Monrovia – Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe, a candidate for the Liberian Presidency in the 2023 Presidential elections is adding his voice to the ongoing controversy surrounding President Joseph Boakai’s nominees in the new government.
By Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
In a statement Tuesday, Cllr. Gongloe, who is also an Assistant Professor of Law, at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia, suggested that the President abide by the new Executive Law of 1973 which compels the President of Liberia at section 10.2 to appoint at least one cabinet minister from each of the counties of Liberia. The said section provides, “As far as practicable, the President shall appoint at least one member of the Cabinet from every county of the Republic”.
Cllr. Gongloe’s stance comes just days after Gbarpolu Senator Amara Konneh raised a red flag regarding the disparity in the nominations and appointments made so far.
Minister Konneh, in a Facebook post noted that the President has so far appointed 15 Ministers to head Ministries including two ministers of state without portfolio. To date, Lofa has 5 (29.4%), Bong has 4 (23.5%), Bassa, Bomi, and Nimba have 2 each (35.3%) while Cape Mount and Sinoe have one each (11.7%). Lofa – MoCI, MoE, MoYS, MIA, MoSWP Bong- MPW, MoA, MoSWP, MoGCSP Bomi- MFDP, MoT Bassa- MoH, MICAT Nimba- MoJ, MoD Sinoe- MoS Cape Mount- MFA 15 of 18 cabinet ministers (83.3% of cabinet positions) appointed from 7 of 15 counties (46.6% of counties).
With three cabinet ministerial appointments remaining (Mines and Energy, Labor and Post and Telecommunications), Konneh says eight counties – (Gbarpolu, Montserrado, Margibi, Grand Kru, Rivercess, Grand Gedeh, Maryland, and Rivergee) are without Ministerial posts. He won Gbarpolu and Margibi in both rounds of the elections, and Montserrado in the runoff.
According to Konneh, the President promised a Minister from each county – and that has not happened. “Clearly, this promise will not be fulfilled. Of the 15 Cabinet ministers appointed so far, there is only one Muslim, Mamaka Bility. ~ The Southeast which has six counties (Grand Gedeh, Sinoe, Maryland, Grand Kru, Rivergee, and Rivercess) has received only one Ministerial appointment. ~ Five counties (Lofa, Bong, Bassa, Nimba, and Bomi) account for 88.2% of all cabinet appointments so far. Those of us who supported President Boakai must remind him of his promises quietly and publicly when it becomes necessary to help him deliver the promises he made when he campaigned for President. Change means change!”
Unhappiness Amongst UP Partisans
Cllr. Gongloe stated that he is aware of the views of various political actors who have expressed their disappointments over the manner in which President Boakai has proceeded with the appointment of cabinet ministers.
Said Cllr. Gongloe: “Some members of the ruling party have expressed unhappiness about the president’s failure to appoint party stalwarts who went the extra mile to campaign for the victory of the Unity Party. Key supporters of the party in the legislature have also expressed disappointments over the failure of the president to include all counties in the appointment of cabinet ministers and some have even said that their counties have fewer cabinet ministers than the President’s County of origin.”
Against the background of what appears to be a source of potential discord, disharmony, and street protests, stimulated by a high expectation of inclusion in the current cabinet for various reasons, Cllr. Gongloe averred, “I am compelled by my peacekeeping instinct to guide the evolving public discourse on the exercise of the presidential power of appointment by putting this contentious issue in a legal context.”
According to Cllr. Gongloe, the president’s power to appoint cabinet ministers is controlled by article 54a) of the constitution of Liberia. Article 54a) of the Constitution of Liberia provides, “The President shall nominate and, with the consent of the Senate, appoint and commission cabinet ministers…”
Power to Nominate
He says, the power to nominate and appointment cabinet minister was at the complete and uncontrolled discretion of the president, apart from the consent of the Senate, until 1973.
Cllr. Gongloe explained that, in 1973, the Liberian Legislature, apparently, guided by the fact that an appreciable number of Liberians from all of the counties, especially the four new counties created in 1964, had acquired higher education and gained the requisite experiences to participate in the governance of the country, enacted a new executive law requiring the President of Liberia, in the exercise of his constitutional power to nominate and appoint cabinet ministers, to include the representation of all counties.
In this regard, Cllr. Gongloe notes, the New Executive of 1973 compels the President of Liberia at section 10.2 to appoint at least one cabinet minister from each of the counties of Liberia.
Cllr. Gongloe added that, in law, the use of the word shall, makes an action compulsory, mandatory, obligatory, or non-discretionary, as compared to the word may, which makes an action discretionary. Thus, he explains, “there is a troubling phrase that a president could use as an excuse not to appoint cabinet ministers from all the counties of Liberia. That phrase is “as far as practicable”.
Cllr. Gongloe however added that it can be concluded that this phrase directs the president to find out those with the requisite education and experiences in all of the counties that are qualified to serve as cabinet ministers.
Possible During Tolbert Era
Said Cllr. Gongloe: “It was possible in the mid-1970s for President William R. Tolbert to find it practicable to appoint cabinet ministers from all the counties of Liberia, including the five old counties and the four new counties at the time. Therefore, in the 1970s President William R. Tolbert for the first-time appointed cabinet ministers from Grand Gedeh County, Nimba County, Lofa County and Bong County, the four new counties created in 1964. They were Troho Kpahai, Minister of Post and Telecommunication, Grand Gedeh County; Jackson Fiah Doe, Minister of Education, Nimba County; James Y. Gbabea, Minister of Defense, Bong County; and Edward Beyan Kesselly, Minister of Information, Lofa County.”
Those appointments, Cllr. Gongloe averred, were not merely based on President Tolbert’s desire to, in his words, “build a wholesome functioning society”, but his compliance with section 10.2 of the New Executive Law.
In complying with this law, Cllr. Gongloe notes, a president could appoint only members of his party, a combination of members of his party and other parties, or a combination of members of political parties, the civil society and professional organizations or any selection path he chooses.
Irrespective of the path a president desires in selecting his cabinet ministers, Cllr. Gonlgoe says Section 10.2 of the New Executive Law of Liberia compels him to appoint at least one cabinet minister from each of the counties of Liberia. “This means the President of Liberia must first appoint fifteen cabinet ministers before he can exercise his discretion in any way, he wishes to appoint the remaining ones. If it was possible for President William R. Tolbert to find it practicable to follow this law in the 1970s when there were far less educated people in Liberia, there can be no excuse in 2024 to comply with this law. Section 10.2 of the New Executive Law of Liberia is the only yardstick for forming a government of inclusion.”
Hoping Law Ends Debate
Cllr. Gongloe hopes that compliance with this law will end all the current debates about the possibility of exclusion or under representation of some counties in the new cabinet.
While some may argue that neither President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf nor President George M. Weah complied with section 10.2 of the New Executive Law, Cllr. Gongloe says, this will not be a good position to take on the matter in our collective effort to build a better Liberia. “Most Liberians do not want the business of governance to be “business as usual”, governance by the mere whims and caprices of the holders of power, or governance outside the rule of law. All well-meaning Liberians must take note of the non-debatable fact that a better Liberia will only be possible if Liberia is governed by the rule of law, governing based on the Constitution and statutes of Liberia. This advice is from a member of the voluntary civilian internal peacekeeping force of Liberia.”