Member of Parliament for Port Loko District, Hon. Aminata Sesay, has strongly challenged assertions that Sierra Leone’s Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system is solely responsible for increasing women’s representation in Parliament, insisting that many female lawmakers earned their seats through dedication, grassroots engagement, and years of public service.
Contributing to the debate on the Constitutional Amendment Bill during the sitting of the Sixth Parliament of the Second Republic on Tuesday, 28 July 2026, Hon. Sesay argued that her election was the product of sustained hard work rather than the electoral system.
Addressing the House, she explained that she represents Constituency 074, a constituency long regarded as a male-dominated political stronghold. According to her, she secured the confidence of the electorate because of her long-standing commitment to serving the people even before entering active politics.
The Port Loko lawmaker criticized claims from some Members of Parliament that the PR system alone opened the door for women to enter Parliament. She maintained that if the Government was genuinely committed to promoting women’s political participation, it should have created safe parliamentary seats for women instead of depending primarily on the proportional representation model.
Hon. Sesay questioned why women continued to struggle for political space despite repeated commitments to gender inclusion. She noted that many senior female politicians have publicly acknowledged the intense lobbying required before achieving the 30 percent representation target, arguing that this demonstrated the challenges women still face within political parties.
She further argued that the Government would have demonstrated stronger political will by reserving constituencies where women could contest with greater confidence rather than relying on party lists under the PR system.
Turning her attention to the nationwide consultations conducted on the Constitutional Amendment Bill, Hon. Sesay questioned whether the exercise genuinely reflected public participation. She expressed concern that the Government may have already decided to retain the PR system before engaging citizens, raising doubts about the purpose of the consultations if the outcome had effectively been predetermined.
The legislator also defended the significance of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Act, describing it as the principal factor behind the increase in women’s representation in Parliament. She argued that without the Act’s mandatory minimum 30 percent quota for women, the PR system alone would not have guaranteed a significant rise in the number of female legislators.
According to Hon. Sesay, safeguarding the gains achieved through the GEWE Act should remain a priority regardless of the electoral model eventually adopted. She urged Parliament to focus on creating practical opportunities that would make political participation easier for women while protecting existing legal provisions that promote gender inclusion.
Responding to claims that women generally face greater financial disadvantages than men in politics, Hon. Sesay rejected what she described as an overgeneralization. She pointed out that several women serving in Parliament possess strong financial capacity and have successfully delivered meaningful development projects within their constituencies, demonstrating that leadership should be judged by performance rather than gender.
On the legal implications of the Constitutional Amendment Bill, Hon. Sesay also accused some lawmakers of misrepresenting the interpretation of Section 108 of the 1991 Constitution. She called on Members of Parliament to provide accurate and honest explanations of the proposed constitutional changes instead of using what she described as political theatrics capable of misleading the public.
Concluding her contribution, Hon. Sesay appealed for transparency, fairness, and honesty throughout the constitutional review process. She urged lawmakers to place the national interest above partisan politics and ensure that citizens receive truthful information about the proposed amendments, particularly those relating to the country’s electoral system and the future of women’s political representation.
Parliament is expected to continue deliberations on the Constitutional Amendment Bill before voting on key provisions that could shape Sierra Leone’s electoral framework and broader governance architecture.