The Republic of Somaliland’s House of Representatives today approved three bills critical to safety and accountability by majority votes sending them back to the President for final signature.
The three Bills the HoR passed today were the Police Bill, State Penitentiaries Act and the Civil Aviation Bill.
The House overrode amendments made to some parts of the Bill and a call for further clarification on some other sections which the president wished the house to look at.
Instead, the 60 MPs present during the presentation overwhelmingly insisted that the Bills should stay unchanged and un-revised as had been approved by the House earlier.
The Police Act, it is widely believed, will create accountability and ensure the protection of civilians since such clauses were missing from the previous version.
Somaliland prisons urgently needed an act to demarcate state of imprisonment for adults and minors as well as the proper administration of correction facilities – among other equally critical omissions.
That three Bills were submitted to the floor and wrapped up all in one session is quite a record by itself for the lower House of the Somaliland bi-cameral Parliament. For twelve years Abdirahman Irro, now the Chairman of Waddani, presided over the House, it showed a dismal record of only 52 Acts approved, averaging 4.3 a year.
That the Bills go into effect only says before a new government and its president take the held will certainly be an added boost to public morale.
