Hon. Mohamed Bangura and Hon. Emerson Lamina, the Opposition Leader in the House of Parliament and Deputy Leader of Government Business 2 respectively, will be sworn in as the two new members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament.
Hon. Bangura replaces Hon. Chernor Ramadan Maju Bah, who served three terms as the Head of Delegation and APC Parliamentary leader. Hon. Saa Emerson Lamina, the former Coalition for Change (C4C) parliamentary leader and Mayor of Koidu City, who defected to the SLPP, replaces Hon. Ajibola Manley-Spaine, a lawyer and seasoned lawmaker who served three terms in the Sierra Leone National Assembly.
Hon. Bangura's decision to deviate from his party's decision to boycott all forms of governance over a disputed June 2023 general elections result has made him the subject of internal party disciplinary investigation. However, his decision has also been hailed by some as a positive step.
As one of only two members of his party in Parliament, Hon. Bangura has become a representative in almost all parliamentary committees, significantly the Chairman of the Sixth Parliament of Sierra Leone's Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, a member of the Selection, Supervisory, Appointment and Public Service Committees respectively.
Hon. Bangura only returned to Freetown a couple of days ago having formed part of the Sierra Leone delegation to the 78th United Nations General Assembly held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Other members of the delegation of five are the Former President of the Parliamentary Female Caucus Hon. Veronica Kadie Sesay, deputized by Hon. Shiaka Sama, who also defected to the governing SLPP and the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Dr. Sidie Mohamed Tunis.
The ECOWAS Parliament will hold a seminar on unconstitutional regime change in West Africa from September 29-October 1 in Winneba, Ghana, followed by a Second Ordinary Session of Community Parliament from October 3-7, during which newly elected MPs will be sworn in.
One of the main agenda of the extraordinary session is to examine and adopt the 2024 draft budget, focusing on deficiency in levy payment by member states.
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