Monrovia – Monrovia City Mayor-designate Jefferson Koijee Friday, February 9, faced the Senate’s Committee on Internal Affairs for his confirmation hearing.

Report by Henry Karmo, henry.karmo@frontpageafricaonline.com

Koijee had appeared before the Committee, which is chaired by Senator Gble-Gbo Browne of Maryland County, to convince its members on why it should confirm him as the next Monrovia City Mayor.

He told the Committee on Internal Affairs that if confirmed he will work in collaboration with the Legislature to create quick impact jobs for young people, especially those of the student population, in order to subsidize the burden of tuition.

“Just a few days ago students of the University of Liberia were in protest for the reopening of registration.”

“Distinguished Senators, I want to say to you this burden we have come to share with you for the fact that we are a member of this generation,” Koijee said.

As Mayor, he said, the Monrovia City Corporation will launch its first 180-day manifesto, which would take into consideration a clean and green city with support from donors and partners.

Koijee gained his fame and admiration for being a ‘fearless’ youth advocate when he served as Chairman of the Youth Wing of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), comprising the Liberian People Democratic Party (LPDP), and the National Patriotic Party (NPP).

His confirmation was grace with a huge turnout of partisans of the CDC and workers of the MCC who gathered in the joint chambers of the Legislature to witness the hearing.

He is one of few very young Liberians nominated by President George Weah to work in his administration.

If confirmed, he will replace Madam Clara Doe Mvogo.

Koijee is expected to get a hundred percent approval from the Committee members as most of them who attended the hearing, promised to vote for his confirmation as Monrovia’s next Mayor.

If confirmed he will be the youngest Mayor to have ascended to that position.

The Monrovia City Mayor-designate promised to work with staff to improve the city.

The Mayor-designate also said his administration would continue to try to build trust between the city police force and its residents

Koijee predecessor Clara Doe-Mvogo is the former Mayor of Monrovia and Chair of the Monrovia City Council.

During the Ebola Virus Disease crisis, she served as Co-Chair for the Montserrado County Incident Management System for Ebola, and also as Chair of the Medical Waste Management System for Ebola Response Committee.

She has served as National Technical Coordinator of the West Africa Quality Program for ECOWAS and UEMOA, which was implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

In that position, she was responsible for the establishment of the National Standards Laboratory of Liberia for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

She worked as a consultant on a study on gender issues conducted by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) in Liberia.

She provided technical assistance in the establishment of Quality Assurance Program for the Ghana Health Services Regional Hospital laboratories.

Mrs. Mvogo holds a Master of Arts Degree in Clinical Psychology, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and Chemistry, and is a registered Medical Technologist.

She is a past President of the Rotary Club of Sinkor, Liberia, and member of the Board of Trustee of the AME University in Liberia.  

Monrovia – In the wake of the power struggle among members of the House of Representatives at the Capitol Building, the Traditional leaders of Liberia are calling for calm among the members of that body.

Report by Edwin G. Genoway, Jr – edwin.genoway@frontpageonline.com

The head of the Traditional Council of Chiefs of Liberia, Chief Zanzan Karwor said it is discouraging for Honorable men and women who are supposed to be making laws to benefit the Liberian people to instead be fighting among themselves.

He told FrontPageAfrica that as traditional leaders, they will not sit and allow lawmakers fight among themselves.

He disclosed that the Liberia Council of Chiefs has invited the two groups of lawmakers to appear at the offices of the Council of Chiefs in Sinkor.

Several members of the House of Representatives are rejecting the presence of their Speaker, Alex J. Tyler to preside over regular session in the face of his alleged link to bribery allegation recently exposed by Global Witness, stressing that he should recuse himself from presiding over session until he is exonerated from the allegation.

Dozens of the Representatives including Tokpa Mulbah of Bong County called on their colleagues to continue their support against Speaker Tyler by rejecting him from presiding over session at the National legislature.

The London-based Watchdog Group, Global Witness recently alleged that more than US$950,000 in bribes and other suspicious payments were made to top Liberian officials including Speaker Alex Tyler by the Britain-based Sable Mining Company and its Liberian lawyer, Cllr. Varney Sherman.

Since the indictment of Speaker Tyler for his alleged involvement in the bribery saga of the Global Witness report, the House of Representatives has been divided with one group of lawmakers calling for the Speaker to recuse himself while others are backing the Speaker urging him (Speaker Tyler) to not bow to those calling for his recusal.

With the current confusion at the Capitol, traditional leaders of Liberia say they (traditional leaders) do not expect the lawmakers to disrespect them by failing to appear before the Council.

Chief Karwor said he will convene a meeting between the two group of lawmakers – “They are our children and we are their fathers, we cannot be sitting and allow our children to be fighting among themselves, they cannot tells us no, they will come and we will have meeting with them to solve this problem so our Liberian people work can be done,” he noted.

The power struggle at the House of Representatives has stalled workings at the Capitol Building with the Executive branch of government calling for calm among lawmakers.

Deputy Information Minister Isaac Jackson told FPA that the Executive cannot deal with a divided House of Representatives.

He noted that the executive branch of government is looking forward to lawmakers resolving their problem.

“We from the executive are concerned; the President is concerned and wants the confusion among lawmakers to be resolved. Let this be very clear for the record, the President has no hand in what is unfolding at the Capitol Building,” he noted.

Monrovia – Three ministries on Monday boycotted the ongoing budget hearing for fiscal year 2016/2017 in the wake of rumors that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has decided to withdraw the budget currently before the Legislative Joint Committee on Ways, Means and Finance.

Report by Henry Karmo – henrykarmo@frontpageafricaonline.com

The Ministries of Labor and Commerce failed to show up Monday before the committee without an excuse. According to Montserrado County District #2 Representative, Sekou Kanneh, Co-chair of the committee, with the exception of the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs which sent an excuse since the death of its former head, the Ministry of Commerce stayed away without any written excuse.

Concerns were raised about the emptiness of the seats in the joint chambers where it was expected that representatives from the ministries and agencies would have been seated by 2:00PM, the regular starting time for budget hearing.

No knowledge on budget withdrawal

Asked what was the committee’s view on rumors about budget withdrawal by President Sirleaf, he claimed not to have any knowledge about the information, saying the President usually writes the Legislature if she needs them do things.

“Not to my knowledge. As far as I know, the process is ongoing even though some of the Ministries expected here today did not show up. What is clear is that we will close for agriculture break by the 31 of August and if the President needs us back, it is constitutional for her to ask us to do so,” he added.

Frontpageafrica Monday reported that in a rather rare but bold move, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is poised to recall the 2016/2017 draft budget this week, just a week after convening a Cabinet meeting during which she threatened punitive action against any member of the Executive involved in budget manipulation.

Multiple sources have confirmed to FPA that the President is on the verge of recalling the budget she submitted to the House of Representatives on June 2, 2016.

According to one source close to the Executive Mansion, the President has been contemplating this move ever since cabinet issued a warning to its members about budget manipulations.

The source explained: “As the administration comes to an end the President is keen for the budget to reflect more of her priorities, including energy, roads and other critical infrastructure.”

“With a not too rosy economic outlook the President wants to tighten the budget and do more from the executive end to prevent unrealistic revenue forecast leading to inflated expenditures which may not be in the national interest”, one Executive Mansion told frontpageafrica.

Frontpageafrica   also reported that it has learned that the President has asked Mr. James Kollie, Deputy Minister of Finance for Administration to resign.

The President, it can be recalled, on July 31, 2016, accepted the resignation of the Comptroller and Accountant General of the Republic of Liberia, Mr. Sekou A. Sanoe and appointed Mr. Hanson Kaizulu as Acting Comptroller and Accountant General with immediate effect. 

During last week’s Cabinet meeting, ministers expressed concern about budget manipulation and warned members that anyone found in breach would be punished.

The Cabinet mandated that punitive action awaits any line Minister who engages in budget manipulation process while being subject to the vetoing of the specific unauthorized appropriation, which runs contrary to the draft budget originally submitted to the National Legislature.

Monrovia – All lawmakers at the Capitol Building are generally representing a county in Liberia, and each of those counties being represented has different districts that produce one lawmaker each to represent the constituents of those districts.

Report by Edwin G. Genoway, Jr- edwin.genowayedwin@frontpageonline.com

All of the 15 counties have two Senators each, making the total of 30 Senators.

There are seventy three representatives representing the fifteen counties of Liberia, and those counties are symbolically represented by a flag on the compound of the capitol. It is the responsibility of lawmakers to replace their counties’ flag when it is torn.

But the current lawmakers seem to be too busy with the passage of the budget and the ongoing power struggle amongst themselves to remove Speaker Tyler, thus forgetting that their various counties flags need to be changed because all of the flags have worn away with its colors fading and torn up, something that does not represent the office of the lawmakers that are making over US$10, 000 each on a monthly basis.

After observing the torn flags at the Capitol Building, a representative aspirant of electoral district number 9 in Montserrado County has donated fifteen flags to the House of Representatives.

Fubbi Henries said the donation was prompted by the sight of several torn flags being hoisted on the grounds of the Capitol Building, the seat of the First Branch of the Liberian Government.

Henries said as a Liberian, he felt compelled and needed to help fix some problems in the country, instead of unnecessarily criticizing government and lawmakers without helping to find solution to the many problems Liberia is faced with.

“I have noticed that the flags here are very old and rotten and needed to be changed. As a Liberian who doesn’t want to sit home and just criticize the workings of the lawmakers and the government at large, I thought it wise to come and donate these flags to our honorable lawmakers in order to replace the old ones that are not representable,” he noted.

Fubbi Henries who is Chief Executive Officer of Friends of Fubbi Henries put the cost of the donation at a little over two hundred United States dollars, something that lawmakers can afford.

During the donation of the flags, all of the lawmakers were feigning to be very busy and could not come out to receive the donation but the Chief of Office Staff in the officer of Speaker Alex Tyler, Edwin Clark, who later came out to receive the flags thanked the youthful Liberian for the donation.

He promised to take it to his bosses. “Thank you for this donation and I promise you that I will present it to my boss who happens to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives and he will turn it over to the necessary people or heads responsible for that,” he promised as he collected the items.

BUDGET MANIPULATION for any nation is a serious offense. In Brazil, it led to the premature ouster of President Dilma Roussef by the Lower House of Congress which accused Rousseff of using accounting tricks in managing the federal budget to maintain spending and shore up support. Dilma had charged that previous presidents used similar maneuvers and stressed that she has not been charged with any crimes or implicated in any corruption scandals.

ALTHOUGH DILMA RECEIVED a boost this week when a report prepared by analysts in the Brazilian Senate found that there was no evidence to suggest she was personally responsible for fiscal wrongdoing, the saga in Brazil shows the serious implications budget manipulations can have on a country.

IN LIBERIA, the issue came to light during a recent Cabinet meeting when President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf mandated that punitive action awaits any line Minister who engages in budget manipulation process while being subject to the vetoing of the specific unauthorized appropriation, which runs contrary to the draft budget originally submitted to the National Legislature.

THE DRAFT NATIONAL Budget for 2016/2017 of US$555.9 million, comprises US$495.5 million for Core Domestic Revenue; US$30.2 million as Grant; and US$30.1 million as Contingent Domestic Revenue. Prior to the President submitting the budget, the Cabinet, approved the Draft National Budget of over US$600-million, representing Domestic Revenue of more than US$400-million, Grants/Budget Support of more than US$66-million, Borrowing of over US$58-million, and a surplus from last year’s budget of over US$13-million.

FRONTPAGEAFRICA REVELATION MONDAY drew some strong reservations from Mr. Isaac Redd, Director of Press and Public Affairs at the Lower House of the National Legislature who concluded that the President can either work her concerns out with her Budget Committee at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning or veto part or whole of the budget but cannot recall the budget once it is with the Legislature. 

SAID REDD: “If there is any such thing like budget manipulation it has to be done with the branch that implements the budget. Under our laws, it is the very Executive. If she does act ultra-virus and recalls the budget, which is possible, she will be undermining her programs and projects for 2016/2017 because she can’t spend outside an approved budget.”

PART II, SECTION 2 (2) OF THE PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ACT IS CLEAR THAT: “Except for the authority to submit the Proposed Budget to the Legislature, the President may delegate to the Minister, any of the authorities and powers conferred to the President under this Act, subject to terms and conditions specified by the President at the time of the delegation, Such delegation, however, does not discharge the responsibility of the President with regard to this Act.”

Section 6 STATES: “(Authority and Responsibilities of theirs); No monies shall be drawn from the treasury except in consequence of appropriations made by legislative enactment and upon warrant of the President; and no coin shall be minted or national currency issued except by the expressed authority of the Legislature. An annual statement and account of the receipt and expenditure of all public monies shall be submitted by the office of the President to the Legislature and published once a year.”

AMID THE DEBATE over the powers of the executives, some constitutional scholars say there are two types of powers inherent in the authority of the President: Express and Implied. The executive powers clause of the constitution vests the government and sovereign powers to manage the country in the hands of the President.

THE BUDGET LAW requires the President to submit a budget to the Legislature once each year. In practice the budget is submitted as a bill. The power to recall is implied in the executive authority of the president concurrent with the requirement to submit a budget. That is, the president can recall the budget for revision at any time before it is passed by the legislature. Typically, the budget negotiation should cure any defect in the budget. But this extraordinary use of this implied power shows that the president’s concern over legislative manipulation aided by certain members of the executive is so grave, she wants to do a top down review of the submission. Implied powers concept is based on:

IMPLIED POWERS, in the United States, are those powers authorized by a document (from the Constitution) that, while not stated, seem to be implied by powers expressly stated.  For example, when George Washington requested Alexander Hamilton to defend the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States against the protests of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph, Hamilton produced what has now become the classic statement for implied powers by arguing that the sovereign duties of a government implied the right to use means adequate to its ends. “Although the United States government was sovereign only as to certain objects, it was impossible to define all the means which it should use, because it was impossible for the founders to anticipate all future exigencies. Hamilton noted that the “general welfare clause” and the “necessary and proper clause” gave elasticity to the constitution. Hamilton won the argument with Washington, who signed his Bank Bill into law.

WHILE WE ARE UNSURE how the President will go about her plan to give the budget a second look, we feel strongly that in order for Liberia to survive the ongoing global economic downturn, a lot of sacrifices will have to be made and it will require those at the top of the ladder to cut down on unnecessary expenditures like the extravagant allotment of gasoline and fuel, said to be in the millions and a host of other damning allotments that deny decent and hardworking folks at the bottom of the economic ladder a fair shot at the economic pie.

IT SADDENS US that many of those elected to public office and even those appointed by the President would betray public confidence by inserting allotments beneficial only to themselves but painfully to the detriment of the suffering masses.

IF LIBERIA MUST turn the corner and restore its economic sanity after a painful and protracted civil war, we must begin to make sacrifices that will show international stakeholders that we mean well for the people we serve.

BUT IT MUST begin and end with those in authority; they must set the pace in motion for the rest of the country to follow. If new information suggest that some sinister allotments are hidden in the budget that could give a political advantage to some of those in position of power, we support any initiative that aims to put things in check and save Liberia much needed coppers that could go toward the construction of a school, a hospital or road project in some hard-to-reach areas.

BUT WE MUST not stop there. Those found culpable should be brought to book, interrogated, investigated and made to pay for attempting to manipulate the budget for the own selfish greed.

Monrovia –  In a rather rare but bold move, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is poised to recall the 2016/2017 draft budget this week, just a week after convening a Cabinet meeting during which she threatened punitive action against any member of the executive involved in budget manipulation, FrontPageAfrica has learned.

Report by Rodney D. Sieh, rodney.sieh@frontpageafricaonline.com

Massive Shakeup Looms At Finance Ministry

Multiple sources have confirmed to FPA that the President is on the verge of recalling the budget she submitted to the House of Representatives on June 2, 2016.

According to one source close to the Executive Mansion, the President has been contemplating this move ever since cabinet issued a warning to its members about budget manipulations.

The source explained: “As the administration comes to an end the President is keen for the budget to reflect more of her priorities, including energy, roads and other critical infrastructure.”

“With a not too rosy economic outlook the President wants to tighten the budget and do more from the executive end to prevent unrealistic revenue forecast leading to inflated expenditures which may not be in the national interest.”

FrontPageAfrica has also learned that the President has asked Mr. James Kollie, Deputy Minister of Finance for Administration to resign.

The President, it can be recalled, on July 31, 2016, accepted the resignation of the Comptroller and Accountant General of the Republic of Liberia, Mr. Sekou A. Sanoe and appointed Mr. Hanson Kaizulu as Acting Comptroller and Accountant General with immediate effect. 

During last week’s Cabinet meeting, ministers expressed concern about budget manipulation and warned members that anyone found in breach would be punished.

The Cabinet mandated that punitive action awaits any line Minister who engages in budget manipulation process while being subject to the vetoing of the specific unauthorized appropriation, which runs contrary to the draft budget originally submitted to the National Legislature.

It is unclear whether the resignation of Mr. Kollie and Mr. Sanoe are related to that action.

The Draft National Budget for 2016/2017 of US$555.9 million, comprises US$495.5 million for Core Domestic Revenue; US$30.2 million as Grant; and US$30.1 million as Contingent Domestic Revenue.

Prior to the President submitting the budget, the Cabinet, approved the Draft National Budget of over US$600-million, representing Domestic Revenue of more than US$400-million, Grants/Budget Support of more than US$66-million, Borrowing of over US$58-million, and a surplus from last year’s budget of over US$13-million.

The Cabinet also agreed on key areas of expenditure to include debt repayment amounting to US$32.5-million, payment of salaries across the Government US$252.1-million and, Social Development Fund and other pass through US$23.2-million.

Key areas of expenditure will also include, Health Sector Strengthening US$73.0-million, Education Sector Support US$79.4-million and, Security and Rule of Law US$90.1-million, including US$15-million for UNMIL Transition, as First Claims on the resource envelop.

Others include the Government of Liberia’s (GoL) contribution (Counterpart Funding) to ongoing donor financed public investment projects through loans and grants amounts to US$24.5-million, and GoL’s Grants and Transfers to various institutions and entities that contribute to Liberia’s socio-economic reconstruction US$85.7-million.

In support of major Public Sector Investments, intended to advance Liberia’s post-Ebola recovery, growth, and development, the Cabinet agreed to fund road construction and maintenance at the cost of US$44.3-million, including US$17.3-million as GoL’s contribution to donor funded projects.

The Cabinet also agreed to fund renovation of public buildings at the cost of US$9-million, expansion of electricity at US$2.4-million, district development projects throughout the country (through the National Legislature) at  US$10.9-million, and water & sanitation US$2.3-million.

Beach & waterways cleaning at US$1-million, human capacity-building US$2-million, private sector development US$1.5-million, National Low Cost Housing project (US$1.5 million, and LWSC Water Project US$1.0-million were other key areas the Cabinet also agreed on at its weekend’s meeting.

Other key areas considered in the draft budget by the Cabinet include renovation works at BWI US$1-million, renovation works at Tubman University (US$1-million, and a host of other key interventions critical for the delivery of social services and economic transformation.

In recent weeks, Sirleaf and her Cabinet have been keen on reviewing the status updates on key benchmarks in the areas of roads, ports, water & sanitation, education as well as Task Force performance covering agriculture and agro-processing and manufacturing and business support.

The Cabinet last week, took note of the status updates on roads, ports, water & sanitation, education and related Task Force performance projects and mandated proper and effective coordination initiatives that will translate into realizable outcomes for the benefit of the nation and its people.

The Cabinet also received update on the Draft National Fisheries and Aquaculture Act, which seeks to provide sustainable development of fisheries resources and the proper management and control of fisheries for present and future generations.

The fisheries sector will effectively contribute to economic growth and development -12% to agriculture GDP; 3% to National GDP; 65% to protein intake, and has the potential for employment as well as investment and revenue.

The looming budget recall comes amid a serious push by President Sirleaf to beef up deliverables accomplished on the watch of the administration

In recent weeks, both the Executive and Legislative branches of government have been at loggerheads prompting some to suggest that the looming recall could be tie to reports of friction between embattled speaker Alex Tyler and President Sirleaf.

Pressed as to whether or not this recall has anything to do with the fight over the Speaker, one member of the Executive said: “No! While the ongoing drama at the House is of keen interest to us, we follow it through the news like the regular public and have no involvement and do not intend to get involve.”

The President retreated to her farm in Bomi County late Thursday night which indicates a major decision is about to be made.

It is likely that members of her team close to this budget recall may be trekking to Bomi as well. When reached for confirmation Information Minister Eugene Nagbe said” “The President is having a cookout with villagers who helped with her farm work this weekend and is preparing for that.”

The Minister did not confirm nor deny the budget recall.

Monrovia – Information regarding the salaries and other incomes of public officials paid directly from taxes are not secret in many countries around the world but for Liberia, the situation is quite different. Liberia’s Lawmakers salaries

“This information is crucial for our work in the media and will arm us with the knowledge and end the mounting speculations over how much legislatures are actually making. We need to know” – Rodney D. Sieh, Editor/Publisher, FrontPageAfrca

In countries such as Kenya, the salaries and other incentives of lawmakers are voted publicly during parliament deliberations and the public aware of how much their lawmakers are earning.

Kenyan lawmakers in July 2010 voted to boost their own salaries, making them among the world’s best paid politicians. The parliamentarians voted to be paid a basic $44,000 (£29,000) a year.

But extra allowances can bring the salary up to up to $126,000 (£84,000) after tax – a rise of 18%. The allowances include $370 (£250) a day for turning up in parliament.

In Liberia there is still secrecy surrounding how much lawmakers earn monthly in basic salaries, incentives and other allowances giving individual lawmakers the leverage to provide their own version of information to the public regarding their earning.

Make Information Available

FrontPageAfrica has taken the lead in ensuring that both the House of Representatives and Senate provide information regarding their earnings.

In two letters addressed to the Senate and the House of Representatives, Rodney S. Sieh, Editor and Publisher of FrontPageAfrica is requesting the legislature to make available all information regarding lawmakers’ salaries and other incentives to the news outlet.

Using the Freedom of Information Act passed into law by the National Legislature and signed into by the President, Editor Sieh stated that Access to information is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution of Liberia.

In separate letters to dated May 3 and addressed to Nabolor Singbe, Secretary of the Senate and Mildred Sayon, Chief Clerk, House of Representatives, Republic of Liberia, Editor Sieh stated:

“Recognizing that access to information is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of Liberia and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and realizing that the right of access to information encompasses the right to request and receive information, especially information involving public interest, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on October 10, 2010, signed into law a Freedom of Information Act”.

The FPA editor added that the Act which has already been signed into law and printed into a hand bill made Liberia the first West African country with a freedom of information law. Stated Editor Sieh: “It is in this light that I wish to request from your office a breakdown of salaries and benefits for elected members of the Upper House of the National Legislature”.

‘Crucial to Our work’

He continued “This information is crucial for our work in the media and will arm us with the knowledge and end the mounting speculations over how much legislatures are actually making”.

Editor Sieh indicated that various media outlets have in the past few months given conflicting information in their reports regarding the actual salaries of elected officials.

Quoting the FOI, Editor Sieh said it is clearly stated: “The right of access to information applies to private entities that receive public resources and benefits, engage in public functions, and or provide public services, particularly in respect of information relating to the public resources, benefits, functions or services.

The right to information is independent of a personal interest in the information, and there is no need whatsoever for a person requesting information to provide a reason or justification for his or her request”.

In an initial response to the request Singbe told FrontPageAfrica that he will submit the request to the leadership of the Senate and will only act when mandated to do so. “I will forward your request to the Senate leadership and you will hear from me on anything they mandate me to do”, Singbe told FPA.

In similar manner, Editor Sieh in another letter addressed to Mildred Sayon, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives also requested information on the salaries and incentives of members of the House of Representatives.

Misunderstanding on lawmakers’ salaries

Although FrontPageAfrica has requested information on the salaries and allowances of lawmakers but from figures allotted in the national budget, the lawmakers are earning hefty salaries and allowances.

“There is much misunderstanding on the salaries and allowances of the Liberian Lawmakers. The only open, accessible source is the National Budget. In the National Budget 2015/2016 section 101 is dedicated to the National Legislature (page 3-13).

In this section you will find the budgets for salaries and allowances that are allocated for the members of the House and the Senate”, stated the Institute for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD) on its website looking at the salaries and allowances paid to lawmakers.

In the budget the lawmakers have several line items listed under their budget including basic salary, general allowance, special allowance, transportation reimbursement, foreign travel ticket, domestic travel, amongst others.

The Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Senate Pro temp have separate budgets from the rest of the lawmakers.

Besides the budget for the operations of their respective offices, the three earn more in terms of basic salary, and other allowances.

Speaker Alex Tyler gets US$444,945 annually in budget line items such as basic salary, general allowance, special allowance, residential property, fuel vehicle, fuel generator, repairs vehicles, other specialized materials and others.

The Deputy Speaker Hans Barchue gets US$440,961 annually in line items such as basic salary, general allowance, special allowance, residential property, fuel vehicle, fuel generator, repairs vehicles, other specialized materials and others.

Senate Pro temp Armah Jallah gets US$482,203 annually under similar expenditure line items including basic salary, general allowance, special allowance, residential property, fuel vehicle, fuel generator, repairs vehicles, other specialized materials and others.

Senators Net Over 15K monthly

Each senator besides the Pro temp receives an amount of US$209,516 annually from the national budget.

Individual senators get US$3, 4956 each for general allowance monthly; US$ 81736; US$30,000 as special allowance and US$38,400 as transportation reimbursement allowance.

On a monthly basis each senator gets US$2,913 as basic salary; US$6,811.33 as general allowance; US$2,500 as special allowance; US$3,200 summing to a little over US$15,424 monthly.

Other budgetary expenditure line items such as Telecom/Internet/Post amounting to US$ 13,793 annually; Residential property lease of US$ 12, 000; Fuel Vehicle of US$ 42,371; Fuel Generator-US$ 2,465; Repairs Vehicles-US$19,832; Other Specialized Materials-19,938; Foreign Travel (incidental)-US$ 14,000 are all cash given in lump sum to the senators.

Representatives Get over 14K monthly

On the other hand, members of the House of Representatives also take home more than US$14,000 monthly excluding other amounts given them in cash during the course of the annual budget.

Members of the House of Representatives are paid an annual amount of US$34,482 in basic salary, US$ 107,622 in general allowance and US$ 30,000 in Special allowance amongst others annually.

On a monthly basis individual members of the House of Representatives get US$2,873.3 in basic salary; US$8,968.5 in general allowance, US$2,500 in special allowance and US$3,175 in transportation reimbursement allowance totalling over US$14,342 monthly.

Individuals’ representatives also get other allowances that are received in cash in lump sum like the senators during the course of the budget year.

Other budgetary line items such as Telecom/Internet/Post amounting to US$ 16,957annually; Residential property lease of US$15,656; Fuel Vehicle of US$45,499; Fuel Generator-US$ 2,586; Repairs Vehicles-US$ 1,724; Other Specialized Materials- $35,896; Domestic Travel- $20,128 are all cash given in lump sum to the senators.

The state spends an amount of US$17, 710, 41 on all 103 members of the House of Representatives annually.

Samwar S. Fallah, samwar.fallah@frontpageafricaonline.com

Monrovia – The Liberian currency, the Liberian dollar, has significantly depreciated in terms of value on the exchange market, trading as low as L$91 to US$1, one of the worst in the recent history of the country.

“The Speaker and his LPDP in collaboration with some elements of the Unity party have agreed and decided a need to print more money to fund their campaigns. We thought that by printing more money it will escalate the already depreciated Liberian dollars that has gone to the rate of LD$91 to US$1”- Representative Edward Forh, Congress for Democratic Change

Operating a dual currency regime with the United States and Liberian dollars as legal tenders, fluctuations in the exchange rate greatly affect the prices of basic commodities that are mostly sold in Liberian dollars but traders have to purchase in United States dollars on foreign markets.

To compensate for the loss in value in the Liberian dollars when exchanged to United States dollars, traders increase the prices of their commodities, leaving the consumers to feel the pinch.

While the Liberian dollars continues to depreciate against the United States dollars, the House of Representatives has endorsed President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s request to print additional bank notes.

The House voted Thursday in favor of the President Sirleaf’s request after the Committee on Banking and Currency chaired by Representative Julius Berrian (CDC-District #10, Montserrado County) submitted a report to plenary.

Making the report on Thursday, Representative Berrian said after several meetings and revisions with Central Bank officials, the joint committee members and other stakeholders, the Committee resolved to recommend to the plenary of the House of Representatives to allow the CBL print additional bank notes to replenish the Liberian dollars reserve.

A month ago President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf wrote the National Legislature, seeking permission for the Central Bank of Liberia to print additional bank notes.

The CBL under Dr. J. Mills Jones advanced similar request to the Honorable House of Representatives. The communications from the CBL and the President were transferred to relevant committees with a mandate to analyze the request and guide plenary in making informed decisions.

According to the committee report submitted by Chairman Berrian, there were a total of three meetings held to familiarize itself with the issue at hand. Additionally, the committee stated that it conducted series of hearings with relevant stakeholders including the management team of the CBL.

The committee report stated: “During the hearing with the Central Bank, the Committee established that the bank is justified for requesting this authorization. This, in the wisdom of the Joint Committee, will certainly strengthen the reserve position of the bank and capacitate it to respond to the economic needs and demands of government and the general public.”

“The committee also established that the last time the bank undertook similar action was approximately five years ago. It is common knowledge that printed notes

are subjected to factors that lead to reduction in their quantity and quality in the circulation. One of such factors is mutilation,” the committee further declared.

Dissenting Lawmaker thrown out

Representative Edward Forh (CDC-District # 11 Montserrado County) who spoke against the decision for the printing of additional bank notes was thrown out of session on the order of Speaker Alex Tyler.

Rep. Forh was accused of attempting to disrupt session after expressing strong view against the President’s request for the printing of new bank notes.

The Lawmaker claimed that he was ignored by the Speaker whenever he sought recognition to speak on the issue of printing new bank notes despite several attempts to have the Speaker recognize him to make an input on the discussion. Representative Forh had earlier resisted the order from the Speaker to leave session did leave after interventions from his colleagues.

He is accusing Speaker Tyler and people he described as elements from the ruling Unity Party of supporting the decision to print new bank notes to fund their campaigns.

Lawmaker Forh said: “The Speaker and his LPDP in collaboration with some elements of the Unity Party have agreed and decided a need to print more money to fund their campaigns. We thought that by printing more money, it will escalate the already depreciated Liberian Dollars that has gone to the rate of ninety-one to one US dollars”.

The Lawmaker continued: “If their argument that there is a shortage of Liberian dollars on the Liberian market than why is the Liberian dollars not appreciating against the US dollars because the US dollars has reduced according to the President annual message and the governor of the CBL and finance minister.”

Citing other reasons for his dissent, Representative Forh said: “Our foreign reserve activities have reduced, our iron ore trade has gone down, so we lost US dollars, our rubber trade has reduced so we lost US dollars. The logging industry is not too good; we lost US dollars, so there are fewer US dollars chasing the Liberian dollars.”

He accused Speaker Tyler of forming a political party in the House of Representatives. He said the new Party chairman, Representative Moses Kollie, chairs the committee on Ways Means and Finance of the House of Representatives.

He also claimed that the committee, without any reliance, says the vault of the Liberian dollars at the CBL is empty and wants to print the amount of fifty Million dollars without telling the people of Liberia the amount of mutilated banknotes that need to be replaced.

President Sirleaf, in a communication dated Thursday March 3, 2016, informed the Lawmakers that she received two letters from the Central Bank of Liberia advising that the economy may be seriously affected due to the lack of local currency to meet National needs.

According to President Sirleaf’s communication, the first letter dated December 23, 2015 was sent by the then Executive Governor and the second of such letter dated February 19, 2016 sent by the Acting Executive Governor Mr. Charles Sirleaf.

The President’s Communication stated: “While the decision needs to be made now to address this issue that impacts the economy, it is important to note that the printing of notes will require a period of some five months. The underlying reason for the delay that has led to the crisis has to do with the interpretation of Article 34 (d) of the constitution and the Act to Authorize the Establishment of Central Bank of Liberia as amended.”

The President also stated as conveyed by the letters from the CBL referred to above, the Central Bank of Liberia is of the opinion that by the article referred to above, the legislature has granted implicit approval to the CBL to issue local currency and believe that the legislature has registered a contrary view.

“These issues of interpretation should be resolved at an appropriate time, preferably sooner than later. Mr. President Pro-Tempore, I have advised the acting executive Governor to seek the opportunity to discuss this matter with you and with your committees as you will dictate. I hope that you can agree on the way forward to enable the CBL to move forward in a timely manner to conclude arrangements for printing of currency,” the President communication added.

At the time of the President’s letter she received criticisms from the public for seeking the consent of the National Legislature for the printing of more money in the wake of the limited time she now has in power, expressing fear that this move may cripple the already crisis prone economy.

The Liberian economy has been experiencing crisis since the country experienced the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus during the entire 2014. After Ebola the country has not been able to overcome the shock from the consequences of the crisis and further compounded by decline in the prices of commodities in the extractive industry-rubber, iron ore, etc., the major source of income for Liberia, the economic situation has been deteriorating in 2016.

 The President request is in keeping with article 34 (b) of the Liberian constitution.

“While the decision needs to be made now to address this issue that impacts the economy, it is important to note that the printing of notes will require a period of some five months. The underlying reason for the delay that has led to the crisis has to do with the interpretation of Article 34 (d) of the constitution and the Act to Authorize the Establishment of Central Bank of Liberia as amended”-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Article 34 (b) of the constitution gives the legislature the power to levy taxes, duties, imports, exercise and other revenues, to borrow money, issue currency, mint coins, and to make appropriations for the fiscal governance of the Republic, subject to the following qualifications: which includes; all revenue bills, whether subsidies, charges, imports, duties or taxes, and other financial bills, shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.”

“No other financial charge shall be established, fixed, laid or levied on any individual, community or locality under any pretext whatsoever except by the expressed consent of the individual, community or locality. In all such cases, a true and correct account of funds collected shall be made to the community or locality.

The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) was established on October 18, 1999 by an Act of the National Legislature of the Republic of Liberia. It became functional in 2000 and succeeded the National Bank of Liberia (NBL). The principal objective of the CBL is to achieve and maintain price stability in the Liberian economy.

Henry Karmo (0886522495) henrykarmo@frontpageafricaonline.com

Monrovia – The Liberian Senate unanimously voted on Tuesday, April 12, 2026 to approve, with significant modification, the controversial proposed Liberia Land Authority Act (LLAA). It has been sent to the lower house for concurrence.

Controversy grew over the Land Authority Act when then Minister of Internal Affairs, Morris Dukuly, told a Senate committee hearing that the act is seriously flawed and should be sent back to the Executive. His statement led to his booting from the cabinet by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

The Act was submitted by President Sirleaf to the Legislature in September 2014. The passage of the act will give birth to a new autonomous agency of the Government to be called the Liberia Land Authority (LLA). It shall be devoted solely to land matters.

The act passed by The Senate comes in the wake of mounting calls from stakeholders, including civil society groups who have warned that delay in the passage would cause more harm.

Last year, international land rights groupings said Liberia risks a resurgence of social conflict if the Legislature doesn’t swiftly approve the Land Authority Act which is currently before lawmakers.

The passage of the act by The Senate allows steps toward the creation of the agency to begin and to reassure donors of the Government’s continued commitment to reforms in the land sector, as well as to allow the Government provide a budget for the new Agency, which will reassure donors and increase prospects of securing multi-year donor funding for the new agency.

The new agency, when given birth, will oversee the implementation of existing land legislation such as the act against the criminal conveyance of land.

The agency will take over the land function which is being carried out by the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, altering its name to the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

The Land Authority Act, if passed by the House of Representatives, will see certain functions of the Ministries of Internal Affairs, Public Works, Center for National Documents and Records Agency, be turned over to the proposed agency.

Many, especially civil society groupings and supporters of the act, are of the belief that the proposed establishment of the Land Authority marks a fundamental step towards preparation for the sustainable management of all lands in Liberia, including the resolution of perennial problems of land disputes.

Senator Albert Chie, Chairman on the Senate Committee on Lands, Mines and Natural Resources, told reporters that the one stop agency for all Land matters will oversee programs in land governance, including, inter alia, land administration, land use and management and land policy review and planning.

“The activities of the Authority will be decentralized to ensure efficient and well-coordinated land governance,” he says. “There will be located in each county, land boards and offices.

“Each land owning community will establish a community land management and development association to govern and manage the land of communities in accordance with the proposed Land Rights Act of Liberia,” the senator said.

He said establishing the agency does not pose extra financial cost to the government. According to him, fiscal analysis for the establishment of this new agency has determined that already there exists starting resources for manpower development and operations.

 “All employees of division of agencies whose land functions are being overtaken by the LLA will be automatically transferred with their current salaries.”

Furthermore, he stated, there is a committed funding from the Government of the United States, the EU, the Swedish Government, the United Nations Peace Building Fund, the World Bank and other bilateral and Multilateral sources.

In her 2012 Annual Message delivered in January 2013, the President informed the National Legislature that she would submit a “Bill to separate the lands function from the Ministry of Lands, Mines, and Energy to establish an agency with a focus on land matters”.

Consequently, The Land Commission was instructed by the President to draft the establishment Act for such an agency in consultation with relevant agencies of Government, including the Governance and Law Reform Commissions.

After several consultations covering a period of more than two years, an Act was drafted and reviewed at a stakeholder’s meeting on December 17, 2014.

Monrovia – Article 90 B of the Liberian constitution prohibits government employees demanding and receiving fees for services rendered in line with the performance of their duties, a provision that is being used to criticize Grand Kru County Senator Peter Coleman for receiving money from the John F. Kennedy Hospital.

The issue has also been debated in the past with government officials who are serving as members of Board of Directors on public corporations and at other government entities with former Labor and Public Works Minister Samuel K. Woods returning board fees paid to him while serving in government, challenging other government officials to do the same.

The debate has been renewed with revelations that Senator Coleman who is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health received payments from the JFK. But Senator Coleman, one of the officials of government named in the JFK syndicate says he received professional fees not kickback.

In a statement from the Grand Kru County senator, his office says its attention has been drawn to allegations made by Mr. Henry P. Costa on the Costa Show about Senator Coleman receiving “Kickbacks” from the John F. Kennedy Medical center for which he is reneging on carrying out his oversight responsibility at that institution.

According to the Senator’s office contained in a statement the allegation is false, misleading, unfounded, lack of proof, and is intended to diminish the good reputation of the senator.

The senator office said: “Mr. Costa needs to know that besides been a legislator, Dr. Coleman is a trained and qualified Surgeon and has been a Professor of Surgery at the A. M. Dogliotti College of Medicine/University of Liberia for more than 25 years. He is also a fellow of the West African college of Surgeons as well as a Professor at the Liberia Post-Graduate College of Surgeons”.

According to Senator Coleman’s office, the Senator has been involved with the training of young doctors who have the desire of acquiring surgical skills.

“Dr. Coleman has been involved with the training of young Doctors who are desirous of acquiring surgical skills for more than 20 years. He is also a part- time Consultant Surgeon in the Department of Surgery of the JFKMC (involved with training of young doctors and performing major operations), for which the JFKMC provides a “simple honorarium’, of US$900 on a monthly basis. This amount does not represent any “kickback” as alleged by Mr. Costa but is given as a token of appreciation for his professional services to the institution.”

The Grand Kru Lawmaker office further stated that the payment is based on a professional Services Contract signed between the JFKMC and Dr. Coleman copies which he says are available.

“The Senator sees this as part of his patriotic duty to serve the Liberian people and will continue to be involved with the training of young doctors, with his knowledge, skills and Experience. In terms of the issues at JFKMC, both Committees on Health of the Legislature have been deeply involved with finding solutions to the multiple problems that concern JFKMC,” he said.

He referenced actions by nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals who petitioned the Legislature and had go-slow actions, to highlight issues at the hospital that led both committees on Health at the Legislature to engage the Board of Directors of JFKMC as well as the Senior Management Team about these issues on many occasions.

The statement from the lawmaker also claimed that one of the fundamental short-comings of the JFKMC was the 1972 Act creating the JFK Act that gives all powers to the President of Liberia to appoint the Board of Director as well as top management team of the hospital something Senator Coleman says is making the institution to be influenced by political manipulations, unlike other Universities / Referral Hospitals in the region and around the world.

He stressed that there is an urgent need to depoliticize the JFKMC and make it a highly professional institution void of political manipulations.

“ln consonance with the Liberian constitution, it is the Executive Branch of Government that is Responsible for the Administrative functions and operation of the hospital”, the office of Senator Coleman stated.

“The Legislative Branch can only highlight the issues, but it will be the Executive Branch that must execute the needed reforms.

A similar situation arose when Liberian took up issues with the Ministry of Health during the tenure of Dr. Gwenigale, which almost led to a constitutional crisis between the Executive Branch and the Liberian Senate,” the statement added.

During the disagreement between the senate and the Health Ministry in 2015 President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf invoked Article 50 of the Liberian Constitution and the Senate had to back down.

The office of the senator noted that the legislature pushed certain issues up to a certain level but in respect of the separation of powers, there is point where its oversight stops.

As it relates to the ongoing investigations on financial malpractices at the JFKMC, Senator Coleman said, both Committees have had multiple hearings to fast-track the ongoing investigation.

“The Office of the Senator Dr. Peter S. Coleman would like to remind Mr. Costa to kindly ascertain the facts before the dissemination of misleading information. Reputable media institutions would have double-checked with this office before accusing somebody of wrong doing,” the statement said.

Many of us who are professionals and that are part of this government will continue to provide service to our country given the scarcity of professionals in many sectors.

My professional service the JFKMC has saved the Government of Liberia of thousands of dollars because if any expatriate had been recruited, it would cost the GOL not less than Ten Thousand United States (USS10, 000.00) a month