Monrovia – Senate Pro-Tempore Albert Chie has disclosed that he foresees gaps in legislative functions from senators, who would be seeking re-election in 2020.
Henry Karmo, henry[email protected]
According to Pro-Temp Chie areas in the Senate that would be affected especially are those from chairing statutory committees. He hopes that the other senators, who posts are not going to be up for contestation, will step in to fill the gaps.
According to our Senior Reporter covering the Liberian Senate, 2019 is the year before the mid-term elections and it is expected to be a very busy one for those senators seeking re-election. “They will spend a great deal of time in the constituencies try to consolidate the gains they have made over the years,” our Senior Reporter added.
“Undoubtedly, this may leave gap at committee level, which junior Senators are expected to fill, in addition to their own responsibilities,” Chie said.
Disclosing what will be of priority to the Senate, Chie indicated that they will consider the an Act Prohibiting the Tenure of Public Officials within the Executive Branch of Government, the Kamara Abdullah Kamara Act of Press Freedom and the impeachment trial of Associate Justice Kabineh Ja’neh. He also stated that considerations of some concession agreements and the consolidation of holidays.
“The Senate will strengthen its oversight responsibilities over various government agencies through it various committee. Last year, many committees relaxed to give heads of agencies, who were new at the job, a time to set up shops.
“It is our believe that most of these agencies’ heads have had enough time to adjust to carry out the peoples’ businesses. The Senate’s committees will vigorously evaluate the performances of these agencies.”
Commissioning GAC to Audit Agencies
In further comments, the Senate Pro-temp promised that they will request the General Auditing Commission (GAC) to conduct audits of all agencies of Government for the year 2018, and to endeavor to do that yearly and on time, and report to the Legislature as required by law.
The audits, according to the Senate head, will confirm the existence of internal controls within the agencies, the effectiveness of these controls and to ensure that those agencies performed well in accordance with their statutory mandates and remained accountable to the people.