Sierra Leone: Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) On Plenary To Work On Final Report

The Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) is on a five days plenary to work on the final report of the ‘to be’ constitution of Sierra Leone.

The closed door session which commenced on yesterday, Wednesday 27th, comprises of the eighty member committee who will analyse the reports that have been presented by the various subcommittees in order to produce the final report.
The Chairman of the committee, Justice Edmund Cowan, speaking in a Telephone interview with Awoko on Wednesday 27th, said the final report that will come from the plenary will be presented to the government.

The Chairman stated that the issues raised at the publication of the abridged report including the issues raised by the various women’s group will be deliberated on during this session.
“We will not come out with the report… we will present it to the government sometime in September. The government will make it public when they come out with their white paper. That is when people will know what we did, what the government agree with and what they disagree with”, he explained.

Recounting the stages that will follow the report, the chairman said after the report is presented to the government; it will in turn come out with a white paper to state what they agree with and what they do not agree with. He added that from that point the government will prepare the amended bill which will be taken into parliament. “When parliament would have passed it into law, it will go into referendum before president signs it”.
Asked about the referendum entering into the election period of 2018, Justice Cowan said “referendum has its own period but if it comes into the election’s sphere, it is the new government who will conduct it”.