A bipartisan motion has been passed to challenge the increasingly controversial 2020 Financial Act of Sierra Leone, APA learnt in Freetown on Saturday.
According to sources, lawmakers from the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) and the National Grand Coalition (NGC) in the parliament have issued a notice of motion to review Sec (42) of the Act which exempts the President, Vice President and Speaker of the House of Parliament from accounting for funds allocated to them for international travels.
The provision is contained in the Act which was passed last week. It provoked widespread public condemnation, with critics questioning President Julius Maada Bio’s commitment to his expressed campaign against financial indiscipline.
There were even campaigns mounted on social media urging the president not to sign the piece of legislation to become law.
Reports on Friday indicated that Daniel Koroma of the APC and Kandeh Yumkella of the NGC were behind the motion which seeks to amend the provision. Other reports indicate they have received cooperation from MPs from the Coalition for Change (C4C) and some unnamed ruling Sierra
Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) MPs.
The Finance Act is a separate legislation that is often passed to pave the way for the adoption of the Appropriation Bill (budget).
The move to amend the Finance Act comes as the House on Friday concluded the debate on 2020 Appropriation Bill which has been committed to the Sub-Appropriation Committees for effective scrutiny of the various budgetary heads and estimates of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). After the scrutiny, a report will then be sent to the House for consideration and adoption.
KC/abj/APA