The Deputy Opposition Leader in Parliament, Hon Daniel Koroma, has informed his colleagues Members of Parliament in the Well of Parliament that, “Party loyalty is hunting all of us and our political parties are holding us back.”
According to Hon Koroma, “Most of our colleagues MPs who are not making it to the second term in Parliament resulted from their individual stands towards national issues or because they may have refused to work in consonant with their political parties policies and programs.
He further said that if Parliament was serious enough to fight corruption and promote accountability in the country it would succeed in less than six (6) months.
“The only thing that Parliament cannot do is to change man to a woman. If Parliament is robust we don’t need these agencies,” Hon Koroma said.
He made the disclosure on Thursday 18th January 2024 during the debate on the National Monitoring and Evaluation Agency Act, 2023 presented by the Chief Minister, David Moinina Sengeh, in the Chambers of Parliament.
Hon Koroma revealed that the problems of this country can only be solved by Parliament, adding that if Parliament is serious enough to address corruption and promote accountability, the country will develop and will be saved from looters.
He commended the Chief Minister for presenting a bill to promote transparency and accountability, adding that the Chief Minister wanted to deliver but pitied him for such a herculean task ahead.
The Deputy Opposition Leader said that there no need to add more institutions while the country have Parliament, ACC, ASSL, NPPA and among other institutions that are created by an Act of Parliament and geared towards working to achieve transparency and accountability in MDAs.
He urged the House to thoroughly look at the document to avoid duplication and abrogation on the existing laws of the land.
The Leader of Government Business, Hon Matthew Sahr Nyuma, spoke eloquently on the importance of the National Monitoring and Evaluation Agency Act, 2023 which, he said, is an Act introduced by the country’s Chief Minister, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh.
And that it has been created with a mandate for an effective national institutional policy framework to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Medium-Term National Development Plan and other government and donor-funded projects.
According to the Leader of Government Business, the NaMED will lead the monitoring and evaluation of all Public Sector Programmes and projects, including donor-funded projects.
Hon Nyuma said it was also symbolic that the first Act of 2024 at the first session of Parliament by the Chief Minister of government speaks to monitoring of institutional impact.
He revealed that the impact evaluation is precisely the way to see what the Chief Minister means by tha mantra “we will deliver”.
The Chief Minister, Dr Sengeh, said the Act is to coordinate all Monitoring and Evaluation Units and institutions, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as well as monitoring the MDAs to deliver on their deliverables.