As they subscribed to oath of office… APC MPs Become Full-Fledged Members of Parliament
By Kelvin Jay
Tuesday 7th November,2023, was a historic day in the anal history of Sierra Leone as elected APC Members of Parliament subscribed to oath of office and take their rightful seats in Parliament.
This oath taking ceremony was officiated by the Clerk of Parliament, Hon. Paran Tarawally, in the presence of the Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Abass Bundu, United States Ambassador to SierraLeone, Bryan David Hunt, the leadership of the APC including Hon. Minkailu Mansaray, (National Chairman of the APC), Chernor Maju Bah, Osman Foday Yansaneh (APC Deputy National Chairman), Lansana Dumbuya, (Secretary General of the Party) and few others.
The session started by announcing the names of the elected APC MPs by districts followed by their administering of oath which was done by the Clerk of Parliament, Hon. Paran Tarawally.
That swearing-in ceremony has automatically led the APC MPs to become a full-fledged Members of Parliament.
During the session, Funs and jokes were cracked in Parliament as the APC MPs were visibly smiling with joys.
Welcoming the new MPs to Parliament, the Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Abass Bundu, described them as very distinguished Personalities and informed the house about the visit of the Business Committee of Nigerian Parliamentarians to the SierraLeone’s Parliament with the purpose of familiarizing with Members of Parliament. “I consider it as a great honor to welcome you all in this sacred Parliament”, the Speaker said and asked the 52 APC MPs what has kept them away from this house since their election as Members of Parliament.
It could be recalled that after the disputed June 24 General Elections, the APC hierarchy out rightly rejected the outcome of the elections on grounds of electoral riggering that prompted the party to take firm decision of not participating in the Governance architecture as a way to protest for what they described as a stolen mandate of the people.
The APC issued out a position papers by calling for a fresh election to be conducted by International bodies and also demanded for an international mediator to come and mediate the political impasse in the country.
Few months after their calls, a team of International Mediators including ECOWAS, AU and Commonwealth arrived In SierraLeone to facilitate a peaceful dialogue between the ruling Government and the Opposition.
The international arbiters succeeded in brokering peace by encouraging the conflicting parties to sign a peace accord which will bring a lasting solution to the Political stalemate in the Country.
A communique was signed between the two parties and a consensus was reached for all APC Elected Representatives to participate in Governance among other things.
As things stand, part of the resolutions have been implemented by both sides although there are few issues that are yet to be settled.
Meanwhile, Prior to the oath taking ceremony of the APC MPs, the leadership of the APC had appointed new Parliamentary leaders to serve in the sixth Parliament. Hon. Abdul Kargbo is to serve as the Minority leader and was deputized by Hon. Daniel Koroma and Hon. Aaron Koroma.
