Parliament of Sierra Leone Passes Public Election Bill Into Law

Parliament of Sierra Leone has today, Thursday 27 July 2022 passed the Public Elections Bill into law after much controversies and deliberations.

The Bill seeks to repeal and replace the Public Elections Act, 2012 (Act No.4 of 2012), to provide for supplementary provisions to Section 32 and 33 of the Constitution of Sierra Leone (Act No. 6 of 1991).

“Parliament has just passed the Public Elections Bill into law. In Clause 13, NIN was removed from the VR. In section 57, the PR was removed. Elections to be in accordance with the Constitution,” Hon. Abdul Kargbo of the main opposition reacted on Twitter after the Bill has been passed.

The debate for the Public Elections Bill began fiercely in parliament during the introduction and first reading stage. The opposition politicians were misled that the bill was about a Proportional Representation System even where the Leader of Government Business in Parliament was continuously admonishing them that it was not so,” Journalist, Ishmael Bayoh stated.

‘The Hon. Speaker had to give his ruling where he made it categorically clear that the PR was not before the house and should not be a subject of discussion by MPs as he said it was embedded in the 1991 constitution-which gives the powers to the President to use it or not. Since the ruling of the Speaker, MPs spent some considerable time to fully debate the bill and at Committee stage; it was scrutinized before its passage into law today,” he added.

Check out cover the Bill below: