By Emmanuel Gborie
Members of Parliament on May 26, expressed dissatisfaction with the content of the Institute of Governance Reform (IGR)’s report,which had claimed that 20% of MPs don’t participate in parliamentary debates with 47% of them not punctual in parliament.
MPs disagreed with the content of the report and condemned the act of the author.
According to them, the content of the report was unjustifiable, inaccurate, and bias with no sufficient statistical record from which the author drew his ‘false’ accusations.
They demanded that the author should produce the document from which he sourced his information about their attendance and punctuality, stating that as far as they knew he had never accessed their register.
For the Chief Whip, Hon. Dickson Momoh Rogers of Constituency 100, Pujehun district, the report has no bases, though it appears as if the Speaker of the house had already endorsed it, even in the absence of statistical proves.
He also added that parliamentary sittings all over the world is never fully attended by MPs, and that even in London where he and the Speaker studied, Parliament is never entirely attended as there were normally some empty seats.
Hon Alusine Kanneh of Constituency 013 representing the SLPP, discontentedly states that the report was undoubtedly bias, as he for example, has never missed a sitting and has always been punctual, but his name neither his picture was captured in the report while other MPs were mentioned.
To him, the report was totally prejudice against him and other MPs who have been attending parliamentary sittings and participating in debates.
Other MPs from both the ruling party and the opposition submitted to the House and the Speaker that the research from which the said IGR report was developed from, was not thorough.
They further requested that the writer of the report be brought to the House to answer to questions as to why he published such a ‘falsified’report.
The Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Abass Bundu, told MPs that he only perused through the report, but didn’t thoroughly read it to pass his judgement or grant the request of MPs. He further asked that all MPs should study the report as it will be discussed.
