APC MPs to Receive Backlog Salaries

The Clerk of Parliament, Hon.Paran Umar Tarawally has recently disclosed that by December 2024, all backlog salaries for opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) Members of Parliament would be paid to them.

This decision comes following concerns raised by the opposition leadership in Parliament about the delay on the part of government for them to receive their entitlements.

It could be recalled that the said issue was recently raised by Hon Abdul Kargbo during a meeting between the administration of the parliament and a delegation of international Moral Guarantors who were in town to assess the year old agreement of national unity signed between the government and APC after 2023 election.

Hon. Abdul Kargbo referenced Resolution 4 (D), which made mention of the entitlements for opposition Members of Parliament, Mayors, and Councilors. This, he said, is yet to be addressed by the government.

The APC used the opportunity to call on the delegation to compel the Government of Sierra Leone to implement Resolution 4 (D). He further called for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners.

In response to the opposition leader, Hon. Paran Umar Tarawally noted that the leadership of Parliament has been constantly reminding the Ministry of Finance to pay the backlogs for opposition Members of Parliament, adding that his administration had prepared all the documents and has sent them to the Ministry of Finance for subsequent action.

The Acting Leader of Government Business, Hon. Bashiru Silkie, also assured the opposition MPs that the government is fully committed to go by the dictates of the signed national unity agreement and that resolution 4D will soon be implemented to the letter.

He also noted that the opposition MPs took their seats very late into the first session of the Sixth Parliament, adding that they would be addressing all of those issues at the beginning of the next session during a planned retreat.