The presidential declaration on February 7 was in response to a high rate of rape and sexual violence cases against women and girls in the country. As part of his declaration, President Bio also ordered that perpetrators of acts of rape against minors should be sentenced to life imprisonment.
But this second part of the pronouncement raised eye brows among many, especially legally minded people who argue that such a decision in law cannot be made by a presidential pronouncement.
But the Clerk of Parliament, Umar Paran Tarawallie, said the constitution empowers the president to declare a state of emergency on any issue of national concern, and he noted that after such pronouncement the president will institute regulations which will be implemented in relation to the issue.
Mr Tarawallie added that the outcome of Friday’s parliamentary session is what will pave the way legally for the president to make changes in the regulations. “As a parliament, we have the responsibility to ensure that whatever proclamation His Excellency makes comes to parliament for it to be ratified,” he said.
The parliamentary clerk went on to call on Sierra Leoneans, particularly women’s groups, to come out in their numbers to support the lawmakers as they discuss today’s “very important” session.
Some members of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) have however raised concern that Friday’s session is designed to empower the President to declare a wider State of Emergency that could allow him to take drastic stance to promote his political agenda, and they are urging members of the opposition bench to resist it.
But Mr Tarawallie said he doesn’t expect any division within MPs regardless of political affiliation because the issue concerns every Sierra Leonean. “If the state did not take this kind of action, the issue rape and sexual violence against our women and girls will have become so alarming [that] it could become a threat to the security of the nation,” he stressed.