By Ragan M. Conteh

Speaker of Parliament Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas was very emphatic past Thursday when he angrily expressed in parliament that “at this moment Parliament only exists to pay debts.”

He made the angry statement when some parliamentarians singled him out for compromising with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to neglect Members of Parliament.

Hon Dickson Rogers in his furious submissions stated that all the problems MPs are facing at the moment are primarily caused by the Speaker.

“During the time of SBB Dumbuya as Speaker, MDAs respected Parliament because he stood by MPs and ensured that MDAs do not have leeway when they refuse to attend parliamentary summons,” Hon Rogers fumed.

He stressed that this current parliament is not effectively performing its functions because of the too much compromise on state matters.

Hon Mustapha Sellu from Moyamba District also blamed the Speaker and all the leadership for the current predicament parliamentarians are facing.

The Speaker, on the other hand, also shifted the blame to some MPs from both sides of the aisle for undermining his decisions.

“Whenever I took stringent steps against MDAs there are MPs who will end up coming to my desk and speak on behalf of them,” he disclosed.

Speaker Thomas vowed to begin to expose those MPs who will go to his desk to defend defaulting MDAs.

He spoke on the huge debts accrued by Parliament which he said has resulted to the dysfunction of parliament.

“Parliament is not receiving the allocation it deserves. As parliament we are always there to service debts. Parliament is going through tough times in terms of resources,” he stated.

What is more disturbing, according to the Deputy Speaker Hon Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, is the Finance Ministry’s failure to provide them with new vehicles.

He said Parliament needs to take tough actions against the Ministry for its failure to provide their leadership vehicles.

He insisted a motion should be moved to reject bills or agreements coming from Finance ministry.