The All People’s Congress ( APC ) put up a gallant masterclass of outstanding oratory during the parliamentary debate before the vote to uphold or not to uphold the statutory provisions of the proposed commission of inquiry to be set up by President Maada Bio to probe alleged corruption during the last government. But it was all in vain as they failed to muster the constitutionally-required two-thirds majority to block the commission of inquiry.
At the end of voting, 72 votes were cast against the Inquiry , 60 for and 2 abstentions . APC needed 94 votes to get a parliamentary 2/3 majority.
Therefore, the Speaker of the House, Dr. Abass Bundu, ruled that the three constitutional instruments that were being debated in parliament will mature at midnight after APC MPs failed to secure two thirds of the total votes count to annul them and that a commission of inquiry will eventually hold’.
As the news went viral on social media, delighted supporters of the SLPP, backed by the NGC, and angry APC supporters took over from where the parliamentarians had ended it, arguing ferociously.
What bothers the APC about the Commission is the selective justice behind it. The SLPP failed to include Permanent Secretaries and vote controllers who handle the finances of the ministries, departments and agencies , most of whom hail from the South/East and by dint of Sierra Leone’s ethnocentric politics , obvious supporters of the SLPP. Additionally, the APC feels aggrieved that the commission will be a witch hunt against them because its terms of reference cover only the rule of the APC from 2007 to 2012 , leaving out the SLPP two-term rule from 1996 to 2007 when there was so much corruption that even the IMF, World Bank ,EU and DFID stopped funding the SLPP Government.
HERE IS WHAT AN SLPP SUPPORTER FELT …..
APC A SYMBOL OF ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
Abdul Rahman Malikie
It is very unfortunate to see many APC people in a lot of groups arguing that because majority voted against the issue of the commission of inquiry, therefore it should not have passed.
This is very absurd because it now clearly tells us these APC people do not have any clue of the workings of Parliament and/or the provisions of our Constitution. They are completely lost and still going ahead to tell their supporters that slpp thwarted the normal process just to establish a commission of inquiry.
Many have bought it.
Trust me.
To put the records straight, this is not a question of voting for the new establishment of something. It is a vote to either uphold or not uphold something that is already there.
In order to vote not to uphold the statutory provisions of the commission of inquiry, you need 2/3 majority to do so.And APC with 72 votes failed to secure that 2/3 majority to stop the implementation of the commission.
The slpp did an excellent job by securing 60 votes which automatically blocked APC from the majority required to reverse this constitutional instrument that is already in place.
So it is not a question who voted in majority against it because it still does not matter if you do not secure two thirds majority to reverse it.
Aaaaaaa APC wunnah try for understand how government works. Wunnah take the constitution and read again. And this constitution used today are the provisions of the 1991 constitution drafted by the APC government under Joseph saidu momoh. “So nar wunnah yone oil we dae use fry wunnah so”😄😄😄
Abass Bundu who understands the constitution just bin dae wertch wunnah wey wunnah bin dae jump jump. The man knew that not matter the debate, APC was never going to secure the two thirds majority to reverse what has already been established. This is one of the provisions of the 1991 constitution.
With this mandate established, the commission now has the powers to arrest, detain and prosecute all those deemed to have misappropriated public funds. Including Ernest Bai koroma.
