MONROVIA – The Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Judiciary, Representative Jonathan Fonati Koffa, has vowed to resist the passage of any bill seeking to ensure the reduction in the salaries of members of the 54th National Legislature without a proper plan to support and ensure sustainable developments for those who elected them at the helm of power.
Report by Obediah Johnson, [email protected]
Lawmaker Koffa, who is also a National Executive Committee (NEC) member of the governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), is representing the people of electoral district 2 in the 54th National Legislature.
Last Thursday, Senator Dillon, in keeping with his campaign promise submitted a bill dubbed “Dillon Bill” which seeks to cut lawmakers salaries from US$7000 to US$5000 to help save over US$300,000 monthly and US$4 million annually.
But speaking when he appeared as guest on The Heat on Super FM95.5 over the weekend, Representative Koffa described the bill as a “political stunt intended to rally votes” ahead of the December 8, 2020 senatorial elections.
He disclosed that the Montserrado County Senator allegedly failed to study the constitutional backing and applicability of the document seeking to cut lawmakers’ salaries for passage into law.
According to him, the Dillon Bill runs contrary to Article 34d (i) of the 1986 Liberian Constitution, noting that, said document should have originated from the House of Representatives.
Article 34d (i) of the Liberian Constitution states that: “all revenue bills, whether subsidies, charges, imports, duties or taxes, and other financial bills, shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. No other financial charge shall be established, fixed, laid or levied on any individual, community or locality under any pretext whatsoever except by the expressed consent of the individual, community or locality. In all such cases, a true and correct account of funds collected shall be made to the community or locality”.
Representative Koffa maintained that though Senator Dillon can be credited for submitting a bill to win the minds of the electorates during this period, he will canvass against the passage of the bill.
“When I saw it (Dillon bill), you know this is politics. People want to get elected; and when people want to get elected, they pedal to the electorates. The things the electorates want to hear, that’s what you will say because they will vote for you”.
“I don’t see the Dillon bill as a serious bill. Any lawmaker who wants to have a serious bill will study its constitutional provisions, applicability, and structure and put it on the floor to be effective. What I saw or what I have read is a political stunt to rally votes”.
The Grand Kru County lawmaker continued: “I give Senator Darius Dillon credit for that because I think the public like to hear that they are cutting lawmakers’ salaries; they rally to that. The constitution says financial bills originate from the House and he (Dillon) put the bill on the floor of the Senate. I am going to resist that because it has no in gain; it doesn’t make constitutional sense”.
‘Unconstitutional upon Arrival”
Representative Koffa termed as “unconstitutional upon arrival” the submission of the Dillon Bill by the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) lawmaker.
He, however, encouraged Senator Dillon to work along with other lawmakers from the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) to introduce the bill on the floor of the House of Representatives for fixes for the betterment of the Liberian people.
“I don’t see the Dillon bill as a serious bill. Any lawmaker who wants to have a serious bill will study its constitutional provisions, applicability, and structure and put it on the floor to be effective. What I saw or what I have read is a political stunt to rally votes”.
– Rep. J. Fonati Koffa, Representative, Grand Kru County, District 2
He expressed confidence that members of the Liberian Senate will not hold any additional legislative proceeding on the Dillon Bill because of its unconstitutional nature.
Why the resistance?
Representative Koffa disclosed that the present salaries being paid lawmakers do not permit them to adequately address the enormous constraints confronting their constituents, particularly those in the leeward areas.
He noted that lawmakers are no longer receiving district or county development funds to help carry on sustainable developments for the people, and as such, they are compelled to use their personal salaries to solve some of the mountainous problems their people are faced with.
He added that most developmental initiatives being carried out in the leeward counties are presidential projects personally credited to President George Manneh Weah and not lawmakers.
Representative Koffa maintained that the current salaries of lawmakers cannot commensurate with the barrage of requests for assistance they received from their constituents on a daily basis.
“I am a rural lawmaker; we have not received district development or county development funds. The three schools I am doing in Grand Kru County and the President housing projects are personal projects we take from the very salaries that we are paid. What we are doing now as lawmakers is using your salaries for district development funds. All of our constituents know; maybe they don’t do it in Monrovia”.
“We received number of requests from our citizens every day. Nobody in Grand Kru County district # 2 is going to vote against me because I am making too much money. That’s a Monrovia thing. You (people) like that in Montserrado County”.
Representative Koffa further expressed concern over the whereabouts of monies deducted from lawmakers’ salaries during the salary harmonization process carried out by the government.
He noted that though members of the House of Representatives salaries were reduced, the whereabouts of the deducted portions have not been specified.
He disclosed that the cuts from lawmakers’ salaries did not go towards the implementation of sustainable development projects to alleviate challenges confronting their people, and as such, he will not succumb to another cut in remunerations in the absence of a clear plan committing slashed amounts towards the betterment of their districts and people.
“If you want to reduce my salary which is already reduced from the House, I don’t mind. But what did you do with the money you cut? Did you put it in my district so that those three schools I was using my salaries to build are completed-you didn’t do that? Did you put it in the hospital, or took it from here and put it here? No. You took it from here and put it in the General Fund”.
“I am not opposed to reducing my salary; but I am in resistance of reducing my salary without a plan. I will not support a bill of further reduction in salaries unless that money is specifically allocated for development in my district”.
He added that lawmakers will continue to be ridiculed or badmouthed by their constituents if they do not go extra mile by using portions of their salaries to initiate projects or help their people in their respective counties.
Fewer burdens on staffers
Most citizens, including civil society actors, youth and student activists have persistent complained about the exorbitant take-home salaries of members of the Liberian House of Representatives and Senate.
They believed that the amount of US$7000, excluding other benefits is too much for a legislator to take home in the midst of a struggling economy and the high level of poverty on vast majority of citizens in the country.
They argued that legislators cannot be rewarded handsomely for only attending sessions two days in a week, while the staffers, who work five days a week tirelessly, continue to take home “a dip in the bucket” as their salaries.
The salaries of legislative staffers lie between US$550 to US$175 ranging from Chief of Staff to Security.
But Representative Koffa justified that legislative staffers do not have the same burdens as compare to their bosses (lawmakers).
“I think that the staffers should increase; but let me tell you the burdens of a lawmaker. Everybody thinks that your salary is for them; it is public money and it is all of your money”.
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