Henry Karmo (0886522495) [email protected]
Monrovia-The Liberian senate is debating an act that will grant financial Autonomy to the Legislature. The Act presented by Bong County Senator Jewel Howard-Taylor will give the Legislature Financial Autonomy in the management and processing of all documents’ relating to the administration of its budget subject to compliance with allotment process from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
The Act if passed into law according to the Bong County Senator will be in compliance with all provisions of the Public Procurement and Concession Act of 2010 and with internationally accepted accounting principles and procedures as, well as the laws and procedures of the General Auditing Commission of the Republic of Liberia relating to submission to audit within a statutory period.
In a communication attached to the draft Act, Senator Taylor stated that up to date except for the National Legislature, the two other branches of Government (Executive and Judiciary) are exercising financial autonomy thus experiencing leverage, latitude and decisiveness in decision making and program implementation.
She believes the Legislative Branch finds it difficult to function efficiently under the present financial administrative arrangement wherein the Executive Branch is administering the budget and the processing of financial documents’ of the Legislative Branch thereby subjecting the Legislative Branch to a bureaucratic process which impedes its smooth operations.
Senator Taylor said: “In consideration of the above concerns, Mr. Pro-Tempore and members of the Liberian Senate, I herewith submit, the draft Bill hereinabove named for your perusal and subsequent passage into law.”
Speaker Alex Tyler in a recent news conference among things expressed similar view when he claimed that President Sirleaf was threatening to withhold the benefits of lawmakers and district project funds if they fail to remove him.
“These well-orchestrated ploys by the President to hold the House of Representatives in ransom by denying members their due benefits and entitlement as a means to strangulate us into undue political submission is in itself dictatorial and undemocratic to say the least. We will resist any sort of blackmail and hold high our standing and maintain that our benefits and entitlement are by law and not by the will and pleasure of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf”, said the Speaker.
The act is proposing that the Legislature will maintain a finance section headed by a director of Finance who, in consultation with the head of the secretariat of the respective houses, shall have overall responsibility for professional administration of the budget of the house for which said director of finance is employed.
The act also states that in compliance with this financial Autonomy Act, the amount allotted by the department of budget from time, to time to each House of the Legislature, excluding salaries, taxes and payments for social security, shall be directly deposited by the Ministry of Finance into the current operating account of the respective House. The law will also maintain the legal responsibility of the Ministry to prepare and provide each employee of the Legislature a statement of income for tax purposes.
The Act if passed also without prejudice to the authority, right and duty of the General Auditing Commission calls on the leadership of any of the two Houses of the legislature to subject its books of accounts to an audit by an independent auditor who is a member of the institute of certified Public Accountant.
The communication was read and sent to committee room for review.