Parliament holds Satellite Open Day

The parliament of Sierra Leone on Thursday 5th May 2022 held a satellite open day of
Parliament in which it targeted the country’s three regions. Officially launching the satellite open day, deputy speaker of Parliament, Hon Segepoh Solomon Thomas welcomed the attendees to the second edition of the parliamentary review of the one-day event. He said this year’s event is to bring in citizens close to parliament, and that the overall objective for this event is to showcase the Parliament of Sierra Leone and make it open and accessible to the public so that citizens can have a better understanding of what constitutes their core mandate and activities as a legislative body.

He pointed out that, their resolve to have this event is their call on their commitment to enhance
public understanding of parliamentary work, create awareness and increase the visibility of the
Parliament of Sierra Leone and promote the enabling environment for strategic engagements
with its stakeholders which include development partners, civil society organizations, academic
institutions, and citizens in general.

He said promoting parliamentary openness so that citizens can have access to more information
to better place them to understand and participate in the legislative process is a critical rationale
for the event in a bill has a plus in relationship between parliament and other legislative
actors. He noted that they have decided to open up the space for better interaction and collaboration
through this open debate, so that they demonstrate our commitment to enhancing external
participation in making Parliament more responsive to the needs and aspirations of citizens as a
a responsive event that is in tune with the expectations of the public they want to promote a culture of
openness and make parliamentary information transparent and easy to access.
Hon Thomas informed that Parliament is committed to implementing accountability mechanisms
as instruments for evaluating public opinion and policies and implementation of their
parliamentary agenda.

According to Hon Thomas, in a way to strengthen the democratic accountability of the
Parliament of Sierra Leone is important the citizens’ access to parliamentary information which
can help shift public petitions of the institution. He noted that Citizens’ trust in parliament is
critical to the functioning of the country’s democracy and the promotion of effective governance.
In his statement, the Deputy Leader of Government, Hon. Basiru Silike said they have
demonstrated another commitment to ‘bringing more citizens to the Parliament of Sierra Leone’.
He continues to place in the process of law-making, oversight, and evaluation of public policies $
legislation. “We believe in this and have therefore created the spaces through our open pre-
the legislative meeting, committees, and the space we continue to create for the media and civil
society organizations in the work of Parliament” he said. European Union (EU) Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Manuel Muller, Said he was delighted to celebrate Parliament Open Day, adding that it was another milestone development for the Republic of Sierra Leone. He stated that the EU has demonstrated its commitment to continue supporting development activities in Parliament, informing that over the years the EU has worked with the administrative wing of Parliament and recognized the efforts made by the government and extension the different political parties in Parliament for their resilient and strong determination devoid of their different political party they represent.
“Access to public information is a fundamental principle of human rights. You have not only
been providing physical information but you have created an electronic platform to provide
citizens with the required information and you will get more information on this through the
2021 Annual Summary report of Parliament ” he acknowledged.

By Mohamed Amara Gando