By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
An Afrobarometer report released on Tuesday has shown that 81% of Sierra Leoneans believe that “some”, “all” or “most” parliamentarians are corrupt. The report reveals a damning assessment of Parliamentarians by citizens on almost every metric that was taken into account.
Data for the report was gathered in March 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country.
A total of 1, 200 people across the country were interviewed in the survey.
The report was done by the governance think tank, Institute for Governance Reform (IGR).
The report also shows an overwhelming lack of faith in MPs and a huge trust deficit between lawmakers and their electorate.
“MPs are among the least trusted public officials. Only one-third (33%) of Sierra Leoneans say they trust MPs “a lot” or “somewhat,” while 64% say they trust them “just a little” or “not at all”. Eight in 10 citizens (81%) say “all,” “most” or “some” MPs are corrupt, second only to the police, among other key public institutions,” according to some of the key findings.
The latest report comes as another blow to the credibility of the country’s legislature, following the release of an earlier report by the Center for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL) which brought forward similar findings.
Executive Director of IGR, Andrew Lavalie, said the pressure to push for change must be sustained through the participation of everyone.
“Change is a process; this is not just about civil society, it is also about you journalists and the work you are doing. And also the ordinary people saying the institutions governing them must govern them well,” Lavalie said.
He said the attention should not just be focused on electing MPs in or out of office but rather, in between the election years, the “work for accountability must be done.”
“There is still chance for Parliament to turn things around,” he added.
The report also focused on the functions of Parliamentarians and what is the perception on how well they have carried out those functions since they were elected. The MPs failed in all four of the functions that the report focused on.
“Survey respondents’ negative assessments add up to a scathing indictment of parliamentarians’ performance. While citizens want MPs to listen to their constituents, represent their needs, and deliver jobs and development to their communities, a majority of survey respondents say their MPs are ineffective at these tasks, as well as at making laws for the good of the country,” the report states.
According to the report, only 21% believe that MPs are “effective” or “very effective” in making laws for the good of the country.
Only 16% believe the MPs are “effective” or “very effective” in holding the President and the government accountable.
Some 75% of the people believe that Parliamentarians are “not at all effective” or “not very effective” in listening to constituents or representing their needs, and only 12% believe they are bringing any job or development to the constituency.
Clerk of Parliament, Paran Umar Tarawally, blamed the damning figures on the lack of knowledge about what Parliament and parliamentarians are supposed to do.
“Because Sierra Leoneans do not understand what Parliament is all about, that is why they hold such perception. Because if you go down now to our people and you begin to take a survey of the roles and responsibilities of Parliament, I will tell you it is the same 16% that clearly know what Parliament is all about,” Tarawally told Politico.
Tarawally said even the framing of the question might have been the cause for a “misleading” answer.
“If you go to the street and ask people, ‘Do You Trust Parliament?’, they are going to say No. If you ask them why they said No they will say because their parliamentarians did not provide for their health, social or other needs, which are not the functions of Parliamentarians,” Tarawally added.
The Clerk dismissed the perception about corruption in parliament, saying: “If you want to say Parliament is corrupt you should have very tangible and concrete evidence.”
The release of the report coincides with Wold Democracy Day, a theme that the report also shined a light on. The report highlighted that citizens just don’t want democracy, that they also want accountability. Most respondents preferred accountability over efficiency, it shows.
Some 71% of citizens agree that “it is more important for citizens to be able to hold government accountable, even if that means it makes decisions more slowly,” according to the report. This is a 28% increase over the last eight years.
Lavalie said: “Clearly, after the war people believe that you cannot change a government through a bullet but rather through ballot. And we have to engage, through the work you are doing as journalists, to doorstep politicians so they will explain their message instead of holding daggers. A lot of people believe that these processes can be done peacefully.”
This report is a part of a series of AfroBarometer reports that have been released this year by IGR.
Lavalie told Politico that special briefings for different stakeholders, including the government, had been done before the release of the report.
Copyright (c) 2020 Politico Online
