Monrovia – Several stakeholders have provided expert opinions on President George Weah’s recent bill to the Legislature seeking to cancel tenured positions.
Report by Henry Karmo [email protected]
At the House of Representatives’ Judicial Committee’s first hearing, some of the “experts” were in support while others were against the President’s proposal.
The Wednesday hearing brought together representatives and heads of various institutions including the Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC), Governance Commission (GC), Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and National Elections Commission (NEC).
Others include National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) and the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), General Auditing Commission (GAC), Liberia National Lottery Authority (NLA), Ministry of Justice (MOJ), as well as constitutional experts.
The focus, according to the House’s Judiciary Committee Chairman, Rep. Cllr. Fornati Koffa, the discussions were to get the experts’ opinions and or views of relevant institutions in order to put the Committee in a better position to advice plenary in making the best decision on the matter.
In his introductory remarks, Chairman Koffa told the audience that the Committee had invited them to get their opinions on the President’s recent bill seeking the cancellation of all tenured positions.
“We do not have the luxury of time. This committee is charged with the responsibility to make report to plenary in a week’s period. Therefore, it is our hope that your presence here today will assist the Committee in order for plenary to take the best decision on this matter based on those experts’ opinions and views that you will be provided on this bill.”
NEC Chairman Cllr. Jerome Korkoya
Making remarks Chairman Korkoya indicated that there are other issues that go beyond the President’s personal pleasure and those issues are serious matters that need serious consideration.
“We also have to look at other issues such as Liberia being a signatory to international obligations.
“Tenure enhances independence. It may not necessarily be autonomy. If we do this, I don’t think we will be heading in the right direction. We have to look at it more carefully. There are certain positions that are just in the best interest of the public. They go beyond the pleasure of the President,” the NEC Chairperson stated.
Another panelist, Mr. Dewitt Von Ballmoos, head of the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP), stated that it is international best practice that tenured positions do exist.
“When you collect monies for pension, you need to have programs for those monies. You need to build confidence with the people about how you use their monies. You also need tenure for the sole purpose of stability as well as building their confidence level. You need the span of time to do all of that. You do not need these sorts of interference when carrying out these major functions,” he warned.
According to von Ballmoos, the application of these functionaries must be guided by a specific period of time that will not be interrupted.
“When you do that, you build confidence with the people whose monies you are managing. You also need tenure for investment in all these programs that you design and develop. You need them for continuity. You also need tenure to limit government interference. However, in any case, we will not have problem with whatever decision that will be derived at the end of the day,” he added.
Another panelist was the Vice Chairperson of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) Cllr. J. Augustine Toe. For Toe, tenured positions should remain to avoid undue political influence and observance of best practice. Toe appealed to the Legislature for tenured positions to be maintained.
“Liberia is a signatory to many international protocols; I think we should maintain those protocols. Besides, I want to appeal to the Legislature for all LACC Commissioners to have tenures. This is part of best international practice.”
Att’y Kunkunyon Wleh Teh, a constitutional lawyer, cautioned lawmakers about the structure of the Liberian Constitution where no other branch of the government should have power over the other and that approving the President’s request will undermine the principles of the ‘separation of powers.’
“We should not look at individuals in this case. Firstly, I think we should look at the bill on the basis of Presidential substance. It is the right of the President to propose any law that will positively affect the running of the country and the lives of the people.
“However, I think the President should have first, and foremost, sought judicial action. In the spirit of coordination, the President should have sought legislative action before proposing this bill because, by doing that, it would have helped to avoid contestation.”
Teh argued that tenure does not necessarily mean autonomy and by scraping tenured positions, the President will be indirectly exercising the function of the Legislature.
“We have to carefully examine key provisions within the Constitution including Articles 3, 50, 54 and 89. These provisions speak to the specific functions of the extent to which the President can exercise his or her powers. We must ensure that these institutions have independence.
“The President has enormous powers. The President does not necessarily have to scrap tenured positions. For example, the President could decide to use budget allocation in the national budget to do whatever he or she wants to do. The real solution is: how do we strengthen these institutions for them to exercise their independence?
“If you just say for a cause, somebody may serve for 10 or 20 years, or may even be in the position till he or she dies. So, we have to be very careful on how we go about canceling tenured positions. We cannot allow the President to exert that power because it violates the ‘principles of the separation of powers.’ The principle of the separation of powers is keen to this debate. We should also be mindful that we signed international protocols with respect to the functionalities of these institutions. We do not want to be seen as signing international protocols and doing something else on the other hand.”