Monrovia – Lawyers of the Liberia National Bar Association (LNBA), who are meeting at their assembly held at the Monrovia City Hall have been asked to work toward the promotion of the rule of law.
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian klyangianFrontpageafricaonline.com
Liberia’s former Foreign Minister, Olubanke King Akerele, who served as keynote speaker for the bar association 2018 assembly, emphasized the need to promote the rule of law in the country.
The assembly, an annual event of the LNBA brings together legal practitioners. This year’s event was held under the theme ‘Investing in the rule of law, a sine qua non for socio-political and economic development and sustainable peace in Liberia.’
Akerele said the rule of law strengthens the foundation of the country’s development and in its absence, chaos continuous.
She said as Liberians strive toward the adherence to the rule of law, lawyers need to team up and teach Liberians about some of the critical issues that are being discussed in the country, which include Land Rights Act, Law Review among other legal issues.
“Liberians need to know from their lawyers about crowded court dockets and why cases take so long to be adjudicated in our various courts; you need to team up and teach Liberians about most of these critical issues and this can be done with the full cooperation of both the LNBA and Louise Arthur Grimes School of Law at the University of Liberia (UL),” she said.
According to her, if lawyers and judicial actors have to succeed in the adherence of the rule of law, they have to be committed as there cannot be any rule of law if those who worked toward it are not committed.
John Davies, the President of the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), who spoke about the “Impact of De-dollarization on the economy”, stated that the Financial Act created by the 53rd Legislature to address the problem of dual currencies in the country was done without the in-put of some financial institutions like the Liberia Bankers Association.
Davies called for the repeal of the law, adding that it is contributing to the one of the downward trend of the country’s economy.
The LNBA 2018 Assembly continues Friday, March 30 and the topic “Why de-dollarization why now?” along with several other topics will be highlighted.