For continuously being complacent, or arguably endorsing illegal activities, a civilized society would have impeached and prosecuted President Sirleaf.
It is troubling when the Head of the Executive Branch of Government with the constitutional mandate to uphold and protect the laws of the land is complacent, or arguably endorses the flagrant disregard for the very laws she swore to protect.
Yesterday some appointed officials of the Liberian government violated the Code of Conduct for Public officials when they engaged in “political party activities” and allegedly used government properties for party politics. And The Chief Executive Was Present.
Part V section 5.1 of the Code of Conduct which became law in 2014 states “All Officials appointed by the President of the Republic of Liberia shall not: a) engage in political activities, canvass or contest for elected offices; b) use Government facilities, equipment or resources in support of partisan or political activities; c) serve on a campaign team of any political party, or the campaign of any independent candidate.”
I watched from afar the different arguments on social media about yesterday’s events and took particular interest in the assertions of proponents of the appointed officials who argued that the relevant portions of the Code of Conduct on political activities is ambiguous or references only activities of National Elections. As a Political Scientist and student of law, I beg to differ.
In analyzing statutes, legal scholars first look to the plain language of the statute. If there is any ambiguity, the next level of analysis will draw upon the legislative history to arrive at the ‘legislative intent’ of the statute. While other professions focus on the whole, the legal profession focuses on parts.
Thus attorneys and legal scholars look for elements, or requirements, set in a statute to prove or disprove a legal claim. Permit me to implore this level of analysis for Code of Conduct.
Part V Section 5.1 A states all officials of appointed by the President of the Republic of Liberia shall not A) Engage in political activities, canvass or contest for elected offices I am intentionally not going to touch on the other elements of the Section 5.1 because who was driving what vehicle or why or how or what those government vehicles were doing at the Unity party convention is debatable and open to much speculation. I however like to focus on a clause section 5.1 A. Which prohibits appointed officials to “Engage in political activities.”
Our history is replete with abuse of public office including embezzling public resources and conflict of interests. So it is a waste of time to delve into history to dig out the legislative intent to know that our legislature intended to curb abuse, undue advantage, and conflict of interest by prohibiting Presidential appointees from engaging in political activities. What we need to understand is what constitutes a political activity.
In my undergraduate years as a political science student, I learned early on that political parties occupied a major part of our political activities. They have one main function: to bring together people of like minds in a political group to influence government and public policies.
Political parties do that by first electing their officials at an internal party convention to steer the ship of affairs of the party and second, feeding elected party candidates into the national elections. So when proponents argued that Code of Conduct is concern only with national electoral campaign activities as political activities, it says a lot about their disingenuousness or outright ignorance of what encompasses a political activity. We cannot deny that party elections are a core part of our political activities.
The United States Justice Department defines political activity as an “activity directed toward the success and failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office or partisan political group” (READ MORE).
The United States Department of Defense further clarifies the definition of political activity to include “volunteering for the campaign of a candidate for partisan political office, serving as an officer of a political party or club, serving as delegate to a political convention, or distributing literature for a candidate for partisan political activity” (READ HERE).
Where the President gets indicted is when she sits and watches while her appointed officials violate the laws and does nothing. Quite recently, the Minister of Defense came under fire for making political statements in support of the Vice President who announced he will contest the 2017 election. The President was notably mute on the subject. And from time and time again this President closes her eyes to the reckless disregard for the law.
While I was out of the country and could not participate in 2005 elections. I too was faced with the option of the ‘lesser of the two evils’. I openly voiced out that the Harvard trained economist and staunch Liberian political activist, despite her early support to the Taylor chaos, was the better choice for the Office of President of Liberia than the less sophisticated soccer celebrity, however genuine and passionate he was about Liberia. This business of government cannot be run on mere passion. It involves difficult decisions and has to be handled by a professional. She was elected and I was relieved and hopeful for a new Liberia.
Then came the first real test of leadership for the President Sirleaf. For me, this was a real test of whether she was going to be a different President…a leader who enforces the law no matter the culprits. In 2006 her security chiefs Ashford Peal and Chris Massquoi were involved in an incident that led to the death of an officer.
I had hoped that the President would send a strong message that absolutely no one was above the law. It however ended in a commission investigation instead of simple criminal investigation and prosecution. There and then I knew Liberia was headed into its ugly past.
This President would have been impeached and prosecuted had she presided over an accountable society. No wonder she’s “a rock star abroad and unpopular at home.” And her supporters continue to reference her Western support as a sign of her success. They must not have read western foreign policies like I did. Has anyone heard of Samuel Doe, Mobutu Sese Seko, Idriss Deby etc?
Garmondeh Clinton is a Liberian Activist and Executive Director of Project for the New Liberia. He holds a BA in Political Science from Montclair State University, MA in International Relations from Webster University, is currently a candidate for Juris Doctor at the Massachusetts School of Law. [email protected]
