Monrovia – Paying tribute to his fallen colleague, the Senate Pro-Tempore Albert Chie has remembered the late Senator Edward Dagoseh, of being a respecter of the laws.
Pro-Temp Chie further stated that Sen. Dagoseh wasn’t one to hastily get into things but always thought thoroughly about the issues before casting a vote, because he was “independent in his decision.”
Making remarks at the state funeral of Senator Dagoseh, Pro-Temp Chie further stated that the late didn’t vote on issues in the Senate based on political linage.
Some of those who attended the funeral, saw this particular aspect of the Pro-Temp’s comments as a jab to the Unity Party, which the late Senator belonged to before his demise.
Unity Party had suspended the late Senator’s membership because the party claimed he had voted in favor of the impeachment of former Supreme Court Justice Kabinah Ja’neh when the party had called on its senators to vote otherwise.
The former ruling Unity Party has, however, lifted the suspension on those senators, including the deceased. They had suspended the lawmakers on April 2, 2019, after they voted for the impeachment of former Associate Justice Kabinah Ja’neh.
The party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) at the time expressed disappointment in the senators’ action, which subsequently led to the controversial impeachment.
The Unity Party, on Wednesday, June 26, said its decision to reinstate the lawmakers was finalized after weeks of consultations by the party’s NEC with a final decision to restore their membership.
Speaking further at the Senate, Pro-Temp Chie said: “Articles 31 and 42 of the 1986 constitution gave him the authority, the guarantee and the comfort; solely him and not the political party he belongs to.”
The Senate Pro-Temp also described the death of Dagoseh as a loss of a strong lawmaker, an astute professor emeritus of Accounting and Finance, and a dedicated family person.
“To his widow, children and other family members, we say the Senate feels the pinch of your heart. What we can humanly do to again engender laughter we shall do. Our arms will always be around you,” he told the family.
The Dagoseh’s state funeral Thursday, June 27, marked exactly 103 days following similar event the Senate had for another fallen friend, Senator Geraldine Doe-Sheriff.
The late Senator Edward Dagoseh was almost at the end of his first nine-year tenure and was expected to run for re-election in 2020.
Until his death on Saturday, June 1, he was an Executive Committee Member of the former ruling Unity Party (UP). Unfortunately, he was among the eight UP senators of the 30-member Senate, who were suspended by the party for their role in the removal of former Associate Justice Kabineh Ja’neh.
He became a member of the Liberian Legislature on January 16, 2012 and remained until his death.
In September of 2016, the African Organization for Public Accounts Committee (AFROPAC) elected the Grand Cape Mount County Senator as its chair.
FROPAC is a pan-African network of Parliamentary Public Accounts Committees with similar functions.
Senator Dagoseh, who represented Liberia at the continental parliamentary body, was elected on acclamation in a process that had other previously contended processions.
A dispatch from Nairobi, Kenya, said the Senator, who is former Chairman of the West Africa Chapter of the Association of Public Accounts Committees, was elected in Nairobi to steer the affairs of the body for four years. His election came at the end of the second Annual General Meeting and Conference of AFROPAC, which took place in the Kenyan capital — Nairobi.
Senator Dagoseh had replaced fellow parliamentarian Alfred Wol Malith from South Sudan, who served the body for four years.
As Chairman of AFRPAC, Senator Dagoseh supervised the organization’s services to African Parliaments and their committees dealing with public accounts.
One of his key responsibilities was to set a clear mutual understanding of Public Accounts Committees (PAC) in Africa, and also coordinate all parliamentary Public Accounts Committees and Committees with similar functions on the continent. This, according to an aid, he was able to achieve.
The late Grand Cape Mount Senator formerly served as Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Youth and Sports; in a senior position at the Ministry of Finance before it was merged with the Ministry of Planning and Economics Affairs.
He was a deacon at the Mount Nebo Baptist Church in Sinkor.