By Ragan M. Conteh

The female Member of Parliament from Bombali, Hon Catherine Zainab Tarawallie, in her submission, says State-Owned Enterprises “are not taking Parliament and the people of Sierra Leone with utmost seriousness they deserve.”

She made the submissions on Tuesday, 25 March 2025, during an intense debate on the Bill entitled: ‘State-Owned Enterprises and Governance Act 2025″. She said the proposed law is meant for the progress and development of Sierra Leone.

The Bill, according to its defenders, seeks to establish State-Owned Enterprises and Governance Act with the aim to providing a framework for effective ownership and governance of State-Owned Enterprises.

It is also meant to provide for a prudent shareholder of State-Owned Enterprises on behalf of Government, to provide clear guidelines and standards for transparency, accountability, and good governance in the operations of State-Owned Enterprises.

It also aims to ensure that there is a better economic management which promotes fair competition and improves public trust in the government’s ability to manage public resources and to provide for other related matters.

She continued that Sierratel alone can solve most of the problems we are facing as a nation if only proper management and attention are given to it.

“We cannot sit here and allow such situation to happen without perusing the Bill,” the MP stated.

She said the Ministry of Finance should be able to tell Parliament the model used to sell entities owned by the government to private individuals.

Hon Engineer Fallah Tengbeh from Kailahun District said any functioning government would want SOEs to contribute to the growth of the economy of a nation.

He expressed dissatisfaction over the operations of State- Owned Enterprises over the years. “Our State-Owned Enterprises have not been performing well,” he said.

Hon. Tengbeh stated that the inefficiency of SOEs had led to the establishment of the National Commission for Privatization.

Contributing to the debate, the opposition Chief Whip of Parliament, Hon. Abdul Karim Kamara said that budget allocations to MDAs are affecting the operations and activities of MDAs.

As a nation, the MP said, “let us ensure that institutions charged with the responsibility to generate income do so genuinely for the growth and development of the State.”

“No matter the number of legislations made, if the nation is not ready to build on infrastructure, the institutions will find it difficult to perform well.” He said that the government must provide resources for institutions in order for them to operate effectively.