.

Dr Taylor is a Lecturer and Director, Institute of Environmental Management and Quality Control, School of Environmental Sciences, Njala University College.
Dr Eldred Taylor has a long list of publications to his name.

In outlining his plans for the success of the Ministry, Dr Eldred Taylor said that his knowledge and educational background gives him enough leverage to be able to address the problems facing the Energy Sector.

“I have written extensively on Energy Sector Projects to know the problems.
If I get the blessings of approval of this Honourable House, I promise to draw on my experience and work assiduously with my boss, the Minister, to ensure that the President‟s vision of sustainable and affordable Energy for Sierra Leone is realised,” he said.

xv.

Mr Lansana Mohamed Dumbuya, Proposed Deputy Minister of Labour.

Mr Lansana Mohamed Dumbuya is a Social Worker with extensive work experience with Action Aid, NaCSA, UNAMSIL, etc.
Reacting to the Committee‟s questions, Mr Lansana Dumbuya said that the „reward system‟ in this country is poor; hence His Excellency‟s Manifesto‟s emphasis on motivation of workers for efficiency in public institutions.
“To be able to do that, the „pay-package‟ has to be increased; we have to look at 20 the laws; we have to look at the Local Content‟s Act that was passed by Parliament; and we have to look at NASSIT ACT to ensure that our workers are rewarded according to their terms of references,” he said.

xvi.

Mr Sam King Kohina Brimah, proposed Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.
Mr Sam King K. Brimah is a versatile, performance driven and goal-oriented professional who is equipped with strong educational background in Management, Finance, Banking and Agric-business, compiled with verifiable success in agricultural financing, solutions and mortgage banking.

Mr Sam King Brimah is the founder Chairman and CEO of Agro- Health Africa.
Discussing his plans, Mr Sam King Brimah said that he planned to build on the plans of the „New Direction‟ as outlined in the Manifesto of His Excellency the President.

“We have sufficient information on how His Excellency the President wish to go and I am here as a vehicle to take us in that direction.

I have the agricultural knowledge and the experience of a professional banker.

I have financed a lot of agricultural projects and this time it is for Sierra Leone.
I am going to unlock finances for the Agriculture Sector,” he said.

3.

Fifth Sitting of the Committee on Wednesday, 23rd May, 2018.

Mr Speaker, Honourable members, the following nominees were interviewed on oath: xvii.

Ms Evelyn Daphne Blackie, Proposed Deputy Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources.

Ms Evelyn Blackie is a Geologist and Mining Engineer who is a Consultant to the Muni Mining Limited, Kono District.
Answering to the Committee enquiries on the breach of the mining laws by some foreign companies, Ms Blackie said: “I will collaborate with my boss, the Minister, to investigate all those alleged malpractices and enforce compliance with our mining laws by all mining companies.” 21 xviii.

Ms Emily Kadiatu Gogra, proposed Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education.

Ms Emily K. Gogra is an Educationist of no means standing.
She has taught in primary and secondary schools, polytechnics and training colleges.

Answering to probing questions on ensuring that the flagship programme of His Excellency the President succeeds, Ms Kadiatu Cogra said: “Education can only succeed when the Government makes it a priority.

His Excellency the President‟s flagship programme will succeed because under the „New Direction‟ agenda, there are clear emphases on free primary and secondary education, which leaves strong foundation for our children.
Our role will be to monitor the process and ensure that any shortcomings are promptly dealt with.” xix.

Mr Luseni Kallon, proposed Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs.

Mr Luseni Kallon has served as Administrative Assistant, Sierra Leone Youth Empowerment Organisation.

He was the Operations Manager, Hung Mining Limited, Sierra Leone.

Answering to questions on youth employment, Mr Luseni Kallon said: “The issue on youth employment can only be addressed when our youth have the requisite employable skills.
That is why under the „New Direction‟ of His Excellency the President has laid emphasis on education.

With quality education, our youth will become self-reliant and contribute to economic growth and sustainable development.” xx.

Mr Amara Kallon, proposed Deputy Minister of Political Affairs Mr Amara Kallon has technical expertise in Monitoring and Evaluation, use of randomised controlled tyres, research methodology, Web Base and M & E System, etc.
He has the ability to design M & E Tools, Surveys and Evaluations.

Reacting to probing questions on how to make the Ministry serve as a point of contact between the public and Government, Mr Amara Kallon said: “I strongly believe that my responsibility is interface with the public in terms of taking programmes 22 and policies to the Public and conveying pubic responses to the Government.

This flow of information is important for transparency in Governance.” xxi.
Mr William Illamim Kongkatee Robinson, proposed Deputy Minister of Tourism and Culture.

Mr William Konkati Robinson has over ten years experience, providing support for programmes and projects for Non-Governmental Organisations.

He has a wealth of experience in working with specific target groups, such as vulnerable households, Internally Displaced People, Refugees and Ebola affected groups.
Responding on how to revive the tourist industries in Sierra Leone, Mr Williams said: “To rebrand the Tourism Sector in Sierra Leone, we have to review and update the Tourism Act.

The rebranding, marketing and promotion of tourism needs the input of all stakeholders, our local communities, Parliament and the Executive.

As Ministers, our work will be to expedite the process.” xxii.
Mr Kai Lawrence Mbayo, proposed Deputy Minister of Sports Mr Mbayoh has a proven administrative experience from KKALDUFF Investment Limited and the Koidu Sembehun City Council, Kono District.

He has proven administrative experience from KKALDDUFF Investment Limited and the Koidu New Sembehun City Council, Kono District.

Mr Mbayo has successfully managed sports clubs, including youth in a complex and challenging environment like Kono.
In his interview, Mr Kai Lawrence promised to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure that we revive Sports in Sierra Leone.

To achieve this goal he said: “We must re-introduce Physical and Health Education in the School‟s Curriculum.

I will also encourage the Private Sector to invest in sports.

This, I believe, will help rejuvenate the sports sector.” xxiii.

Ms Melrose Kargbo, proposed Deputy Minister of Works and Public Assets.
Ms Melrose Kargbo is a strategic development specialist with more than ten year experience in Research, Advocacy, Capacity Building and Project Management.

She had 23 the most dual ability and leadership skills in gender integration and analysis, food security, the environment, peace and security.

Reacting to the concerns of the Committee, Ms Melrose Kargbo said: “I am a fervent believer of the „New Direction‟ because I believe that we have suffered far too long as a Nation.
We have not paid attention to those critical things that will make our country develop.

I am going to be focused on delivery because that is what the „New Direction‟ is all about.

Delivery, delivery and delivery, which is as a matter of fact, is achievable.

I hope to bring innovative ideas, especially in the area of housing.

We know our people are suffering and we have good models on housing and we seek for investors to invest in that area.

It will help to alleviate the suffering of our people.” xxiv.
Dr Edward Hinga Sandy, proposed Deputy Minister of Water Resources.

Dr Sandy is a Senior Lecturer in the Chemistry Department at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.

Answering to questions on how to address the challenges of access to clean and affordable water, Dr Sandy said that the country has not been able to develop a very strong water system that takes into account the supply of treated water.
My recommendation is to make sure we develop a very efficient system that will supply treated water to all parts of the country.

4.

Excerpts of the Second Report of the Committee xxv.

Peter Bayuku Konteh, Proposed Minister of Trade & Industry Mr Peter Bayuku Konteh has previously served as Chairman, Koinadugu District Council from 2008 to 2012; and as Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, from 2013 to 2014.
After the end of the rebel war in 2002 in an effort to contribute towards the peace process and national reconstruction, Mr Peter Bayuku Konteh has mobilised funds from his contacts in Europe and the USA to undertake the construction of structures in his home district of Koinadugu.

24 Answering to the Committee‟s inquiries, Mr Peter Bayuku Conteh said: “I consider it a privilege for His Excellency to graciously nominate me to serve as Minister of Trade and Industry.
I want to assure Members of this Committee that if approved by this Honourable House, I will promote and protect the Local Content Policy and work to the best of my ability to actualise the trade and industry dreams of His Excellency the President.

xxvi.
xxvi.

Dr Alie Badara Sanjhan Kabba, proposed Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr Alie Badara Sanjhan Kabba is a result oriented, innovative and effective executive leader and strategist with over 20 years of professional experience in management and evaluation, strategic planning, performance measurement, policy analysis, programme design and implementation, coalition building, community organising and advocacy, leadership development and community-based research.
Dr Alie Badara Sanjhan Kabba promised to draw on his learning and the wealth of experience gained in the diaspora for the good of his motherland.

5.
Recommendations Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the Committee adjudged the following presidential nominees to be adequately qualified for their proposed appointments and they are recommended to the House for approval: [i] Dr Alie Badara Sanjhan Kabba, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; [ii] Mr Peter Bayuku Konteh, Minister of Trade & Industry; [iii] Dr Denis Moinina Sandy, Minister of Lands, Housing and Environment; [iv] Ms Francess Piagie Alghali, Minister of State, Vice President‟s Office; [v] Ms Patricia N. Laverley, Deputy Minister of Finance; [vi] Mr Rex Bonapha, Deputy Minister of Lands, Housing and the Environment; [vii] Rev.
Abraham Sesay Jones, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry; [viii] Dr Augustine Anthony Sandi, Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation; [ix] Mr Sadiq Sillah, Deputy of Transport and Aviation; 25 [x] Mr Lansana Dumbuya, Deputy Minister of Labour; [xi] Mr Lawrence Lahai Leema, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs; [xii] Mr Eldred Tunde Taylor, Deputy Minister of Energy; [xiii] Mr Abdulai M. Bangura, Deputy Attorney-General & Minister of Justice; [xiv] Dr Turad Senesie, Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education; [xv] Hon.
Philip T. Tondoneh, Deputy Minister Local Government & Rural Development; [xvi] Mr Solomon A. Jusu Jamiru, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication; [xvii] Ms Nematulai Bah-Charm, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; [xviii] Mr Sam King Koihinah Briama, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry; [xix] Mr Amara Kallon, Deputy Minister of Political Affairs; [xx] Mrs Melrose Kargbo, Deputy Minister of Works and Public Assets; [xxi] Mr Lusaine Kallon, Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs; [xxii] Ms Emily Kadiatu Gogra, Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education; [xxiii] Dr Edward Hinga Sandy, Deputy Minister of Water Resources; [xxiv] Mr Kai Lawrence Mbayo, Deputy Minister of Sports; [xxv] Mr William Illamim Kongkatee Robinson, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Culture; and [xxvi] Ms Evelyn Daphne Blackie, Deputy Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the Fourth Report reflects the unanimous view of the Committee.

I therefore move that the Fourth Report of the First Session of the Committee on Appointments and the Public Service be adopted by the House and that the recommendations contained therein be approved.

Signed by Honourable Sidie M. Tunis, Chairman.

THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, any seconder to that Motion?

[Question Proposed] HON.


EMMERSON S. LAMINA: Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, permit me once again to congratulate these fine presidential nominees.

I hold a belief and I am very optimistic that they will be approved by this Honourable House.

Mr Speaker, if I make any attempt to unfold the resumes of these technocrats and intellectuals, it may cost 26 me a whole compendium.

Therefore, I will talk about a few of these nominees.
After going through rigorous questioning, the nominees provided scintillating answers to the Committee and Members were convinced that these set of Sierra Leoneans have the wherewithal to man such offices of state.

I am talking about cumulative and administrative knowledge and experiences they have mustered over the years.

The Committee was convinced and it was the view of Members that they will do this Nation good.
Having said that, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I would like to start with the mining sector.

I come from a mining district.

Sometimes when the subject, mining is mentioned as a topic for discussion, I become very passionate.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Ms Evelyn Daphne Blackie has been nominated for the position of Deputy Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources.

She has an uphill task, but I want to believe that she will perform.
I have gone through her CV and she has a strong geological background.

This means she will do this Nation good if approved by this House.

There are lots of grey areas in the Mines and Minerals Act.

I want you to know that His Excellency the President, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio‟s Maiden Speech to this House emphasised on the mining sector.

I want to emphasise again here that the Mines and Minerals Act is obsolete and it needs to be overhauled.
I am sure Ms Evelyn Daphne Blackie will work very closely with her boss in that direction.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, it is not gainsay that the Mines and Minerals Act is in conflict with Mining Agreement as well as the Local Government Act of 2004.

Therefore, the Minister of Mines has to do a lot of consultations with the National Mineral Agency [NMA], which is in charge of regulating those mining companies for good of this country.
It was also our desire, we from the C4C political party to overhaul the Mines and Minerals Act, but as fate would have it, we are going to collaborate and support His Excellency‟s „New Direction‟ agenda.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I would also like to talk about Honourable Philip Tetema Tondoneh the proposed Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.

Local governance has been my comfort zone because I have in that 27 sector for about eight [8] years.
I want to inform you that there are also challenges like the frequent transfers of staff.

It is stated in Chapter 8 of the Human Resource Guidelines of Local Government that core staff must have spent at least three years before they are transferred except for emergency.

For the past few years, transfers were made without going through procedures.

That has been a very big challenge, but I want to believe that you will look into this issue and work towards resolving it.
Again, the Act is not clear on the relationship between Council staff and Councillors.

There have always been conflicts between these two parties.

I have no iota of doubt that the proposed Local Government [Amendment] Act of 2018 will settle those problems.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I would also like to talk about Dr Turad Senesie, proposed Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education.

He has been my mentor years back and he is an astute man.
As the saying goes, „all work and no play makes Jane or Jack a dull boy or girl,‟ I want to remind him that sports and Student Union Politics have been areas for mentorship.

Some of us got our maiden leadership experiences from the University, where we were at the echelon of student‟s unionism.

It has slowly faded away like morning dew.

Our citadel of higher learning, which was established to prepare men and women of this Nation, is gradually turning into nudity and anti-social activities.
You have to take notes of these problems and work towards solving them if approved by this House.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Dr Alie Badara Sanjhan Kabba has also been nominated to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

He is a fine sales-man and I want to believe that the good image of this Nation will be sold to the outside world.

Yes, he is my in-law and I cannot deny that fact [Undertone].
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, time will not permit me to comment much on land issues, but I know the proposed Minister of Lands, Housing and Environment, Dr Denis Moinina Sandy, is the architect of the Land Policy years back.

Our problem has been enforcement and compliance.

He will be good if he brings back Government lands for the benefit of this Nation, especially the investors.

28 Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Mr Lawrence Lahai Leema, is the proposed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.
During his short stay in Kono with the 9th Battalion, he proved to be very disciplined and focused.

His contribution to peace enforcement and peace building in Kono District has been great.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Mr Kai Lawrence Mbayo was a fellow Councillor.

He has nominated to serve as Deputy Minister of Sports.

He was also a former Chairman of Freetown Sports Committee and he contributed a lot in bringing laurels to Kono Diamond Stars in 2012.
He is a fine gentleman and he is very respectful.

I have no iota of doubt that he will work well with his boss in making sports reach the apogee as it used to be.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to congratulate all the nominees once more and at the same time congratulate His Excellency the President for these nominations.

I also want to implore them to be patriotic like real Sierra Leoneans.

It is no secret that this Nation has been plagued and bedevilled by divisive partisan politics.
Fellow nominees, I believe the onus is on you to bring this Nation together for the sake of unity and purpose.
On that note, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I wish all the nominees drive for responsibility and task completion; I wish you all drive for exercise and initiative in social situation; I wish you all self-confidence and sense of personal identity; I wish you all willingness to tolerate frustration and delay; and I wish you all the ability to influence other people‟s behaviour for the better and for the good of this Nation.

I want to implore this Honourable House to approve these fine Sierra Leoneans.
I thank you all.

HON.

IBRAHIM B. KARGBO: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

I am very sure that you still have not forgotten when both of us were here as Members of Parliament years back, seniority was always given privilege.

The Speaker was a great debater and I want to assure this House that we will benefit from his experience.
On more serious note, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, we on this other side, guided by our Leader, will want to use this opportunity to congratulate the presidential 29 nominees.

We have a history of being magnanimous on this side; whether we are here or over there.

We really do not care whether you rushed to take our seats [Laughter].

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to address the issue of land and Dr Denis Moinina Sandy, proposed Minister of Lands, Housing and Environment.
I have known Dr Sandy for a while and he is quite an intellectual with great capacity to put his points across.

During our own tenure when it does not matter whether you are a Kallon or otherwise, he enjoyed from the benefits of magnanimity.

So, whenever we had a programme that has to do with land, we relied on him.

He always gave us first class information about land issues during our Cabinet meetings.
For those of you who have never been to Cabinet and who may never be there, I would want to assure you that Cabinet is a place where you exhibit your intellect before you win any laurel in that House.

He did win laurels.

I remember, all of us laughed when he went out of the country to attend a conference in Asia.

When he came back, he was not too sure about the nationality of the people.
He said, „Mr Chairman, referring to the President, „I came across very polite people who would bow down and down and down.‟ We suspected that they could be either Koreans or Chinese.

Of course we enjoyed him being a very educated Minister at that time.
Recently, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, we had this cleaning exercise and he made history by actually coming up with a decree, calling it a „Ministerial Order.‟ I was almost surprised to the extent that I telephoned a friend to find out whether the President had actually appointed him to that position.

I was told that Dr Sandy was still Dr Sandy and he was still a nominee.
Here he is today again in the spirit of magnanimity and in the spirit of oneness and cohesiveness in the APC‟s effort to build a one united country and we will congratulate him for the appointment.

This is because we on this side always come up with ideas and sometimes new ideas [Applause from the Opposition Bench].
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the Speaker seated there is a witness to the fact that we have stood in this House to talk about land issues many years ago and the same land issues are still lingering.

For many years land related problems are still with 30 us.

This time we must ensure that the land problems go away.
We on this side will work towards coming up with a Motion for the commission of a „Land Summit,‟ so that all of us from all regions and tribes can sit together to discuss land issues in this country.

We think it is necessary for us to continue to discuss important things such as land issues.

After all, without land, development itself cannot actually take place in an acceptable way.

If we want to develop the industrial base of this country, we must have land at our disposal.
Many people have been appointed as Ministers of land, applauded in this House, but at the end of the day, they were the ones selling state lands.

When they sell the land, they put the people of this country at a disadvantaged position.

I am merely stating here that we are thinking seriously on how to handle this matter.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to discuss about tourism very briefly because tourism possess the capacity to add to the development of this country.
Many people have been asking why we have not developed the Tourism Industry in this country.

We on this side know that we can develop Tourism.

The former Minister of that Ministry, Mr Sidi Yayah Tunis left billions of Leones.

I am sure about that and if you ask his brother, who is the Leader of Government Business in this House, will testify to that fact.

This is how serious we are.

You give us a job, we perform.

Again, I state here that Tourism is such an important component of national development.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I was in London on television and radio to discuss issues relating to Sierra Leone and the telephone line was opened to allow people to make comments or ask questions.

I want to inform this House that more than thirty to forty people participated.

I am sure they were Sierra Leoneans.

Majority of them asked why we have not developed Tourism in this country.
I think the question itself was quite relevant, which means that in order to add to the efforts of the Government and the President, it is now not enough for us to appoint a Minister.

We need a Minister who can come up with ideas; a Minister who can come up with innovation; even if it is not just eco-tourism, but internal tourism is also very important.
I look forward to the day when on a Saturday, all of us will drive to Kailahun to spend a day and enjoying ourselves; I also look forward to a day when all of us will drive to Mattru Jong and find 31 the President there hobnobbing with us.

I would want to see the day when we will go to Koinadugu, Falaba and other places to relax.

That is domestic tourism and that is also very important.

Like I have said, tourism makes a lot of money.

We need to put a lot of effort in its development.


Now that our friends on the other side have claimed to have generated billions of Leones in just one week, I want to appeal to them to wisely invest a greater percentage of that money in the development of tourism in Sierra Leone.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I will not sit down without talking about telecommunication and its importance in Sierra Leone.
If Sierra Leone has a fibre optic facility today, it is because of the relationship between our past Government; and the World Bank and Ace in France.

We discovered that for us to be able to improve on our telecommunication networks and our ability to improve and create cheaper telecommunication, we should be part of the international telecommunications setup.

I want to report here that we have become part of that setup.

What did we do?
What did we do?

We were classified as number one in landing the fibre optic in West Africa.

We have landed the fibre optic, but what we need to do now is to move one more step.

We did not only land the cable in Sierra Leone, we also set up an entity that will make it operational.

This is why we have the Sierra Leone Cables Limited.
Also, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I would not sit down without noting that even the ECOWAN Fibre Optic Network, which is also funded by the Islamic Bank, is also part of the domestic infrastructure for the development of telecommunication in Sierra Leone.

Today, everybody complains about WhatSapp.

I want to say that WhatSapp is real and we cannot take it away.

However, WhatSapp has created problems for married couples because it has caused people to lose their marriages and even their jobs.
But because we on this side are a modern entity, we cannot suggest that we should get rid of WhatSapp.

We can only plead with the people of Sierra Leone to use WhatSapp and other forms of telecommunications cautiously and in a civilised manner.

With those few words, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

32 THE SPEAKER: I thank the Honourable Member for that instructive contribution.
I hope when we shall embark on debating the address of His Excellency the President next week, you will also address the issue of affordability of the internet service to this population.

I thank you.

HON.

DIXON M. ROGERS: Thank you, Mr Speaker.


Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, let me start my intervention by quoting a very senior citizen of this country, a democrat and a philanthropist, His Excellency the President, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio once said, “I will prove my critics wrong, like I have always done.” Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, we are today with eminent Sierra Leoneans who are qualified and capable to handle those Ministries.
The President had once said that if elected, he would be the President of Sierra Leone not a President of the SLPP.

The names we have here today are not synonymous to the SLPP.

In other words, these names are not common within the SLPP Caucuses.

When some of those names were announced, somebody called me and said Honourable Dixon M. Rogers, S.O.
2 „wusay wuna brƆda pul dɛ nams ya?‟ I told the person that my President and your President had promised the people of this country that he would be a President for Sierra Leone.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, we have few names that I would like to mention in my contribution because those names are synonymous to development and quality service delivery.

I want to start with Dr Alie Kabba.


This is the man who, despite all the distractions and opposition from our colleagues on that side, he stood his ground to ensure that the people of this country get the leadership they will be proud of.

He made sure that the people of West Africa in particular and Africa as a whole would have a leader that is appreciated.
He went to every corner of this country to sell the ideology of the „New Direction.‟ Today, I want to believe Sierra Leone is among the most renowned countries in Africa because of the election of one individual; i.e., His Excellency Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to doff my hat to Dr Alie Kabba.

He is not an ordinary man.


This is because despite the humiliation and intimidation from our 33 colleagues on the other side, he stood firm and ensured that this country is removed from the dungeon where we were months ago.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, seated adjacent to Dr Alie Kabba is his proposed deputy, Ms Nematulai Bah-Charm.

We have given him a beautiful lady as deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
If you take a close look at her, you will find out that she has the charisma and expertise to work in that Ministry.

If you have listened to her, you will agree with me that she speaks diplomatic languages.

I asked myself where President Julius Maada Bio got this wisdom to select these people we have in our midst.

I told myself that „it is the blessing of all Sierra Leoneans that is giving him the direction to choose hardworking ladies and gentlemen to serve this country.
When I was making my contribution in the last presidential nominees‟ approval, I asked where these people were.

Where were they hiding?

But God does nothing wrong because he was preparing them for the „New Direction‟ agenda.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I also want to talk about Mr Lahai Lawrence Leema, proposed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.

I want to start by saying that he was a disciplined soldier.

He came from a disciplined and humble background.


Yesterday, the Leader of the Opposition paid tribute to Leema.

He is indeed very disciplined and hardworking.

I want to inform this House that Mr Lahai Laurence Leema will work very hard, regardless of the political party he comes from.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Mrs Melrose Kargbo is the proposed Deputy Minister of Works and Public Assets.

She is one of those who made sure that the cleaning exercise was a success.
Today, she is being nominated to serve as Deputy Minister of Works and Public Assets.

She is a very hardworking lady and I want to believe the „New Direction‟ is looking for such people.

For the first time in the history of this country, we are having this amount of women in Cabinet.

For far too long our women in this country have been crying for 30% women‟s representation.
I want to use this opportunity to inform the women out there that His Excellency the President, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio had given you more than 30%.

In fact, we are ready to appoint more women in this country.

34 Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to briefly talk about my younger brother, Mr Sadiq Sillah, proposed Deputy Minister of Transport and Aviation.

Until recently, Mr Sadiq Sillah was the Chairman of our Council in Pujehun District due to his leadership ability and hard work.
He ensured Pujehun won a lot of accolades when he was the Chairman of that Council.

Pujehun was among the first three performing Councils in this country.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, among the nominees is one of the most hardworking senior lecturers of the Njala University.

Some students I spoke to told me that we have taken one of the most disciplined and experienced lecturers in Njala University.
I told them that he was going to serve in that same capacity and I assured them he would be with them as well.

That nominee is Mr Turad Senesie.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, we have about 26 nominees this afternoon; and if we say we are going to comment on every one of them, we will take the whole day in doing that.

I want to assure this Honourable House that Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio made no mistake in nominating these people.
I want to inform this House that the Trade and Industry is going to be on a very firm and good footing because of the gentleman we are going to have in that Ministry; i.e., Rev.

Abraham Sesay-Jones.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Mr Eldred Tunde Taylor has been nominated as Deputy Minister of Energy.

I want to remind him that we have serious problems with Energy in this country.

Our colleagues on the other side brought electricity, but they have taken it away.
Therefore, I want to appeal to you to make sure that we have sustainable electricity supply in this city and the country at large.

Finally, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I have been saying in this House that most of our little brothers and sisters drop out of school due to the fact that they usually get up early in the morning to fetch water; and in the process, some get pregnant.
I want to plead with Dr Edward Hinga Sandy, proposed Deputy Minister of Water Resources to work towards making sure that the younger ones do not have cause to go and fetch water around 3:00 a.m. 35 With those few words, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to congratulate these nominees in advance.

I cannot mention all their names, but I want them to work towards making the President and the people of Sierra Leone proud.

You are going there to work for the people of this country.
„I say go ye into the country and multiply.‟ I thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

HON.

MATHEW S. NYUMA: Mr Speaker, I want to draw your attention to S.O.

[38] All of us are representing people and that is why I am suggesting to you that you give chance to Honourable Members of Parliament who are not Members of the Committee on Appointments and the Public Service.

Some of us took part in the interview and that is why we should give chance to those who are not Members of that Committee.
Therefore, I want to ask Mr Speaker to evoke S.O.

[38], so that other Members can have time to contribute.

HON.

HASSAN A. SESAY: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, it is gratifying for the President to nominate a former Member of this Honourable House for approval.

Having said that, I want to start with Honourable Philip Tetema Tondoneh, proposed Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.
This is because he was a Member of Parliament and I want to remind this House that once an Honourable Member is always an Honourable Member.

Therefore, we have to accord him that respect whenever he comes to this House.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, you have heard that when his name was announced, everybody on both sides of the aisles shouted.

He is known in this House as „Synergy‟ because he was not only working with people within his own party, but he worked across party lines.
He is one of the individuals we are looking for in this country.

He is a Sierra Leonean and he always works as a Sierra Leonean.

Honourable Philip Tetema Tondoneh deserves another standing ovation.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I applaud the President for nominating these fine ladies seated before us this morning.
Although my Leader is asking me to ignore what I want to say concerning a statement made by Honourable Sidie M. Tunis, but it is sometimes good to make sure that the accuracy of what we say here is verified.

It was 36 only the APC led government that hit the threshold of the 30% quota for women‟s representation in governance.

We must be given that respect and I am saying this with authority.
I was the Chairman of the Social Services Committee and I have been following issues relating to women‟s empowerment over the years.

I know exactly where we have reached in relation to women‟s representation.

However, I want to applaud the President for having done what he has done because women who have not been included have now given the chance to participate.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to call on all the appointees to go and do their respective jobs.
They should note that they are going to serve Sierra Leone and not a political party.

They are going to serve the people of this country and not the political party that they belong.

That is the area where I want to call on the proposed Minister of Lands to do his utmost best for the progress of this country.

I knew him when he was serving as the Minister of Lands under the former President, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma.

I know he had the relationship with a lot of people.
He is here for parliamentary approval and it is only after being approved by this Parliament he will be a Minister once again.

He was a Minister, but he is here today again for another approval and it only after being approved he can issue „Ministerial Orders.‟ Maybe he has the mandate to do so; but before now, he did not have that mandate.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I am sure Dr Sandy will be approved by this House because he has proved himself to be a fine gentleman.
He is a man with intellectual ability, an attribute we usually look for in young people.

He has it all, but we hope he will utilise it properly.

We are not going to approve him to go and disturb other people.

The issue of land had been creating problems in this country over the years.

Again, land tenure system, even in the provinces, is an issue that has come under serious questioning over the years.
Let us also understand the land tenure system or the overall land policy in this country had been based on archaic model of the colonialists.

We have to put a land policy that is completely different from what we got from the colonialists.

In other words, we have to look at the dynamics of the current land tenure 37 system and find ways of reforming it.

I am sure if Dr Sandy is approved by this House he will look into that issue.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to inform this House that you cannot use laws enacted in 60s to transform a 21st Century Nation.

I think we need to examine the existing land policy and work towards reviewing it.

We cannot just wipe it on the surface, but we have to go to the bottom of it and try to overhaul the entire land policy system in this country.

If this is done, it will make sense for the current Government to succeed in that direction and society will improve.
You cannot tell me that facilities that existed in the colonial period are still adequate today.

As a result, there must be new models; there must be a paradigm shift, so that we address the issues we are facing in modern times.

If you use the laws of 1964 in modern times, it will not work.

I want to reiterate that Dr Sandy should look into our land policy system.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I do not know all the other nominees, but I know Ms Nematulai Bah-Charm, proposed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

She has been very professional and I am sure she will work with Dr Alie Kabba.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Dr Alie Kabba was my college mate at Fourah Bay College.

When he entered Fourah Bay College, we found him to be somebody who could make a whole lot of sense whenever he talked to people.
We brought him up to our camp and we were all together.

We shared common values when we were in College.

Today, he is on the other side and I am on this side, but that is not to say we are not friends.

THE SPEAKER: Honourable Member, I am sure you may be at opposite ends, but the values do not change.

HON.

HASSAN A. SESAY: Mr Speaker, I think I will leave that area for another time.
He has always been somebody who is very committed to what he believes in; and he has always been somebody who stands by the values he believes in.

Mr Speaker, I am 38 sure the proposed Minister of Foreign Affairs has the capacity to negotiate with other countries.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I do want to take the time of other Members of Parliament because a lot of them want to contribute.

Therefore, I want to implore you to approve these nominees.

I thank you very much.


THE SPEAKER: I thank the Honourable Member for that contribution.

I am going to exercise my prerogative by recognising more Honourable Members who were not Members of the Committee on Appointments and the Public Service to speak first.

You cannot have the second bite of the share while others have not had their first bite.

HON.
HON.

ABDUL KARGBO: Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I am Honourable Abdul Kargbo, representing Constituency 077, Loko Masama, Kafu Bullom Chiefdom, Pork Loko District.
My Constituency houses the Freetown International Airport; therefore, I am also called the „gateway.‟ Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, some fifteen years ago, I was admitted to Fourah Bay College and I met a gentleman addressing the students of Fourah Bay College under a stick we always called „Bustik.‟ From a distance, I came to realise that he was extremely eloquent.

He sounded appealing and convincing; very titillating and titivating.
I was amazed and totally flabbergasted by the way he handled the Queen‟s language.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, regardless of the fact that I am a staunch Member of the All People‟s Congress, I want to unhesitatingly state here that the nomination of Mr Solomon Jamiru is not a mistake.

It is considered a criminal offence for somebody to discover water in the desert and be quiet about it.

I do not want to be incriminated.


Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, with every humility and without being braggadocios, I want to state here that Mr Solomon Jamiru is an elite; he is a man of merit; he is a man of character and charisma; he is a man with an ecclesiastical establishment.

If Sierra Leone is to progress, he is the kind of person we need in position of authority.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to however expeditiously advise him on this appointment.
I want to remind him he has spent couple of years building his integrity 39 and now, lots of Sierra Leoneans have reposed confidence in him.

Please my brother, do not see white and decides to call it black under the guard of protecting your political party.

You are creating a name for yourself and your family; therefore, either you choose to protect your party and damage your family‟s reputation and your own record, or choose to uphold your family name.
You have a long way to go in the political dynamics of this country.

So, I want to implore you to comport yourself with grace, dignity and respect.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, one of our Honourable Members I have enormous respect for is Honourable Osman Abdal Timbo.
I am a trained and qualified electrical and electronics Engineer, but out of what I have referred to as academic inquisitiveness, I have been able to learn from him that in Law, they have a principle known as “Nemo dat quod non habet,” which means „you cannot give what you do not have.‟ I want to confirm to this House that Mr Solomon Jamiru has what it takes to deliver.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to talk about Mr Lahai Lawrence Leema, proposed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.
Until now, I have been very apprehensive of his appointment.

I want him to note that he has been nominated to one of the most important Ministries in this country.

I refer to it as one of the most important Ministries because it deals with lives and property.

On several occasions, you have been making allegations that a group of people wanted to overthrow the President.

It should not come out from you anymore in your capacity as a Deputy Minister if this House approves your nomination.
You should jealously guard your utterances because you are now a statesman.

You should not be a reactionary leader and we are looking forward to seeing a better Lahai Laurence Leema in that office.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, these nominees are about to make their own history; and by virtue of how they will comport themselves in their various Ministries, they will have a political name.
There are a good number of politicians who when they stand to speak, people hastily dismiss them with the back of their hands.

It is not by mistake, but it is contingent on the name they have created for themselves.

40 Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to implore all of you to serve Sierra Leone with sincerity, honesty and liberalism.

Please, do not see this as an opportunity to deprive those who are capable to help you achieve your goals because of political affiliation.
We are running a country called Sierra Leone and we are not running the SLPP, which is political party.

On that note, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to call on this House to approve these nominees.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

THE SPEAKER: I want to thank the Honourable Member.

Honourable Members, I will now give due cognisance to S.O.

38 that was sighted earlier; and please try to recognise that your colleagues may also wish to take the Floor.
Let us start by just limiting ourselves to a maximum of two to three minutes.

HON.

HINDOLO M. GEVAO: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I want to start this debate by thanking His Excellency the President for giving us the best of Sierra Leoneans to serve in these capacities after parliamentary approval.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I will start this debate with Dr Denis Moinina Sandy, proposed Minister of Lands, Housing and Environment.
I want to remind him that he is going to a Ministry where people have been doing things with impunity.

People have been taken Government lands; people have been demolishing Government structures; and constructing private property buildings.

I will hastily say that during the swearing ceremony of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, he spoke about getting rid of indiscipline in this country.
I know you are a disciplined person and I am sure that has been one of the reasons you have been nominated to go to that Ministry.

I have no doubt in your capacity to deliver.

You have to however work with your colleague Ministers, so that you can come up with a White Paper to retrieve all Government property that have been taken by individuals with impunity.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I will now talk about Dr Turad Senesie, proposed Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education.
When Dr Turad Senesie was in active service in the University, he stood firm to ensure the provision of the services, 41 employment or salaries of his colleagues.

Today, you are in a capacity to transcend those steps you took earlier.

I know that your colleagues are looking up to you for timely payment and increment of their salaries.

I know you are not the Minister of Finance, but with the good relationship you have with the Minister of Finance, your colleagues will get better conditions of service.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the next nominee I want to talk about is Mr Lahai Lawrence Leema, proposed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.

He is a citizen whom I stood in court to defend because of the injustice that was about to be meted against his personality; but one thing I told somebody when your name was announced was that I have never met a young man that is so religious as you.
People see you from the outside as somebody very difficult, but you are a fine gentleman, very beautiful both inside and outside.

I have no doubt that you are going to make the President and the people of this country proud.

Do not hesitate to raise issues that you think [if they are not raised], they have the tendency to jeopardise the security of this nation.

This is why you have been nominated as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs to maintain law and order.
I want you to note that no one is above the law as long as you have substantiated evidence to ring the bell, please do that.

I am sure the appropriate authorities will take action on it.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to talk about Dr Alie Badara Sanjhan Kabba, proposed Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

We want to see the right people carry the right passports in this country.

You have to ensure that Service Passport holders are those employed by Government.
I am not in any way trying to demean any category of people, but those who are not Government employees should not carry Service or Diplomatic Passports.

When I discuss this with one senior civil servant; i.e., the Director of Public Prosecution, he told me thus: “That is why I do not carry diplomatic passport because when you stand in the queue, you will see all manner of people carrying diplomatic passports when they do not fall in the diplomatic category.” Sir, we want to see a change in that direction.
42 Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I go to the proposed Minister of Trade and Industry Mr Peter Bayuku Konteh.

He spurred me the first day I went to his village, Laganwa.

You influenced me to build a community centre when I saw you built houses for teachers in your village please Sir continue with that good work.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, with the leave of Mr Speaker, I want to implore your good office to stand on S.O.

[23].
[23].

I want to inform all Ministers designate that I have a human rights situation in my constituency, Constituency 003.

It is a Constituency that cannot boast of twenty toilets or latrines.

This is a serious human rights situation and I want you to discuss this issue during your Cabinet meetings.

Please, this is very urgent and it a human rights situation.

This situation has now been considered as a development issue for me.
Inhabitants in a particular village told us to drink what we give out [urine] because we do not have drinking water.

A population of 43,000 people cannot boast of ten toilets is very pathetic.

For me, this is human rights abuse and this nation must hastily address it.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to remind the proposed Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr Augustine Anthony Sandi, that my Constituency cannot boast of two satellite clinics.
I have a situation wherein if a pregnant woman goes to give birth and she successfully delivers and another woman is brought in, the one who has already gave birth would be brought down to the floor with the baby to give space to the pregnant woman in labour.

This is happening in Kissi Kama Chiefdom.

I want the proposed deputy Minister to relay this information to his boss for remedial action.
I am very lucky today because I did catch the attention of the Speaker, and so I have been given the opportunity today and that is why I am appealing to you relay this message to the Minister of Health and Sanitation.

Please discuss with your Minister, so that this issue is addressed.

These are very serious issues and they must be taken seriously.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to inform this Honourable House that the only thing in my constituency that depicts a semblance of Government activity are the two schools and the one clinic.

This is a human rights situation and it must be addressed urgently.

My Constituency shares border with Guinea and Liberia and if the 43 hygiene situation is not urgently addressed, I am afraid it will lead to another national disaster.
It will lead to another national outbreak because the relationship between Guinea and Liberia, and my Constituency is very cordial.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

THE SPEAKER: I want to thank Honourable Hindolo M. Gevao for his contribution.

I am sure what he has said is a prelude to what lies ahead of next week.

I hope you will be here to further elaborate on the concerns you have for your Constituency when you will be debating the Presidential Address.
And this warning goes for the rest of you who wish to take the Floor.

You will be given more time to debate next week.

Let us confine ourselves to the matter at hand right now.

HON.

QUINTIN SALIA-KONNEH: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

For the benefit of our strangers, I am going to introduce myself.

I am Honourable Quintin Salia-Konneh, Independent Member of Parliament representing Constituency 007, Kailahun District.
I want you all to join me to thank His Excellency the President for yet another through job done for the people of this country.

I was apprehensive about his selections.

For me, I thought it was like a political gymnastics in terms of persuading us to favour his Government, but when I looked at the people he has nominated to this House, I realised that he was very much focused.

He knew what he was doing and that was the reason I refused to contribute in the last nominees.
But this new nomination has confirmed to us that His Excellency the President, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, knows what he is doing and what he wants his country to become.

This is the very first time in the history of this country where nominees are selected based on their qualifications and experiences.

Again, this is the first time for Members of Parliament, [be it on the Government side or the Opposition], have nothing negative to talk about these nominees.
I am of the conviction that Sierra Leone is about to experience happiness for a very long time.

Please Honourable Members on my right, do not get me wrong at all.

I am an Independent Member of Parliament and I am only saying what I see and what is correct or what is good for this country.

For me, the President of the day is my President and I support anything that is good.
44 Having said that Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I will refuse to talk on nominees I know personally and focus on those I am meeting for the first time.

I have been a secret admirers of most of these nominees I want to talk about.

The first person I want to talk about is Dr Turad Senesie, proposed Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education.

I have never met him in my life.

With the leave of Mr Speaker, I want him to stand up.

Honourable Members, this is the first time I am hearing about him.
However, I come from Bo and I have been hearing about him from students.

The students are saying good things about him and what he is capable of doing.

Students who are very ambitious appreciate people like Dr Turad Senesie, but students who entered the university by other means do not appreciate him because he is a disciplined man.

He wants quality at all time.

As the saying goes, „when a young man is strict and disciplined, people say he is wicked; and when an old man is wicked, they say he is strict.
I want to state here that Dr Turad Senesie is a strict and disciplined man.

I want to believe the Ministry of Technical and Tertiary Education will benefit a lot from somebody like him.

The flagship programme of His Excellency the President is already done with somebody like Dr Turad Senesie [Applause].

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the second person I want to talk about is Mrs Melrose Kargbo, proposed Deputy Minister of Works and Public Assets.
I have never met her before, but through her contribution towards the development of this nation I was pleased to meet her this morning in the Lounge.

I have been hearing good things about her since 2003 and 2004.

She worked with UNIFI at some point, but was later renamed UN Women.

She was serving as a Development Specialist to a point where she was seen to head the UN Women.
She must have done so much for that organisation and that was why she was asked to represent a big organisation of that nature until 2014, when she decided to retire to the United States to support her son in the University.

When she was recalled to help eradicate the deadly Ebola disease, she was contacted by the UN to help in that direction.

She had the opportunity to enrol for more courses, but she decided to serve her people.
One thing about her is that she can be colossus even when she is put in a valley and that is what she is.

Her natural 45 tendency to do more and with efficiency makes her a universal charger.

I want to inform this House that she can work in any Department or Ministry.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, there is somebody amongst the nominees whom I admired since my childhood days; i.e., Honourable Philip T. Tondoneh, proposed Deputy Minister Local Government & Rural Development.
He is being a leader since he was a young man and he has been holding chairmanship positions in the past 25 years.

Therefore, nominating to serve as Minister was not a mistake by the President.

I want to believe he will deliver more than expected.

In fact, the Chief Whip has just confirmed to this House that when Honourable Philip T. Tondoneh was a Member of Parliament, he knew how to synchronise people of different backgrounds.
That was why he was commonly called „Synergy.‟ He was very good at bringing people of unlike terms together.

So, I want to assure this House that he can serve very well in that capacity.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I will not waste time to talk about Dr Denis Moinina Sandy and Mr Lawrence Lahai Leema.

These are household names in this country.

Their names speak everything about them.


Meanwhile, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, whilst we were at the University, Mr Solomon A. Jusu Jamiru, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication was our President.

I served under him as Minister of Sports and I will not say much about him.

He is the right person in the right Ministry.

He is an orator and he knows his left from his right.

He knows what he is doing at every point in time.


On that note, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I am asking this Honourable House to speedily approve these nominees.

I thank you very much.

THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members on my right, I hope you will understand and forgive Mr Speaker because his focus is leading more towards his left at this particular occasion.

HON.

OSMAN A. TIMBO: Thank you, Mr Speaker.


Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, permit me to make my mistakes because this is my maiden speech to this House as a full Member of Parliament.

I say „full Member of Parliament‟ because in 2002, I was also 46 a Member of Parliament in the first Commonwealth Youth Parliament.

I am sure I tasted this seat before most Members of Parliament seated here; and by the time I came back, I was in my teens and the seats were different.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to start by commending His Excellency the President, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio for identifying and selecting these fine personalities to serve in the capacities they have been nominated to serve.

The Report speaks volumes because they are qualified and experienced people who have served in various capacities.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, before I came to Parliament, I have served in the Office of the President, where I worked with various Ministries, Departments and Agencies [MDAs].

I want to state here that being a technocrat and being an Administrator are two different things.

It is very challenging to work with some public officials.

Many a time, it is not the Ministers or the Deputy Ministers who have problems, but the administrative staff – the people you meet there.
However, I am pretty sure that with your ability to interact with others, you will succeed.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to commend the President, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio for continuing the legacy of the erstwhile President, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma in identifying and positioning young people in positions of trust.

When I looked at some of the names here for approval, I see myself as a young man.

I want to believe that the future of this country is in our hands.
We should not let the people of this country down.

As we occupy our various positions, let us remember that we are serving not just today, but the generation yet unborn.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to start with Mr Solomon Alphonso Jusu Jamiru, proposed Deputy Minister of Information and Communication.

He is my co solicitor in the firm called J and T Solicitor; and J and T means Jamiru and Timbo Solicitors.
I stand here to talk on his behalf not because he is my partner, but because I know he is a capable young man.

He is a young man who does not know colour.

Sometimes people doubt and even ask whether Mr Solomon Jamiru is an APC or an SLPP.

47 Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I met Mr Solomon A. Jamiru many years ago, when I was studying at Fourah Bay College.

He was the Student Union President at that time.

He is not just an orator, but a very good writer, a thinker, a doer and a performer.
To be honest, the Ministry of Information and Communication has a very good team.

As a Member of Parliament of the APC, I must personally state here that I am very concerned on how they will govern this nation.

However, I want to wish them well.

I know that the shadow cabinet we have put for the Ministry of Information and Communication will perform.

Mr Solomon A. Jamiru is a family man and he is one of the very good men any woman desires.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I will talk about a very tenacious young man; i.e., Mr Lahai Lawrence Leema [Applause].

Quite recently, we had a fight on social media and I had cause to block him on my Facebook account.

Some people have been calling him „Tormentor‟ [Applause].

He is indeed a tormentor.

In fact, he is a thorn in the flesh.

However, I want to caution Mr Lahai Laurence Leema that he is going to serve the people of Sierra Leone in a very important ministry.
And as opposed to what my landed friend and Members of Parliament said, I want to inform this House that passport issues are yours and not the business of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

You have to ensure that the right people get the right passports.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, without monopolising this debate, I want to implore this Honourable House to approve all the nominees before us this morning.

I rest my case [Applause].


THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, I have been advised more than once to recognise that indeed the other parties are well represented.

I want to recognise Honourable Zainab Tarawally.

HON.

CATHERINE Z. TARAWALLY: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

It seems as if the Speaker is non-gender sensitive today.

You have been calling on the men more than seven times now.

However, I want to thank God for catching my eyes.

THE SPEAKER: Honourable Member, my eyes are so wonderful.
48 HON.

CATHERINE Z. TARAWALLY: He is an old man, but very active.

Mr Speaker, I am honoured to stand in front of you to talk about three wonderful people.

I want to start by congratulating His Excellency the President, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, for nominating these fine women and fine gentlemen.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to thank God and the President for the nomination of Ms Francess Piagie Alghali, proposed Minister of State in the Vice President‟s Office.
She has been one of the best Registrars at Njala University.

She has also served as Administrator of the Human Rights Commission Sierra Leone.

We are here because of Human Rights and in accordance with Chapter III of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone.

She has diligently served in that capacity and I trust her ability to deliver.

She is capable, hardworking, eloquent and magnanimous.

I am sure she will pursue what she thinks is right for Sierra Leone.
Being a Minister designate to the Vice President‟s Office, we want to see you in a very good working relationship with other women.

We know what you have been doing before.

You have helped many women to access University education by paying fees for them.

Some of us are living witnesses to that and I want to thank you very much.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to talk about a woman who is very lucky.

She is from Port Loko District, but she got married to a Mende man.
I want to state here that she is married to a wonderful Mende man.

Mr Speaker, the person is Ms Emily Kadiatu Gogra, proposed Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education [nee Turay].

She is an educationist, eloquent and very hardworking.

She has been in the teaching profession for a very long time.

She became the first President of the Northern Polytechnic at Makeni, which is now the Ernest Bai Koroma University.

She served students diligently.

We have trust in her that she will deliver.


I want to however remind you about the Education Act, which you have to be consulting for the benefit of the last child in the remote places.

We do not want you to bring „sentiments‟ in your work place, but cohesiveness and inclusion.

In other words, we want you to bring everybody on board.

We want you to work with whosoever that is capable or whosoever has the ability to make education something to reckon with in this country.
Mr Speaker, 49 Honourable Members, I want to inform Ms Emily Kadiatu Gogra that we have trust in her.

I am very happy for her nomination and some of us are aware of the fact that women could do it more than men.

I want you to take my message to the President that the 30% quota for women‟s representation is still low.

We know that he is fighting to hit the 30%, but we still need more.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I will not sit down without talking about my good friend, Mr Lahai Lawrence Leema, proposed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.

Mr Lahai Laurence Leema was a military officer.

He was one of the finest soldiers in Sierra Leone.

I know he has worked in Makeni in those days under 2nd battalion.

I want to remind you that being a military officer and a civilian are two different things.

If you want to be a civilian, then civility and gentility are the watch words.
We know that you are capable, trustworthy and eloquent, but sometimes you want to take military discipline into civilian arrangement.

You have to slow down and work towards the progress of this country.

Please continue to be that fine civilian that will allow peace to reign in this country.

You have a big responsibility ahead in terms of managing the Police Force, Fire Force and the Correctional Centres [Prisons].

Please work towards ensuring a peaceful Sierra Leone.
With those few words, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to thank you very much, for this wonderful opportunity.

THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, there is always a time for everything.

I warned just now that my focus is leaning towards my left.

I want those on my right to be patient.

HON.

RUGIATU R. KANU: Thank you, Mr Speaker.


Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I first of all extend my thanks to His Excellency the President for nominating these fine gentlemen and ladies to represent the various Ministries in our beloved nation.

Well, I want to talk about Mrs Melrose Kargbo, proposed Deputy Minister of Works and Public Assets.

I have known this dynamic and multi-talented lady for the past ten years.
We were colleagues at Njala University College and she was the founder and president of the social club, „The Madam.‟ I happened to be a member of that social club.

I want to 50 state here that Mrs Melrose Kargbo is a firm and assertive lady.

She is very meticulous when she wants things to be done.

She is a very strong advocate for girls and women empowerment in this country.

We have worked together in the UN and during that time, Mrs Melrose Kargbo has proved to be a professional woman.
As I said earlier, whenever she wanted things to be done, she would look at the details and wanted them to be done with dexterity.

The President did not make any mistake to nominate you as deputy Minister of Works and Public Assets.

With the female attributes in you, I am sure you will use them wisely in that Ministry.

Please ensure that the Ministry is given a gender or female touch.

If approved by this House, work with the Minister and advise wisely on gender issues.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I will also like to talk about Honourable Philip T. Tondoneh, proposed Deputy Minister Local Government & Rural Development.

In this Parliament, he is commonly called „Synergy.‟ Well, I know this gentleman to be a good Christian.

We have lived together for over fifteen to twenty years in the same compound.

He taught me how to sing.

Today, he has been nominated to serve as Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.
He is a very good mixer and I am sure he will utilise his skills and expertise very well.

He has also been working with the Paramount Chiefs.

I have no doubt in his ability to deliver to the satisfaction of many people.

He is capable and he has the tenacity to perform in that Ministry.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I do not know much about the proposed Deputy Minister of Water Resources, but I think I need say a word or two.
We know that water is a perennial issue in this country, especially in the urban cities.

We need to look into this issue, so that we put in place good water facilities in this country.

If approved by this House, please go to that Ministry and work with the Minister.

You have to ensure that water harvesting system is established.

We all know the ripple effect usually caused by water shortage.

For instance, majority of the girls are getting pregnant due to lack of adequate water supply.
School going children usually go to school late because they have to ensure that they get water in the morning hours before they go to school.

Therefore, we have a lot of challenges in that direction.

I want you to put 51 water policies in place and ensure that those policies are implemented.

I am sure you will work with your Minister to bring changes in our water system in this nation.

I thank you [Applause].


THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, you must continue to be patient, so as to give preference to members on the other side.

HON.

WUYATTA B. SONGA: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I would like to join other Members of Parliament to congratulate all the nominees to serve in different Ministries.

I want to zoom in on few nominees because of time.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to start with Mr Lusaine Kallon, proposed Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs.
I want to caution you to be a good listener and empathise with the youth.

You cannot solve all their problems, but to listen to them [Applause].

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Mr Abdulai M. Bangura has been nominated to serve as Deputy Attorney-General & Minister of Justice.
I would like him to go and look at the issue relating to dual citizenship or S.O [2] „two Sims.‟ We have got fine Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora who have got wealth of knowledge and expertise and they want to come and help this country.

They are unable to do so because of this „two Sims‟ issue.

Please look at the existing laws to see what you can amend or repeal.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to talk about Dr Denis Moinina Sandy, proposed Minister of Lands, Housing and Environment.
Dr Denis Moinina Sandy is not only a disciplinarian, but a principled man.

The President made no mistake in nominating him to serve in that Ministry.

Sometimes it amazes me to hear my colleagues Honourable Members on the other side giving pieces of advice in this House.

The question is, where were all those pieces of advice when they were in power for ten years [Applause]?

They were busy grabbing lands from people unlawfully.
I want to call on the proposed Minister to look at the issue of state lands and take immediate action.

I want to inform this House that nobody can be a better witness to some of these 52 issues than some of us living in the diaspora.

If you are living abroad and send money to a family member to buy a piece of land for you, a lot of issues are going to come up.

They will tell you that a particular piece of land has been paid for by ten people and you will end up going to court.
I have no question in my mind that your expertise will be transformed into practice.

You are a Lecturer, which means that you are a good listener, tolerant and patient.

Please use your skills wisely to rebrand the image of our land tenure system in this country.

I have no doubt in your ability to deliver because you have what it takes to transform that Ministry for the progress of this country.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to also talk about one of the finest gentlemen, Mr Rex Bonapha, proposed Deputy Minister of Lands, Housing and the Environment.

He is an emancipator and very professional.

He has worked in the Organising Department of the Sierra Leone People‟s Party and I know what he has given to this country and to the SLPP.

He is a no nonsense person.

He is one of the perfect gentlemen you can meet.

He is calm in nature and he always listens to people.
He jokes when it is time to joke and works when it is time to work.

He is very disciplined and principled.

These are virtues you cannot take away from this gentleman.

I have no doubt in my mind that he will get the necessary support of not only the Minister, but other Ministers.

I am a living witness because he was a Deputy Organising Secretary.

He is the Deputy to my husband and I know the supports he has given to him in the performance of that role.
I know he will make us proud because you are going to deliver.

Please go out there and do your best to support your Minister.

You have to be the best person you have always been.

Let other people see and realise your worth.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to talk about somebody I usually refer to as the Sierra Leone Nelson Mandela.

He is no other person but Mr Lawrence Lahai Leema, proposed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.
You were imprisoned; but today, you are going to be a Deputy Minister after parliamentary approval.

That makes you the Nelson Mandela of Sierra Leone.

He has been tested, tried and he has come out as a perfect gentleman.

He is indeed a tormentor.

When you look at those in positions of trust, 53 majority of them could have gone through that experience and you are one of them.
I am sure you will look at the felt needs of the different departments within your Ministry and work towards addressing any challenge that has the tendency to disrupt your work.

You have been in prison once and could have noticed the prisons need.

You are now in a better position to tell us the needs prisons.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, when Mr Lawrence Lahai Leema‟s name was announced, a lot of police officers were jittery and they know the reason.
But I also know that Mr Lawrence Lahai Leema is a Godly person who will not treat anybody unfairly.

I know he is a God fearing and he will not do anything to hurt anybody.

I know him personally and he is very professional.

I know what he has in mind for this country.

Anytime I speak to him, he always talks about his home bringing.

He usually talks about what his mother taught him.

Please Mr Lahai Laurence Leema; I want you to pay attention to the police officers.
You have to make sure that you depoliticised the Police Force.

Please take the police officers from politics.

I am saying this because majority of them have become politicians.

That means that they are not doing their jobs as police officers, but doing what the politicians want them to do.

They are failing the people of Sierra Leone.

If approved by this House, ensure that these police officers are brought back to where they used to be.
They should stop being politicians and leave politics to us the politicians.

THE SPEAKER: Honourable Member, please take note of S.O [38].

HON.

WUYATTA B. SONGA: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I am trying to round up, but I want to talk about this fine gentleman, Dr Alie Badara Sanjhan Kabba, proposed Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

He is an example of putting country first.


He was leading an ambition, but when he realised that the people wanted Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, he withdrew and supported him.

Dr Alie Kabba put Sierra Leone first because he thought about what the people of this country wanted.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to implore this Honourable House to hastily approve the nominees before us.

I wish them good luck.


54 THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, I am pleased to observe that we have exhausted our quota for women who wish to contribute.

HON.

SERAJIN M. ROLLINGS-KAMARA: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I think we have showered a lot of praises on these nominees.

I want to be very brief and succinct in my contribution.

I want to start with my good friend, Mr Solomon A. Jusu Jamiru, proposed Deputy Minister of Information and Communication.
A lot has been said about him and I pray that he lives up to the expectations of the people of this country.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I enjoyed a good working relationship with Mr Lahai Laurence Leema, proposed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs during the campaign.

People have been saying that Mr Lahai Laurence Leema is problematic.

Well, I want to state here that I was very comfortable with him.

We never had problems because we always engaged in discussing issues.
If approved by this House, you will continue to discuss the issues affecting the development of this country.

It is sometimes difficult to be in opposition and that was why he was very exuberant.

He fought a good fight and I want to thank him for that.

I hope he will deliver when he eventually becomes a Deputy Minister.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the next person I want to talk about is Dr Denis Moinina Sandy, proposed Minister of Lands, Housing and Environment.
I was on radio when you rushed into the studio to pronounce the Ministerial Order when he has not been approved by Parliament.

I hope you will now give real Ministerial Order after parliamentary approval, so that those documents will be signed.

I am saying this because we have cases of unsigned land papers for over six to ten years now.

I do not know what the previous Ministers and officials were doing.

This is the second time you are going to that Ministry.
I am sure you know the problems in that Ministry and I also know that you will work towards addressing them accordingly.

Therefore, we look forward to for immediate answers.

Again, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to talk about Mr William Illamim Kongkatee Robinson, proposed Deputy Minister of Tourism and Culture.

I schooled in 55 Bonthe District for one year and Mr William Illamim Kongkatee Robinson and I slept in the same room in Pastor Fox‟s residence.
He is a very good man and we ate raw banana together.

I never knew Bonthe; but when I went there, he made me comfortable.

Today, he is going to be confirmed as Deputy Minister.

I want to remind him tjat Bonthe District is on the brick of decline.

It is your home town and you have to do so much to revive that district.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to spend a minute to talk about my mentor, my brother and my father, Rev.

Abraham Sesay-Jones, proposed Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.
People do not know him much, I am happy that nobody talked about him except me.

This was not mentioned in his CV at all.

He worked with lots of young people and he delivered the first black or the first national head of that ministry for over 100 years.

Rev.

Abraham Sesay-Jones is an astute and forthright person.

I want to assure this House that we have a gem in the forest in the person of Rev.

Abraham Sesay-Jones.

He is a deliverer and hardworking.

He just came back from the United States.


When I was about to go and study with the help of my Organisation, he joined me from Connaught to Big Market and other places.

Any time I am on „Listeners Concerns‟ radio programme, Rev.

Abraham Sesay-Jones would call to give me direction on how to address issues of national interest.

At one time, somebody said that he went to a shop and bought a tin of sardine at Le2, 000; and the next day, the Lebanese said a tin of sardine at Le 2, 300.

Rev.
Rev.

Abraham Sesay-Jones said it is not correct to keep increasing prices indiscriminately.

Well, Rev.

Abraham Sesay-Jones is now the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.

He has the power and the authority to turn things around.

I am proud of him and very happy for his nomination.

I thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

HON.

KEMOKOH CONTEH: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for giving me this opportunity.

I am going to be very brief.

The nominees we have are very good according to their CVs.
It shows that they will perform in their respective Ministries.

It also confirms that the President did not make any mistake in nominating them to this House for approval.

56 Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to talk about somebody from the Western Rural Area, Waterloo to be specific, which is my constituency.

In his wisdom, President Julius Maada Bio took the venture to nominate somebody from Waterloo.
This started with the former President, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, when he appointed Mr Cornelius Devoux as a Deputy Minister of Information and Communication.

Today, President Julius Maada Bio has nominated Mr Eldred Tunde Taylor, proposed Deputy Minister of Energy.

He is a perfect gentleman.

He is born and bred in Waterloo and he has shown perfection for far too long during his days as a youthful individual.

He was a perfect gentleman and he has been working with stakeholders in that part of the country.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to remind the proposed Minister that there are things going on in Waterloo.

Today, if this House approves your nomination, you have to look into the issue of electricity in that part of the country.

The current inherited 5 megawatts, but had dwindled to 2.64 megawatts.

I want to believe that with your efforts and commitments, you will turn things around.
I am sure you are going to deliver the deliverables and you are going to work in the interest of the people of this country.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to state here that irrespective of the party or tribe you belong to, Sierra Leone comes first.

I am sure Mr Eldred Tunde Taylor is a perfect gentleman.

After your approval, we have to put politics aside and work towards the development of Waterloo and the country as a whole.
We are happy for your nomination and we believe this House is going to approve you.

I am going to work with you as the Member of Parliament representing the people of Waterloo.

We are going to work collectively for the general good.

I want to inform the nominees that pubic appointment is public trust.

It is a trust given to you and it is „Primus inter Paris.‟ You have to do your best and do not look at anything that will debar your work.
You have to serve this country first and this Parliament will be on your side in terms of monitoring your work.

With those few words, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity.

57 HON.

FRANCIS A. KAISAMBA: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Today, we have another batch of nominees for approval.

Over the years, there have been lots of problems between the Ministers and their Deputies.
This House has been advising and admonishing Ministers that Deputy Ministers are their principal assistants.

This means they should work with together and delegate responsibilities to them.

However, this has not been happening and the idea of „Deputy Ministers‟ is not usually treated seriously because deputies are not treated with the utmost seriousness by their superiors.

We may not want such situations to reoccur in those ministries.
Therefore, your deputies should be involved in decision making process and learn to delegate responsibilities to them.

You should engage them in achieving the mission and vision of your ministries in tandem with the „New Direction‟ agenda of the President, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio.

The deputy ministers should be recognised they should also know that the ministers are their bosses and should be respected.

The deputies should also work towards ensuring cordial working relationships with their bosses.
If for any reason an abnormal situation arises that needs attention, that situation should be put in a more respectful manner, so that it is resolved amicably.

I am saying this because we have had situations in this country where deputies and their superiors have had very serious conflicts that resulted in embarrassing the Government and the people of this country.

We want to see cordial working relationships between deputies and their superiors.
Having giving those words of advice, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to comment on few nominees and I will start with Mr Abdulai M. Bangura, proposed Deputy Attorney-General & Minister of Justice [aka the Legal B].

Mr Abdulai M. Bangura is typically a Kenema born individual.

He went to the Government Secondary School in Kenema.

He proceeded to Fourah Bay College and later returned to Kenema district to serve the people.
He has provided legal services for the people of Kenema for the past 22 years and that has caught the admiration of many people.

For instance, during the last elections, the indigenes organised themselves and met him to contest for the Mayoral position, but he declined.

58 Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, One thing you cannot take from Mr Abdulai M. Bangura is his support for the SLPP.
In other words, he is an ardent supporter of the SLPP to the point that he suffered marginalisation in the hands of the last government.

For the past 22 years, he has been a Legal Practitioner.

I am not a lawyer, but I know he is qualified to be a Judge.

He has never been nominated because of the political party he belongs.
I wish him well in his endeavour and I hope he will work with his boss, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Charles Francis Margai to reform the Judiciary in Sierra Leone.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to quickly talk about Mr Rex Bonapha, proposed Deputy Minister of Lands, Housing and Infrastructure.

Mr Rex Bonapha comes from my constituency and he contested with me twice for the parliamentary symbol.
I am happy to inform this House that despite his failure to obtain the party symbol, he has always been supportive of my campaigns.

He loves the SLPP and supported it throughout.

I have been praying fervently for the President to consider him and it has come to pass.

I hope I will now have respite in my constituency [Laughter].

Now that he has a job, at least the Constituency is mine.

I want to thank you very much and I wish him well.


Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Lahai Lawrence Leema is a household name in this country and a lot has been said about him.

I want to however remind him that he is still a young man.

He comes from Kenema District and I am sure he will combine his security and legal backgrounds to work with the Minister who is a former Member of Parliament, so that internal affairs issues are addressed.

It is a very critical Ministry.


Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Mr Lusaine Kallon has been nominated to serve as Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs [Applause].

He has served in the Young Generation Wing of the SLPP and I know he will work with his boss, so that they can address issues relating to the youth of this country.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I also want to talk about Dr Turad Senesie, proposed Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education.
He has been in the 59 University and I am sure he knows the problems in the Universities.

I am sure he will work with his boss to salvage the problems of his colleagues in the Universities.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Honourable Philip T. Tondoneh has been nominated to the position of Deputy Minister Local Government & Rural Development.

He is the Eastern Region Chairman of the SLPP.

He has not been a good friend of mine because we always argue over very many things during our struggles in the SLPP.
But of course, he is forthright and hard working.

I was happy when I heard that he has been nominated to serve as Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.

I was very pleased for his nomination.

I want to state here that he is performer and a deliverer, but I hope he will work with his boss because there are lots of things in that Ministry they need to be addressed.

For instance, the Local Councils have been in existence for over ten years now and they should be reformed.
We need to ask ourselves certain questions relating to the decentralisation process.

What progress have we made since its inception in 2004?

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Mr Solomon A. Jusu Jamiru, proposed Deputy Minister of Information and Communication is very articulate and hard working.

The Ministry of Information has got a very good team.

I know they will do the job of the Ministry professionally.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, Dr Alie Kabba is my elder brother.
He is from Kenema District and he grew up in Kenema.

He went to the Government Secondary School and his nomination is apt.

He has all what it takes to represent Sierra Leone internationally.

He also has the wherewithal to encourage investors to come to Sierra Leone and invest.

He has the potential to lure investments that are in line with the „New Direction‟ agenda.

With those few words, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to wish all the other nominees well.
I hope you will work very hard to make this country a better place for all of us.

60 THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, we will now wrap up the debate on this particular matter and since I know he has been anxious for quite a while.

I will recognise the following speakers in this order: the Honourable Mohamed Bangura, Honourable Segepoh S. Thomas [Deputy Speaker], Honourable Chernor R. M. Bah [Leader of the Opposition] and Honourable Sidie M. Tunis [Leader of Government Business].

HON.
HON.

MOHAMED BANGURA: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I would first of all want to draw the attention of the Honourable Members on the other side that the issuance of diplomatic passports is the sole right and prerogative of the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

In other words, His Excellency the President usually identifies people whom he thinks are qualified to be given Diplomatic Passports.
Having said that, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to give my heart to His Excellency the President, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, for nominating these young and dynamic people to their respective positions.

I say so because he is still following what he met from the past government of His Excellency Dr Ernest Bai Koroma.

Because we have set the bar so high that His Excellency the President, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio has to go above what we have done for the people of this country.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to talk about the proposed Minister of Lands, Housing and the Environment, Dr Denis Moinina Sandy.

He is normally called „Ministerial Order Number 2.‟ I want to inform him that he should not pay attention to those who are calling you that name because some of us know that you are a competent individual to run that Ministry.

That is the reason you were in Cabinet, serving as Minister in this same Ministry.
I want to emphasis here that you are competent and forthright.

You always wanted to see things being done the right way.

You were relieved as Minister of Lands because you had problem with Parliament.

I hope you will work with Parliament this time round after parliamentary approval… - [Interruption].

THE SPEAKER: Order!

I am warning the gallery again.

Let us maintain decorum and quietness.

If you do not want to be led out by other means, please maintain decorum.

61 HON.
61 HON.

MOHAMED BANGURA: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

When you shall have taken over the affairs of that Ministry, please look into the numerous problems relating to land in this country.

There are certain people in this country who have been given land by the Ministry of Lands, some have ten to twenty acres of land and some even have thirty acres of land.

They will keep them without developing them.


And this is against Ministry‟s law, which says that if the Ministry gives you a piece of land, you have to develop it within three years.

People are in the habit of keeping their lands for ten to fifteen years and later sell them to other people.

After parliamentary approval and have subscribed to the oath of office, please take those lands [Applause].

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want the proposed Minister to pay attention to the issue of Mortormeh.
The Mortormeh incident was a disaster that led to loss of lives and property.

People who owned houses in that area that were destroyed by the mudslide should be considered.

If they come to your Ministry, please relocate them, including myself.

Mr Speaker, some of us have known Dr Denis Moinina Sandy years back and I was his boss in the People‟s Movement for Democratic Change [PMDC] party.

During that time, he fears nobody, but he is very religious.
Anytime he was given an assignment, he always performed.

I have no doubt that you will perform this time around.

That is the reason he has been nominated to serve in the same Ministry.

It is a testimony of his performance.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, let me go to another nominee whose name is a household name in this country, Mr Lahai Lawrence Leema, proposed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.
I want to remind my brother that when you stand for the right thing in this country, people call you all kinds of names.

They will call you all sorts of names, but when you climb the ladder of success, they will want to put you down.

This is the country we have, but I want you to go to that Ministry and prove the critics wrong.
When I heard the first names of nominees being announced, I asked myself the question, „where is Lahai Lawrence Leema?‟ I am happy for your nomination to serve as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.

Please go and work with your boss, so that you can achieve your goals.

We do not want a situation wherein both of you will be fighting in 62 that Ministry.

I know the problems between Deputy Ministers and Ministers.

Sometimes Deputy Ministers want to do things on their own.
However, I want you to know that you are assisting the Minister.

Do not do anything to undermine your boss.

For sure you will get there because the Honourable Minister of Internal Affairs is a good man.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the proposed Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is a man who has persevered a lot.

He is very eloquent, committed and hard working.

On that note, I want to thank you very much.

HON.


SEGEPOH S. THOMAS: Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, if you read Sections 56 and 57 of the Standing Orders, in tandem with Sections 75 and 76 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, Act No 6 of 1991, you will come to the conclusion that the nominees before us this afternoon are all qualified.

Their interviews were vigorous and I am a Member of the Committee on Appointments and the Public Service.
We went all out to ensure that the nominees met the required criteria and we did a thorough job.

The moment you hear names like Dr Alie Kabba, Mr William Illamim Kongkatee Robinson, Mr Sam king Brima, Honourable Philip T. Tondoneh, Mr Solomon Jamiru, Mr Bangura, Dr Dennis Sandy, Augustine Sandi, Edward Sandi, Melrose Kargbo, etc.

you will come to the conclusion that His Excellency the President meant something serious for this nation.

These are all success stories for this government.


Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, my own contribution is going to be a warning and a plea to the nominees.

This nation has seen bad days and we have also witnessed terrible regimes, but which I personally considered to be very funny.

But the interesting thing is that those who became the very victims of those regimes are the ones dancing for them.

We have seen that in this country.


Sometimes you are tempted to examine the whole situation and conclude that Sierra Leoneans must have a rethink on certain things.

Like I have always said in this Well, you are going to ministries where others have been there before.

These people have come to Parliament and made lots of promises.
They have told this nation that they were going to create a difference; some even proffered solutions to our problems and some said they knew all the problems and promised to change the face of these ministries.

Regrettably, year in year out, this 63 nation is still experiencing the same problems.

I want to state here that Sierra Leone has been going in circles since independence.

We have not made much progress like Ghana.


At one point in this country‟s history, people in other countries used to get certain things like education from Sierra Leone.

Today, however, those countries have made progress.

They have gone far ahead of us.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, this is very serious and we need to do something in order to salvage the situation.

Parliament approves budget every financial year, but at the end of the day, nothing much is achieved.
Moneys are disbursed to the various MDAs and remedial actions are put in place, but nothing much is achieved.

Like I always say, mine is a plea.

His Excellency the President has thought it fit to nominate you at this time and I want to ask all of you to go out there and make a difference.

Please, do not fail this nation.

Let us begin to hear something different this time round.
If you go to other countries and compare their Ministries of Information to ours, you will find out that we are far behind as far as mobile networks are concerned.

Their stories are quite impressive than ours.

Year in year out the story in this country has not changed.

Ministers have come and gone, but the story has not changed at all.

In fact, a particular Minister came to this Parliament and made all sorts of promises.
I do not want to call names, but the fact remains that person even mentioned time line within which he promised to correct all the problems Airtel has been causing.

He promised to punish those mobile companies.

His speech was very impressive to hear, but at the end of the day, we are still battling with the same problems.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, my contributions to nominees has always been a plea based on your credentials.
I know you can do it and I know you can create the required difference we need in all of these ministries.

You can create a positive difference for the New Direction to flourish.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to remind all and sundry that no President would want to fail.

Every President would want to succeed.

I want to ask these nominees to help His Excellency the President to succeed.

Parliament is not going to tolerate, this time in the History of our nation, scandals relating to Ministers.
We have 64 heard, read and seen all sorts of scandals relating to Ministers and these Ministers continued to occupy their seats.

This time we are not going to tolerate that anymore.

I want you to help His Excellency the President to succeed.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I developed hypertension during the just concluded general elections because after the voting exercise, everybody was glued to his or her radio in order to know what is happening.
This time we want to vote and go to bed, knowing that we will win again.

This is just a note of caution for the Ministers and Deputy Ministers.

I have confidence in Dr Senesie and Dr Sandy and I know that they are going to create the difference.

Thank you very much.

HON.

CHERNOR R. M. BAH [Leader of the Opposition]: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, we are here today to approve presidential nominees.
But as the Deputy Speaker said, it is better to advise when it is early than to complain when it is too late.

Some of us have had our experiences.

I want to assure you that with the exception of two or three of the nominees, but I know the rest of them personally.

I have known some of them for the past 20 years.

I have been in the political landscape for a while, so my experience speaks volumes.

THE SPEAKER: I never knew you are that old, Honourable Member.

HON.
HON.

CHERNOH R. M. BAH: As I said earlier, I know almost all these presidential nominees.

Therefore, talking about them individually may pose a challenge for me.

But I am sure for those I will not be able to talk about will forgive me as well.

I want to start with Mrs Melrose Kargbo, proposed Deputy Minister of Works and Public Assets.

I have known her for over 20 years and her late husband, Mr Julius Kamara, was my brother.
For Dr Alie Kabba, I am not going to talk anything about him because Honourable Sidie M. Tunis knows everything that is happening.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, so much has been said about Honourable Philip T. Tondoneh.

He was here with us as a Member of Parliament from 2007 to 2012.

Honourable Mathew S. Nyuma, Deputy Leader of Government Business is not fortunate to contribute today, but they were Members of Committee on Mines and Mineral 65 Resources and I was the Chairman of that Committee.
At that time, the Committee was very effective and I hope that Committee will be very effective as it used to be.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the Public Accounts Committee is going to be chaired by the Deputy Speaker.

I was also the Chairman of that Committee when I was serving as the Deputy Speaker of this House.
Mr Speaker, Members of Parliament will also attest to the fact that if we are talking about transparency and accountability today, I am very sure that Audit Service Sierra Leone takes that accolade and Honourable Chernor R. M. Bah is the architect of that victory.

Mr Speaker, I want you to advise the gallery that the Leader is speaking and they should pay attention.

This is a Parliament and we have encouraged many things.

This is a place for Members of Parliament.


THE SPEAKER: I do not want to point a finger at anybody, but I am about to do so.

I know exactly where the noise is coming from.

They are in front of me in the upper gallery.

HON.

CHERNOR R. M. BAH: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Today, the proposed Deputy Ministers are more than the Ministers you have approved earlier.

Dr Denis Moinina Sandy has been a very good friend of mine.
Again, Mr Peter Bayuku Konteh is a very good friend of mine from Koinadugu District.

I want to tell them that Deputy Ministers are also Ministers and not nonentities.

I want to advise you to work closely with your deputies.

They have a role to play and they are there to give you the necessary support you will need.

They are deputies to you, but using words like subordinate or similar words will not be of relevance.

You have to utilise their expertise.


Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I have also known Mr Eldred Tunde Taylor, proposed Deputy Minister of Energy for over 20 years now.

A lot has been said about him and I am sure all these nominees are capable enough to perform their respective functions.

I want to encourage all the Ministers to work closely with their deputies.

As I said, I do not want to mention names, but we are here to give the necessary support, so that you succeed.
Our duty is to point out the areas we think you can pay proper attention to, areas where there are gaps or areas to be improved.

66 Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, so much has been said about the land tenure system in this country.

This is a serious issue and I do not want you to play with it.

Allegations have been made before about government structures and those structures have been converted to private residences.

I want you to look into that issue.


Those who have been allocated lands but have failed to develop those lands, you have to look into that issue, irrespective of party colour.

Justice should not be selective.

It is unfortunate that my colleague from Kailahun has left, but she spoke about the police when she was addressing Mr Lahai Laurence Leema.

Mr Lahai Laurence Leema has been my secret admirer for a very long time and I am sure he will follow my footsteps.

But the police must be a professional body.


What we saw in Parliament on that day should not be repeated.

The Police should be very professional in the discharge of their duties.

We will support you in your various ministries to ensure that we have a professional police force.

We are encouraging him to make them professional.

If we should have trained them they should not have been used in that manner.

They have to be professionals.


Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, we have a lot to say next week when we will be debating the Presidential Address.

Condemning or criticising the Presidential Address will be something else looking forward because these are proposals and the Ministers have just been approved and appointed.

We have to give them space to do their work.

I am saying this because it is only when they shall have delivered or failed we will have the capacity or authority to condemn them.
For now, we will support their nominations and we will accept and approve them.

We have to give them our necessary support in terms of sharing our experiences with them.

Again, if our expertise is needed, we are available and we will provide whatever support that is required of us.

I want to state here that complaining will not help the situation.

We have to embrace change and stop the blame game.

What has happened yesterday that was wrong should not be repeated at all.
The people of this country will not tolerate it anymore.

They want to see a positive difference.

We have passed the days of Kabba Tiger Generators and you should 67 not take us back.

I know Dr Alie Kabba is a very good team player and he is going to be working with my sister, Ms Nematulai Bah-Charm.

Having said that, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to assure all the nominees of our support and be approved.

I thank you very much.

HON.


SIDIE M. TUNIS: Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, before I come to the nominees, I want to make some few clarifications based on the contributions made my colleagues on the other side.

The Honourable Ibrahim B. Kargbo said in his contribution that some amount of money was left at the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
I am not too sure about that, but I want to assure you that under the „New Direction‟ agenda, especially with the calibre of Ministers we have put in that Ministry, it is definitely going to grow better than how it used to be.

THE SPEAKER: The good thing is that he never specified the amount.

HON.
HON.

SIDIE M. TUNIS: I also want to confirm to you that there has been a lot of improvement in the revenue generation aspect and we will continue to do so, especially now that we have got highly qualified people to manage the Ministry of Finance.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, on the area of electricity, I am not too sure what my Honourable colleague on the other side was talking about, I want to inform this House that the APC led Government started with an emergency power and ended with an emergency power supply.

So, I do not know what he was talking about at all.

What the „New Direction‟ is going to do is to bring a sustainable, reliable and affordable Energy.
Again, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to assure the Honourable Member from Bombali District that under the „New Direction,‟ the 30% quota for women‟s representation will be realised.

We have just started and we are going to improve on that.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the Leader of the Opposition mentioned the police.

I want to remind him that this government has not started training any police officers.

The ones that we met are the ones we are dealing with at the moment.
The same police officers you trained few weeks to elections are the same officers we are working 68 with.

However, I want to assure him that the police are going to be professional next time.

Our colleagues need to come down a little bit and there will be no need to bring the police here.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, we have distinguished personalities in our midst and these are eminent Sierra Leoneans who are being nominated by His Excellency the President, to serve as Ministers and Deputy Ministers.
I want to thank my colleagues, especially those on the other side for the kind sentiments and accolades expressed.

They have promised that they would provide their supports when called upon.

I also want to assure them that these nominees will perform because they are going to copy from their boss, His Excellency the President, who is a performer.

I want to remind the nominees that the President is in a hurry to produce results and he is going to produce positive results.
He has already started producing results.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, if you look at the Ministry of Finance, you will find people like Mr Jacob Jusu Saffa as the Minister and Ms Patricia N. Laverley, proposed Deputy Minister of Finance.

I want to inform this House that Ms Patricia N. Laverley is somebody who has proved her mettle in the international stage.

She has been with the Africa Development Bank [ADB], the World Bank and the IMF.
That is the calibre of the person we are bringing to serve as Deputy Minister of Finance.

She has proven track records.

Again, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, if you look at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, we have somebody like Dr Alie Kabba.

I will not talk about him again because so much has already been said about him.

I will instead talk about his deputy, Ms Nematulai Bah-Charm.

I have known her for a very long time, and she is a performer.
Few days ago, I spoke with her and she was very happy to note that the President has nominated her to serve as Deputy Minister.

Dr Alie Badara Sanjhan Kabba told me that he was happy to have somebody who is qualified to work with.

Mr Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues because they have said a lot about all of the nominees.

Therefore, I do not want to repeat what has been said.
69 Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to talk about Mr Lawrence Lahai Leema, proposed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.

A lot of people have said a lot about him and there are people who do not understand who Lahai Lawrence Leema is.

They do not know him, but I want to tell them he is a gentleman.

However, Mr Lahai Laurence Leema‟s gentility should not be taken for granted.

If you offend him, then he becomes a rebel.


I believe in his capacity as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, who is going to be in charge of internal security of this country, there will be no bush shaking in this country.

Having said that, Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I want to call on this Honourable House to approve all these nominees for the various positions they have been nominated to serve.

I thank you very much.


[Question Proposed, Put and Agreed to] [Motion of the Committee on Appointments and the Public Service has been ratified] THE SPEAKER: Honourable Members, let it be said and said with some audacity and confidence that this Parliament could not have asked for a better set of ministerial nominees from His Excellency the President.

They are people who have excelled themselves in their various capacities and disciplines.
They have all displayed a character of the greatest magnificence and I have no doubt that they will truly live to the trust and confidence reposed in them by the President.

Honourable Members let me follow the example of some of you who have admonished the Deputy Ministers who have just been confirmed by the House.

Always remember that you have two bosses; i.e., the President and your immediate boss.
Your immediate is the substantive Minister and your second and ultimate boss is the President who nominated you for approval.

Also, remember that as you venture out into your respective ministries, there are no two ministers of equal rank and status.

There is a substantive Minister and a Deputy Minister.

As long you remember that distinction and you do not challenge the substantive Minister but rather you try to collaborate and work with him/her, nothing will frustrate your efforts but success.
So, my warning is that you have to refrain from challenging your bosses.

If you do so, if you heed to the advice 70 you have been given from across the isles, you will definitely be delegated with more responsibilities than you think by your substantive Ministers.

But if you seek to challenge your substantive Ministers, then nothing but rancour, disagreement and differences will always characterise your relationship.
We hope and expect a smooth, efficient, competent and professional result in the discharge of your responsibilities and in contributing to the service of your country.

All of us in this House wish you well as you embark in the discharge of your responsibilities.

Honourable Members, I want to conclude by singling out Dr Denis Moinina Sandy, proposed Minister of Lands, Housing and Environment.

We in this House will continue to pay particular attention to the work of that Ministry.
We know we do so in resonance of the concerns of this nation.

I want to wish him well.

We have every confidence in his ability to perform.

Please be calm and be professional in your approach, but you have to be firm and resolute in your decision making.

We will follow you closely and we will watch every step that you will take through the parliamentary oversight committee on Lands, Housing and the Environment.
I want you to be rest assured that I, as Speaker, will ensure that we keep our eyes and ears wide open.

We wish you well.

I thank you very much and you are at liberty to leave.

[The House rose at 2.40 p.m., and was adjourned to Monday, 28th May, 2018 at 10:00 ADJOURNMENT a.m.] 71