PPRC News Brief 16th October 2015
Representatives of the All Peoples Congress (APC), Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), Citizens Democratic Party (CDP), National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peace and Liberation Party (PLP), Revolutionary United Front Party (RUFP), United Democratic Movement (UDM), Alliance Democratic Party (ADP) and the United National People’s Party (UNPP) on Thursday 15th October 2015, appealed to the technical team of the Ministry of Finance to approve the Three Billion Leones (Le 3.7bn) asked for by the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC). The appeal came after the presentation of the budget by the Acting Registrar of the Commission Mrs Zainab Umu Moseray at the ongoing Ministry of Finance Budget Hearing at the Miatta Conference Hall in Freetown.
Giving an overview of the Commission, Mrs Moseray says the Commission is not established just to register political parties as perceived by the public, but to do the following as stated in Section 6 of the Political Parties Act No. 3 of 2002:
- Register and supervise the conduct of political parties in accordance with the 1991 Constitution and the PPRC Act of 2002;
- Monitor the affairs or conduct of political parties to ensure their compliance with the constitution of Sierra Leone, the PPRC Act and the terms and conditions of their registration ;
- Monitor the accountability of political parties to their membership and to the electorate of Sierra Leone;
- Promote political pluralism and spirit of constitutionalism among political parties;
- When approached by persons or parties concerned, to mediate any conflict or disputes between or among the leadership of any political party or between or among political parties and
- To do all such things as will contribute to the attainment of good conduct of political parties
Speaking on the Commission’s Strategic Plan 2016 – 2020 Mrs Moseray informed the hearing that the Eight Hundred Million Leones (Le 800,000,000) budget ceiling set for the Commission is too small and will not allow the Commission to effectively carry out its activities as outlined in the strategic plan. She further says the only financier of the Commission is the government of Sierra Leone since the departure of UNIPSIL.
Justifying why government should fund the activities of the Commission, Mrs Moseray says Section 8(1) guarantees that “The administrative and other expenses of the Commission, including salaries, gratuities and pensions of the members and staff of the Commission shall be charge on the Consolidated Fund”.
Speaking on behalf of the other registered political parties, the National Chairman and Leader of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party Chief Sumanoh Kapen and the Acting National Chairman and Leader of the Citizens Democratic Party (CDP) stressed that for democracy to thrive in Sierra Leone the PPRC must be fully funded. The PPRC they say is the strongest pillar in the development and maintenance of our nascent democracy. They admonished the Ministry of Finance to ensure that what the Commission is asking for is given as they as political parties will also benefit from the PPRC deliverables set out by the Commission.
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