By: Fatou Krubally
The National Assembly on Thursday rejected a motion seeking to refer the Intellectual Property Bill 2025 to the Committee of the Whole Assembly after earlier disagreements among lawmakers led to a temporary suspension of proceedings.
The motion was moved by the Member for Jarra Central Kebba Jallow and seconded by Gibbie Mballow, Member for Lower Fuladu West during deliberations in the chamber. However, the process was briefly disrupted when several members rose on points of order and others attempted to intervene while the Speaker prepared to put the motion to a vote.
The exchanges led to loud interruptions in the chamber despite repeated calls for order from the Deputy Speaker.
As tensions continued, the Speaker invoked the standing orders and suspended the Assembly for 30 minutes to restore calm.
When the sitting resumed, the Speaker directed that proceedings continue from where they had stopped before the suspension.
Members were then asked to raise their tags during a division to indicate their position on the motion.
The final results showed that five members voted in favour of referring the bill to the Committee of the Whole Assembly, while eighteen voted against it. No member abstained.
The Speaker subsequently announced that the motion had been lost.
