Monrovia – Members of various constituents across the country are grappling with the impactful downtrend of the economy while their elected representatives of House have held a US$100,000 feast intended to settle their political differences and save Speaker Bhofal Chambers from losing his political influence.
Reported by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected] and Henry Karmo [email protected]
FrontPageAfrica has reliably gathered from some members of the House, who are familiar with the budget of Sunday’s one-day retreat, that the leadership of the House of Representatives put aside US$100,000 for the retreat.
On Sunday, October 28, the House of Representatives held a one-day retreat at the Millennium Guest House in Congotown, outside Monrovia. Though the leadership of the House has been tight-lipped on the details of the retreat, this paper gathered that it was meant to straighten-up the sour relationship between the Speaker Chambers and some members of the House, who resent his style of leadership.
At the opening of Sunday’s retreat, clergyman, Foday E. Karpeh, admonished the lawmakers to work in unison and maintain the dignity of the Legislature. “If we are to build a strong Legislature, we must uphold the dignity and sanctity of this House; we must do that,” he admonished.
Speaking further, he called on the lawmakers to uphold the independence of the House of Representatives, while keeping in perspective the coordinating nature of the three branches of government and adhering to the doctrine of balance, noting “If we want to build a strong legislature and sustain the peace that we all have fought for over the years, we must realize that we must keep our independence.”
Money Sharing Galore
The day-long event ended with the sharing of money – US$1,000 to each lawmaker, according to some lawmakers who attended the retreat.
Representative Marvin Cole who co-chaired the event denied distribution of money, noting that only food and drinks were served to the attendants.
However, highly placed sources within the legislature, who was also in attendance, said the money was distributed amongst the lawmakers present and even those who were not present have been asked to go and sign for theirs.
“The leadership of the House budgeted US$100,000 for that event. Forty-seven lawmakers attended and each of them signed for US$1,000 after eating a three-square meal that day, I’m still wondering what the essence of the retreat was. It was a complete waste of money,” Member of the House of Representatives who asked for anonymity.
Another lawmaker told FPA that he refused to attend the retreat because it’s illegal and should have been agreed upon by Plenary, not just the leadership of the House.
Strained Relationship With Speaker
Speaker Bhofal Chambers has been experiencing sour relationship with some lawmakers, especially because of his perceived inability to properly preside over session, compounded by his hand-picking of members of his ‘kitchen cabinet’ only to speak on issues on the floor.
Chambers is believed to be shielding Representatives Thomas Fallah and Jeremiah Koon who have been linked to the reported missing billions of Liberian dollars.
Deepening the feud between Chambers and his colleagues is his resistance to subjecting the House to probe by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that is aiding the government with investigation of the reported missing L$16 billion.
During a recent press conference, Speaker Chambers said, “The House Representatives is the fulcrum of democracy. Any other institution cannot invite this legislature; this legislature is under constitutional obligation to call anybody for questioning. The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) told us there is no missing money so how the transaction and authorization was done in my view will be the point of investigation.”
He added: “The people from the FBI know contemporary Democracy; they know contemporary constitution. They will never think of inviting the House of Representative for an investigation doing so will be a failure on their part,” he said at the press conference.
He labeled individuals calling for investigation into the missing money scandal as noisemakers.
“Basically, when people say ‘bring back our money’ it’s noise because to say ‘bring our money’ means you know where the containers are,” he added.
Several lawmakers distanced themselves from his statement, noting that such was not the collective decision of Plenary.
The lawmakers accused Chambers of using the office of the Speaker to launch a stinking attack on former officials of government, and to paint a controversial picture of defiance and non-cooperation by the 54th National Legislature regarding the ongoing investigation on the alleged missing L$16 billion saga.
“These unilateral and personalized comments emanating from the Honourable Speaker is a lone statement and position that do not represent the condensed decision of the House’s Plenary and the Leadership of the House,” the lawmakers said in a statement.
“As members of the 54th National Legislature, we welcome the investigation on the current 16-billion Liberian dollars, and remain cooperative to ensuring a logical conclusion in the interest of the Liberian people.”
According to the lawmakers, because of the integrity of the 54th National Legislature matters any or all members of the Legislature who for any reason are to be subject to investigation should comply with extent provided for in the Law, and in the interest of the Liberian people, while warning the Speaker to refrain from use of the House’s platform in “launching his attack on the former officials of government”.
They warned, “Doing so will sway the debate in a non-productive manner to the detriment of the Liberian people.”
Lawmakers, who rejected the Speaker’s statement concerning the ongoing investigation included, Francis Saidy Dopoh, Representative, District #3 River Gee County, Thomas Goshua Representative, District #5 Grand Bassa County, Dowoin T. Gleekia Representative, District #6 Nimba County, Richard N. Koon Representative, District #11 Montserrado County, Hanson S. Kiazolu Representative, District #1Montserrado County, Yekeh Y. Kolubah Representative, District #10 Montserrado.
Following their statement, some lawmakers loyal to the Speaker, including Montserrado District 8 Representatives, Moses Acarous Gray, termed his colleagues who were opposed to the Speaker’s stance on the investigation as gangster lawmakers.