Paynesville – Former Information Minister, Dr. Laurence Bropleh, says if it is established that Justice Minister Designate Cllr. Charles Gibson was embroiled in ethical issues then he is not fit to be the Attorney General of the nation.
Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh – [email protected]
Cllr. Gibson, a graduate of the Lewis Arthur Grimes School of Law, has vast experience practicing law in Liberia, but was suspended by the National Bar Association for misusing client’s resources.
His appointment as Justice Minister Designate by President George M. Weah has met a storm of criticisms from his fellow lawyers who argued that the Justice Minister must be someone with high ethical and moral behavior.
Dr. Bropleh echoed the criticism of Gibson’s nomination when he appeared live on Truth FM morning talk show and described the appointment by the new President as a “misstep”.
Bropleh: “If that is the case then he cannot be the Attorney General. The Attorney General is the Dean of the Supreme Court Bar.
He or she speaks for all Councilors at law at the opening of the Supreme Court. The Attorney General is the one person under our Constitution who is given the power and authority to advice our President.
“That person can be of no shading stature. So if the Supreme Court Justice rule in this matter and I have every reason to trust you…, then there is questionability over his appointment.”
Speaking on wide range of issues, Bropleh, who is also an attorney-at-law, described the “lack of attention to duty” as the biggest aspect of corruption in Liberia that have been perpetrated by many public officials over the years.
He called on the new government to confront the problems in order to succeed in the fight against it.
“The biggest aspect of corruption is attitude and mannerism; the lack of attention to duty. What we do as public servants is we steal from the Liberian people; not by necessarily taking the public resources. We go to work at 9:30am when should be there at 8: am.”
“We spent much of the people’s time, the covenanted time that the people say if you come we will pay you from eight to five,” he said.
“Out of the eight hour a day, we work an hour and a half. Six hours and a half we steal from the people because we are doing Facebook, we are doing personal things, we are running here and there, we are out for lunch, we drink five bottles of beer, we come back at three, people come to us we say tell the man to come back tomorrow. That’s the biggest corruption hindering our country.”
Dr. Bropleh, once Minister of Information during the Sirleaf administration, lost his job after being accused of corruption. He was later tried and exonerated from all charges.
During the talk show, he noted that although corruption cannot be obliterated in any society, it could be curbed when leaders have the political will to fight it.
He called on the new President and the Civil Service Agency to consistently review the performance of public officials.
“The Civil Service Agency and the Presidency must look at performance based. President Sirleaf started it. She started to call her cabinet in for review and then it stopped.
At the starting, let that person have a performance-based contract as a minister, deputy, an assistant and director; and at midpoint review the target. If they fall short at the final review, let them go,” he admonished.