Monrovia – Reports reaching this newspaper have it that the Senate took a last minute decision on late Monday night to confirm two assistant ministers, who had been reportedly denied confirmation.
Report by Henry Karmo [email protected]
The Senate had earlier agreed to deny the student ministers’ confirmations in order to set a standard but President George Manneh Weah’s “last minute intervention” made them to rescind that decision.
This newspaper had been told earlier in the day on Monday, March 19, by a very cogent source within the Senate that they (Senators) had denied Mamensie Kabba and others in her category.
Ms. Kabba and others are said to still be in school. Specifically, this newspaper was informed that the university that she is attending confirmed she is there and presented a proof that she is a graduating senior.
FrontpageAfrica is yet to see those proofs.
“The Senate agreed that since she will soon be graduating and based on the President’s intervention, she should be confirmed. That is what made us to change our decision in the last minute,” another source, who was a part of the confirmation process, said.
However, contrary to normal practices during confirmation of officials of government where reports and recommendations from designated committee(s) are read in open plenary and actions are taken in executive session, the reports and recommendations from the committees, which handled Ms. Kabba’s confirmation proceedings were not read in open plenary. Frontpage Africa had been informed by our Senate sources that the initial Committee’s report had denied her nomination.
On Tuesday FPA reported base on sources that Mamensie Kabba, Assistant Gender Minister, Princess Turkolon, Assistnat Minister for Tourism along with four assistant Ministers-designate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been denied confirmation.
Our main informant, who is a senator, said those nominees were denied owning to “no degree,” or “incompetence.”
Prior to the Senate’s decision on Monday, March 19 a motion from Grand Bassa County Senator Jonathan Kaipay, called for the report from the committees on the assistant ministers to be read in executive and action taken there.
Other senators resisted and demanded that they continue with what has always being done but Senate Pro-Tempore Albert Chie instructed the Secretary of the Senate to only read the heading of the report and actions were taken in executive (secret Session).