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A Response to President Koroma’s CRC Speech - Monday 9 September 2013. Response to President Koroma’s address to the Constitutional Review Committee My response to President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma’s key note address
at the launching ceremony of the constitutional review committee on the 30th
July 2013. I respectfully submit and commend the
President for his articulation on issues surrounding the history, people and
the constitution of Having said that, let me also remind
members of the committee that practice, in light of it’s short comings. In my view One Tribal and “unwritten”
traditional and the other Western and Constitutional and both used in governing
the country. The question becomes, which is supreme? The conflict between the
two laws are much more pronounced and vivid in areas I’m about to point out.
The people and the nation as a whole must reconcile these duplicity,
inequality and discriminatory practices that are condoned by the constitution
itself, due to the shortsightedness and lack of vision of our founding
fathers vis-a’-vis our colonial emancipators, as
well as every other administration since independence, to date. For instance, as this paper goes to
press, What most Sierra Leoneans do not know, or
are not aware of, is the fact that the majority of Sierra Leoneans
in most parts of the country outside the western area cannot, CANNOT use
their land as a collateral to obtain any type of loan, from any bank in
Sierra Leone. Why not?, the inquisitive mind may
ask. Because land outside the western area is not owned in free hold. Therefore, without the ability to
obtain a loan from a bank, by using their land as a
collateral, most Sierra Leoneans will fall
short of benefiting from your “Agenda for Prosperity”. This is an economic
bottleneck. This economic bottleneck is caused by the constitutional
restraint on land ownership in free hold, fee simple absolute, that is not
universal throughout Further, it is reasonable for one to
suggest that your “Agenda For Prosperity” is in itself a discriminatory
instrument against the very people it was conceived and design to uplift
economically. (more on this subject later). The unintended consequences of the
“Agenda For Prosperity”. Rightfully, as you pointed out “there
are some imperatives that propels this review, they are the reasons for the
establishment of this committee and we urge this committee to be true to the
better aspiration of our people.” Mr. President, if this committee is
to be true to itself and the people of Sierra Leone, and if you would allow
me, I would like to take this opportunity to request that you add these three
concerns to your list of imperatives that affect all Sierra Leoneans, as well as your “Agenda for Prosperity”. Namely: * First and foremost, our
Land Tenure Laws. The provinces land Act, The protectorate land ordinance of
1927,which creates a massive bottleneck in economic
transactions, as well as an unparalleled discriminatory consequences among
Sierra Leoneans in land ownership. * The second, Gender Inequality. A
woman’s right to contest and run for public office. A good case and point was
recently demonstrated in Kono District, where a
female candidate was disqualified because of her gender due to local
traditions, customs and practices, which are in conflict with your aspiration
to have 30% inclusion of female participation in the political affairs of * Thirdly, our Patriarchal
requirement of Sierra Leonean Citizenship. If former President Jerry Rawlings
of I must also take this opportunity to
point out that these three issues and concerns as they relate to the
constitution of Sierra Leone, have always, always been ignored, put to the
back burner, dealt with very lightly by every government in Sierra Leone’s
fifty years of independence. As I researched the subject, I stumbled into the
following from a blogger on Leone net who wrote “Momoh appointed a 35 man “Review committee” the last time
to review the constitution and yes, they did consider land tenure. They
examined both oral and written submissions for and against reform but in the
end came out firmly against liberalization of the existing position” Mr.
President, I’m of the opinion that, this is not the way how you would want to
be remembered in the books of history, nor the internet. If the true purpose of independence
is for As always, I’ll like to share with
you the words of Walter E. Williams, professor of economics at George Mason
University in which he reminds us that, “Political liberty thrives best where
there is a large measure of economic liberty” to wit, personal liberty is
important, but the best route to true independence and prosperity for all, is
reforms that create economic liberty. In conclusion, I urge you in the
interest of all Sierra Leoneans to add these three
issues and concerns to the list of imperatives that should propel the newly
established constitutional review committee. Dr. Walcut B.
Metzger, JD Related
material Review
of Sierra Leone Constitution planned 2007 Peter
Tucker Constitutional review recommendations |
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