President Julius Maada Bio today unveiled the government’s white paper on the reform of Sierra Leone’s 1991 Constitution, approving significant proposals and announcing the immediate implementation of some of them.
“Rather than shy away from the hard-hitting recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as my predecessor did, I have actively implemented them because I believe that those governance reforms are in the best interests of this nation, ”he said. Â
He goes on to explain that he has lately worked with Parliament, the Judiciary, development partners, and civil society organisations to execute more than a half-dozen of the main governance and legislative imperatives stated in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or TRC.
“My Government has repealed Part V of the Public Order Act; there is no journalist in prison for the practice of journalism; the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists and international media and free speech organisations have been consistent that free speech and the practice of journalism are indeed unfettered.
“My Government has established the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion to identify and resolve potential triggers of conflict in our nation. According to the Global Peace Index, we are the fourth most peaceful country in Africa…My Government has permanently abolished the brutal and inhumane death penalty for all crimes…We have deepened and speeded up the process of decentralisation. We have decongested prisons, improved prison conditions, and significantly expanded access to justice. We will continue doing more,” President Bio noted.
He relayed that his government had also established a separate Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs and introduced policies and laws to protect and promote the rights of children and women, and that gender empowerment and equality law were already in parliament while the child rights act was being reviewed.
“Social safety, persons with disability, mental health care, improving healthcare, and free quality education for our children have all been at the centre of our agenda to invest in an inclusive and sustainable future for this nation. Add this to our sustained and much-lauded fight against corruption, our institutional and governance reforms, and our overall commitment and success in ruling justly and investing in people,” he said.
The United Nations Resident Coordinator, Dr. Babatunde Ahonsi, said the occasion was important for the future of Sierra Leone and its democratic consolidation, peacebuilding, and state-building processes.
He commended President Bio for the launch of the white paper, which he said represented the conclusion of the initial phase of the constitutional review process and the opening of a new stage of the process.
“Today’s launch is a fulfilment of the pledge made by Sierra Leone during the Universal Periodic Review on Human Rights in May 2021 that it will finalise the Constitutional Review Process. The UN system here in Sierra Leone, in collaboration with other development partners, stands ready to support with requisite capacities, ensuring that the process is broadly consultative and fruitful while leaving no one behind,” he noted.
Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Abass Chernor Bundu, said the country had had a constitutional democracy since she recovered her independence from Britain, adding that the promotion and maintenance of peace, security, order, and good governance was the primordial duty of the organs of state, including parliament, which he said had the sole mandate to make laws in the country.
Dr. Bundu further noted that many attempts by past governments to amend the 1991 Constitution proved difficult and impossible, adding that it behooved every Sierra Leonean to maintain unflinching fidelity to the 1991 Constitution until such a time when the country gets a new one.
The event, held at the lawn inside State House, was attended by the diplomatic community, members who served on the review process, representatives of political parties, parliamentarians, women organisations, nongovernmental organisations, civil society groups, and pupils from schools.
