NaRGE calls CRC’s attention to natural resource governance
November 30, 2015 By Ibrahim Jaffa Condeh
The Natural Resources Governance and Economic Justice Network (NaRGE) has called on the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) to include natural resource governance in the proposed new constitution of Sierra Leone.
NaRGE chairman Abu A. Brima, who is executive director at the Network Movement for Justice and Development, said they are desirous that the CRC includes natural resource governance in the new constitution.
“The introduction of natural resource governance as a new chapter in the new constitution will create a body of law consistent with global best practice and enhance the enduring nature of statehood,” said Mr. Brima, adding that the reviewed constitution should also include the sustainable management of the environment and ecosystem.
Mr. Brima, who is a consistent campaigner for just mining and the equitable and sustainable use of natural resources, maintained that natural resource governance was important to Sierra Leone because it could lead to enhanced tax collection and budgetary planning, and could signal commitment to transparent and accountable management of the country’s natural resources.
An 80 man commission, headed by Justice Edmond Cowan, has been charged to review the 1991 Constitution and come up with a draft by March next year, with a view to enacting a new constitution.
Many interest and pressure groups have delivered position papers to the CRC, in addition to public consultations in all 14 geopolitical districts in the country. Their views are expected to be collated and condensed in one document, ranging from the composition of the legislature, tenure of judges, term of years for the president, human rights, disability rights, gender equality, resource governance etc.