Abdul Malik Bangura: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 27 November 2020:
Speaker of the 5th Legislature of the regional Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) Parliament – Sidie Mohamed Tunis, says that his wish is to build a stronger ECOWAS parliament.
Sidie Mohamed Tunis is the first Sierra Leonean to be elected Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, and he is a native of the Southern Province of the country representing the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) in Constituency 101, Pujehun District.
“I wish to further reiterate my commitment towards building a stronger ECOWAS Parliament than what I met. I expect to achieve this feat with the cooperation of all members and other stakeholders,” Tunis stated whilst making his closing remarks at the joint committee’s delocalized meeting held in Lome, Republic of Togo from 17th to 21st November 2020.
The meeting which was held to discuss – “ECOWAS in the Era of COVID 19 and beyond: Focusing on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to promote Distance Education and Training in the ECOWAS Member States,” was attended by ECOWAS Parliament members of the standing committees on Telecommunication and Information Technology; Education, Science and Culture; Political Affairs, Peace, Security and APRM; Infrastructure; and Legal Affairs and Hunan Rights.
Speaker Tunis said: “I cannot but over-emphasize the opportunity we have had to listen and learn from the experts on the theme,” adding that “the meeting has also provided a window for Parliament’s identification of a relevant intervention mechanism to make an efficient contribution to the implementation of the ECOWAS Protocol on Education and Training.”
However, Speaker Tunis told the committee that they are now fraught with the challenge to reflect on the possibility of guaranteeing a truly digital learning environment with unhindered access to the internet.
“Permit me to caution that we are likely to face many challenges in implementing the commitments we have made at this meeting,” he said. However, “parliament is committed to working with Member States in areas related to Information and Communications Technology, Science, and Innovation to digitally connect our societies together.”
The ECOWAS Parliament Speaker went on to say he is optimistic that the insights provided by “our resource persons will set the basis for actions that are expected to bring the changes we envision for our Member States. I, therefore, wish to commend my colleagues, Members of Parliament, for the countless hours of hard work and the valuable contributions made during the deliberations that followed.”
“The ECOWAS Parliament stands prepared to follow up on the recommendations emanating from these discussions, and we express our unwavering commitment to working with all stakeholders to make these resolutions a reality,” Sidie Mohamed Tunis assured.
The joint committee meeting in Lome is the 3rd meeting following two other joint committee meetings which were all held in this month of November 2020, under the leadership of the Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Mohamed Tunis.
It could also be recalled that earlier, ECOWAS Parliament under the supervision of the Speaker Sidie Mohamed Tunis held a joint committee meeting in Cotonou, Republic of Benin on 3rd to 7th November 2020 to discuss “Africa continental free trade area. How feasible in the face of cross-border threats: Terrorism and Insecurity, Pandemics, Protectionalism”.
A joint committee meeting was also held in Bissau, Republic of Guinea Bissau, under the supervision of the ECOWAS Parliament Speaker with the theme “ECOWAS Food Security; Agricultural Production and the fight against COVID 19”.
The aim these delocalized meetings according to the Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament is to bring the regional parliament to the peoples of ECOWAS region.
Congratulations to Yayah TUNIS, on his role as the speaker of the ECOWAS parliament. And good luck to him in trying to bring much needed reforms in this institution. Its always good to see your fellow Sierra Leoneans being the flag bearers of our country. Yayah Tunis will succeed because he is not working in an environment, where he is judged by which tribe he belongs to , the political party he supports, the region, or country he comes from. He is free from being pigeon holed, or tag and put in a box. The only thing that the other members of the ECOWAS Parliament are interested in is, has he got the qualification, what ideas has he bought to the table, and has he got what it takes to carry out his job without fear and favour. Unlike Sierra leone, here in this ECOWAS Parliament he is not set up to fail . They will give him all the support as he embarks on his reform programme.
Sierra leoneans, working abroad are known to be very HARDWORKING, HONEST AND VERY INDUSTRIOUS in any line of work they found themselves. People from other countries are full of praise for us. Which led me to conclude, the way our government, and public delivery institutions are structured and operate with no oversight,and accountability encourages us whether knowingly or not to engage in activities that undermine the development of our country. Sierra Leoneans abroad can compete with the best and brightest, and in majority of cases we are first among equals. But when it comes to doing things that will advance our country, its a different story. WHY?
Let us continue to pray for Speaker Yayah Tunis to continue to succeed in this historic moment in our nation’s history. Because whatever success he accomplishes will be a pride for all Sierra Leoneans.