By Melvin Tejan Mansaray
Following the selection of Hon. Mohamed Sidi Tunis as Speaker of the Fifth ECOWAS Parliament, it has pleased the leadership of the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) to appoint Hon. Mathew Sahr Nyuma as his replacement as Leader of Government Business and Hon. Bashiru Silikie Deputy in the Fifth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone.
A letter from the National Chairman and Leader of the SLPP, Dr. Prince Alex Harding, written to Hon. Tunis, dated 2nd April 2020, referencing, “Congratulatory Message on your assumption of the ECOWAS Speakership,” Dr. Harding said, ” I will also like to inform you that Hon. Mathew Sahr Nyuma and Hon. Bashiru Silikie has been appointed by the Leadership of the SLPP to effectively fill the ensuing political vacuum as Leader of Government Business and Deputy Leader of Government Business respectively. “
Seconds after this announcement, social media was awash with reactions and congratulatory messages for, especially Hon. Bashiru who is seen as a more liberal and accommodating politician.
Hon. Bashiru entered Parliament in 2012 while the SLPP was then the only opposition political party in the Fourth Parliament.
Today, Hon. Bashiru Silikie is a front government bencher; serving as the Chairman of the Works Committee, a Member of the Committee on Appointments and the Public Service and several ( Mines, Information, etc) Parliamentary Oversight Committees.
Hon. Bashiru started his political career as a stalwart of the PMDC party and a political pupil of Lawyer Charles Francis Maggai.
When he entered Parliament as an SLPP MP in 2012, he fought not only the excesses of the then governing APC party in Parliament by speaking out alongside his good friend Hon. Paran Tarawally, but also challenged the then Parliamentary Leader of his party, Hon. Dr. Bernadette Lahai and her cohorts over the ‘Paopa’ (Maada Bio candidacy) cause.
Hon. Sidi Tunis in his benediction while responding to messages of felicitations by MPs on his assumption as ECOWAS Speaker, spotted out only Hon. Bashiru, stating that he is a true and loyal political soldier that he counts on and trust.
His appraisal of Hon. Bashiru was astounding and can be found in the Parliamentary Hansard. Hon. Tunis recalled how Hon. Bashiru sacrificed his place on the Delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament (even when Hon. Tunis was not enlisted), an act which today gives him (Hon. Tunis) the ECOWAS Speakership.
Hon. Sidi spoke of the lost and won battles he and others like Hon. Bashiru fought, promising not to forget Hon. Bashiru.
Whether it is upon the recommendation of the ousted Leader of Government Business, Hon. Tunis or by virtue of his patience, steadfastness and or divinity, Hon. Bashiru is now the newest Deputy Leader of Government Business.
As a very young man, Hon. Bashiru is not oblivious to the task ahead of him.
Speaking on perhaps his first media interview hours after his appointment,
Hon. Bashiru said the appointment comes with a mixed feeling of thanksgiving and challenge.
“I am challenged but not overwhelmed; for a very young man like me to be appointed to this position,” Hon. Bashiru said, adding that he is confident that he is up to the task by the grace of God’s leading along with that of his colleagues.
“I appreciate God and all those who supported me; both young and old for the confidence reposed in me. I thank the Chairman and Leader of the SLPP and the President for reposing confidence in me,” Hon. Bashiru Deputy Leader of Government Business said.
He however called on young people to rally behind him for success as his appointment will make way for more young people to be in positions of trust, noting that he is joyful but view his appointment as challenging.
His boss, Hon. Mathew S. Nyuma is viewed by some people as a man with baggage citing his temperament in particular.
Hon. Nyuma served in the third Parliament but failed to learn quickly like Hon. Ibrahim Bundu, who rose to the peak of his demise as demoted Leader of Government Business of the APC party, one Observer said.
Hon. Nyuma unarguably is a sharp contrast to Hon. Bashiru, having a more radical and militant style of leadership tone and action when he was Deputy Leader of Government Business but Hon. Bashiru said, ” now that he is the Leader, things will be different. Now, he will consult everybody as he is the Leader. Hon. Nyuma is now in a position of calling the shots. He will be much more composed. I will be a pillar of support to him for us to succeed as the youngest Leader and Deputy Leader ever for years now.”
Some Gallery Observers view Hon. Nyuma with vile, citing a most recent incident in which he was defiantly arguing that the NCRA’s mass registration process should continue until otherwise and the opposition cannot force the government bench because “we are in charge, you cannot stop us.”
Hon. Nyuma ended winning the debate but lost the argument as the opposition’s prayer prevailed over his’/ days after.
Some present and past Legislators view the appointments as unbefitting, arguing that such a letter should come from the Secretary-General of his party. They also noted that it is the Deputy Leader that is to be arrogant, warlike, dismissive, etc, so where a mistake is made, it is the Leader that will come in to resolve the situation, “but what we have now is the complete reverse between Hon. Nyuma and Hon. Bashiru,” a former MP now living in the Diaspora said.
“I am willing and ready to work with the opposition. I am their man, they have been clamoring for me and I hope we will work together in achieving our common vision to move Sierra Leone forward. It is just that we are saying the same things differently and with different ideologies. We have to work collectively. I have also been an opposition MP, so I do have immense respect for the opposition.”
Asked about his topmost government business agenda, Hon. Bashiru Silikie said, ” My topmost Government Business agenda now is to bring Parliament together for the general good of Sierra Leone.”
Hon. Bashiru Silikie was born on 3rd March 1981 in Yamandu, Bo District, Southern Sierra Leone.
He holds a Masters in Public Administration and a BA degree in Linguistics.
Hon. Bashiru is a second term representative of Constituency 082, Bo District and has been a fierce and fledgling debater with a charismatic persona.
He is a jealous and contentious guardian of Parliamentary best practice, rules and procedures.
Some weeks ago, he argued in the Well that an opposition motion asking Parliament to write and instruct all MDAs to submit all gifts (like Chinese rice, et all) received for and on behalf of the country must go through Parliament was unnecessary because it is a matter of must as per law.
Also, recently, Hon. Bashiru enraged the media when he revoked its status to cover a budgetary probe on the ACC.
He argued that “there is a difference between legality and morality and my action is within the ambit of the law.”
How Hon. Bashiru conduct himself now will be the footprints that will follow him all the days of his political life.
A Senior Parliamentary Administrator who does not wish to be named said, the decision to shuffle the Parliamentary Leadership of the governing party was not bad but not done with a parliamentary face.
“This is seemingly chaotic. A ruling party can’t change the leadership of Parliament in this manner. It should have been done by the Speaker, the outgoing Leader himself or a top-ranking member of the current parliament, not by this letter from Party Chairman outside Parliament. It sends tension and force to those who know the power game,” a Parliamentary Expert said,
adding that,
had the decision been put into a caucus vote, Hon. Bashiru or any other person would have emerged victorious.
Hon. Bashiru will be able to lobby across party lines, but Hon. Nyuma needs to learn from the technocrats how to handle a hung Parliament, a Critic said.
Sources noted that serious times lie ahead of the Fifth Parliament particularly so when the changes in the parliamentary leadership are on the back of a coronavirus outbreak and having goosebumps.
