By Alfred Koroma
Two weeks back a ruling was made by the Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Abass Bundu for Parliament to start inviting government ministers once every month for questioning, but there was no established time to start implementing the ruling.
It’s now been agreed that the engagement, dubbed as ‘Question Time’ will now hold on the last Wednesday of every month, possibly beginning this month.
On the assigned day each month, the entire House of Parliament will meet exclusively for Ministers to give account of their respective Ministries and take questions MPs.
This was the same day chosen by the Speaker for the Question Time engagement, but it was feared the time will clash with the time for cabinet meetings which are also vital to ministers of government.
This is not the first time Parliament is making a move to keep government ministers on their toes. In the Fifth Parliament which ended last year, the Speaker said they extensively battled with the issue of questioning ministers without any resolve. The fifth Parliament ‘failed woefully’ in that aspect, he stated before making the ruling.
“It is our intention to do so now in this sixth Parliament. It would be a watershed, if we succeed, he said.
One of the duties of Parliament is to hold the Executive to account. One of the best ways, and the best practice in most parliaments around the world is to be able to summon ministers of government and ask them questions about their duties, he added.
