16 bills passed in 2014 Parliament, in the exercise of its state’s duties, debated and passed into law, (16) sixteen bills, most of which were amendments. However, Section 106 of the Constitution of Sierra Leone also provides that bills passed by the House of Parliament should be signed and sealed by the President before it becomes law. As it is the case in all parliamentary, pre-legislative sessions, debates from the plenary of the House and other parliamentary proceedings are usually heated. Opposition and ruling party members in most parliamentary sessions throw verbal challenges at each other in defence of or in opposition to propositions put to the floor, through the Honourable Speaker. Motions and counter-motions in most of those proceedings are the order of the day, and in certain cases end up in the stipulated voting style adopted by the House. Despite what transpired in that political gymnasium last year, its 124 members disagreed to agree and consequently passed into law sixteen bills; most of which were deemed vital to the socio-economic and political development of Sierra Leone. Following the Ebola outbreak early last year, the House passed the Public Health Amendment Act; being an act that amended the Public Health Act of 1960. This amendment saw the inclusion of ‘Ebola’ among other health related emergencies that the country may stand to face. Members of the House also passed into law the Appropriation Act of 2014; an act to authorize expenditure from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the services of Sierra Leone for this year-2015. Similarly, the House passed into law the Supplementary Appropriation Act of 2014; being an act to make supplementary provision for the services of Sierra Leone. The House also agreed on the ratification of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act as an amendment on the 2011 parent act. And it passed into law the Finance Act of 2014; being an act to provide for the imposition and alteration of taxes for the year 2015 and other related matters. Parliament and its members debated and passed into law for the first time, the Correctional Service Act as part of government’s bid to modernize the country’s current prison system. The Act saw the change in nomenclature of the previous Sierra Leone Prisons to Sierra Leone Correctional Centre, with its officers named as Correction Officers. It also ratified the Local Courts (amendment) act; being an act that amended the Local Courts of 2011. The House debated and passed into law the Sierra Leone National Carrier (Amendment) Act; being an act that amended the National Carrier Act of 2012. The House also tasked itself with the legislative responsibility to have also ratified the Local Courts (amendment) act; being an act that amended the Local Courts of 2011. Parliament also speedily ratified the Transport Authority (Amendment) Act as an amendment on the Road Transport Act of 1996. It also debated passed into law “the Borrowers and Lenders Act of 2014. As the year went on, the House passed into law the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Act of 2014; being an act to amend the ACC Act of 2008. The year 2014 also saw the passage into law the Polytechnic (amendment) act; being an act that amended the 2001 Polytechnic Act that eventually upgraded Makeni Teachers College and Port Loko Teachers College as constituent colleges of the Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology to be located in Magburaka in the Tonkolili district. Consequently, the House, facilitated by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, amended the University Act for the purpose of establishing Ernest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology. In the same year, the House passed into law the Companies (amendment) Act; an act that amended the 2009 Company Act. As the House rolls its sleeves for another “important” year in the history of the country; a year that is yet set to determine the fate of Ebola, the House is said to be inundated with state’s activities as some of the bills that had been passed into law await the President’s assent. Source: Awoko Newspaper
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 08:39:27 +0000
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