By Ramatoulie Jawo
The Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) of the National Assembly has decided to issue a formal warning to the Judiciary for not attending a scheduled meeting.
The Judiciary was expected to present its financial audits and reports to the committee on Thursday, April 18, 2024, but their absence was noted and criticized as a disregard for the Assembly’s procedures.
Deputy Chair Hon Alagie Mbowe expressed the necessity of a stern reminder to the Judiciary, emphasizing the importance of compliance with parliamentary summons. He highlighted that any inability to attend should be communicated beforehand to prevent futile assembly of committee members. Mbowe announced plans to address a letter to the Judiciary Secretary and the Chief Justice, labeling the Judiciary’s nonappearance as an act of contempt.
“We must send a very strong warning to the judiciary to ensure that when they are called to the parliament to present their reports, they need to abide. However, if they have an issue to be present, they need to notify us in advance before we bring members to sit in vain. We are going to write to the Judiciary Secretary, and the Chief Justice, because their actions today are tantamount to contempt of the National Assembly,.” he stressed
Hon Mbowe, further stated that the judiciary has defied their resolution in 2023, and this will count as the second time they are defying their call. Saying, “We cannot sit here and wait for an institution for ten good years. You cannot submit anything to the parliament, we cannot do that. Things have to change, and it has to change for the better.”
The letter will outline specific deadlines for the Judiciary to submit their accounts for the years 2011 to 2019 to the Auditor General within 90 days, and for the years 2020 to 2023 within the next six months.
“That is, the accounts of 2011, to 2019 be submitted to the Auditor General for audits within 90 days from today, and the accounts of 2020 to 2023 be submitted within 6 months from today.”
He mentioned that they’ve shared their schedules with the government, including the executive and judiciary branches. Each member has a designated date to present their activity and financial statements, but they haven’t followed through on this commitment.
Lamin E. Manneh, the FPAC Committee Clerk, recounted his efforts to remind the Judiciary of their obligation to appear before the committee. Despite initial confusion over the dates, with the Judiciary claiming they were scheduled for April 24th instead of the 18th, Manneh’s attempts to confirm their attendance on the correct date were met with silence, leading to the conclusion that the Judiciary would not be present as expected.
“This morning I called one of the officials, the one I have been communicating with all this while, to remind him that they should be here. However, he said he was going to call me back, which he did not, I later sent him a WhatsApp message as well, but he did not respond, and that is when I informed the committee that judiciary was not showing up.” he said.