Monrovia – Standing between a rock and a hard place, Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor is expected to swallow the bullet and attend today’s Annual Message to be delivered by President George Manneh Weah.
Article 58 of the Constitution states that the President shall, on the fourth working Monday in January of each year, present the administration’s legislative program for the ensuing session, and shall once a year report to the Legislature on the state of the Republic. In presenting the economic condition of the Republic, the report shall cover expenditure as well as income.
Late last week, a Senate Special Committee constituted by Pro Temp Albert T. Chie to delve into concerns of Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor and revert to the wisdom of Plenary for possible redress, announced that it would report its findings on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.
The committee which comprises of Sen. Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence(Liberty Party) as Chairperson, Sen. Varney G. H. Sherman(Unity Party, Cape Mount), Sen. Commany B. Wesseh(Unity Party, River Gee), Sen. Sando D. Johnson(NPP, Bomi) and Sen. Abe Darius Dillon(Liberty Party, Montserrado County), is meanwhile urging the Vice President to end her boycott and attend Monday’s Annual Message of President George Manneh Weah.
The committee, in a statement, says while it will ultimately speak through its report next Tuesday, it has prevailed on the Vice President to attend the President’s annual message on Monday January 27th and return to work as we resolve these concerns, in line with its oversight responsibilities.
The committee has also called on surrogates of the government to end its abuse on talk radio against the VP. “We will also urge Government functionaries to stop using radio stations to abuse the Vice President, as the office of the Vice President is the second highest in our land and must be respected at all times,” the statement said.
Multiple sources confirmed to FrontPageAfrica Sunday said that after the meeting with the Senate and a number of women organizations, the vice president will agree to attend Monday’s Annual Message.
“I think we managed to prevail on her the magnitude of what’s at stake. At the same time, she is the head of the Senate – if she doesn’t show up, she’ll be doomed; and she needs a buffer as she is already embroiled in a messy saga with the Executive – and now has a buffer from which to rethink,” said a Senator privy to discussion with the vice president last week. “So, now she swallows the bitter pills and attend the Annual Message.”
The Vice President has raised alarm in recent days, suggesting that her office is being deliberately strangulated by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
In an exclusive interview with FrontPageAfrica this week, the VP said: “Sadly, over the past two years, the budgetary allocation for office operations (to include funds for special projects) has not been paid to my office. This has hampered my ability to positively impact and contribute to the Liberian Women’s agenda; a commitment made by our Government generally and by me, specifically. This inability to remain thus engaged, as one of Liberia’s female Leaders, has grieved me greatly. So, though the operational payment for my office deals with items needed to make my office functional….it also includes funds allocated for women empowerment and scholarships for girls’ education.”
The MFDP, responding to an FPA inquiry this week, dismissed suggestions that it is selectively targeting the Vice President’s office: “The Ministry of Finance has made payments to all branches of Government within the limits of what is possible. The Office of the Vice President has received more than US$3 million in both compensation and goods and services since 2018. Fiscal challenges have led to austerity that have affected senior leadership of all branches of Government. The ministry is not selective in administering payments but follows rule-based fiscal rules that aim to contain the deficit and assure budget credibility.”
“I think we managed to prevail on her the magnitude of what’s at stake. At the same time, she is the head of the Senate – if she doesn’t show up, she’ll be doomed; and she needs a buffer as she is already embroiled in a messy saga with the Executive – and now has a buffer from which to rethink,” said a Senator privy to discussion with the vice president last week. “So, now she swallows the bitter pills and attend the Annual Message.”
– A member of the Senate Committee who preferred anonymity
The VP disagrees, telling FPA this week that the office of the Deputy Speaker, which is lower than hers was paid a whopping US$150,000 in December by the Ministry.
Said the VP: “Knowing that other offices have been paid their operations, so they’re better functioning, offices that are lower than the Office of the Vice President have received all of what they have requested, I found out that two payments were made on December 23, the first payment was made in two checks to the Office of the Deputy Speaker of operations in the amount of owner 150,000, United States dollars and then made it House of Representatives for some other payment. And I was just totally blown out of water. And this is not particularly to the individual in our office and I want to be clear, because, you know, politics is a really tricky thing. So, it wasn’t about him ,it was about the fact that the Ministry of Finance, could make a $US150,000 payment for operations for the Office of the Deputy Speaker and they have not done that for me in two years.”
The withholding of funds, according to the VP, has led her to go begging around for help. “I, over the last two years have had to go beyond my means, you know, get to friends to help us – oh, please repair this car. And I just got tired doing it. And when I found out that somehow, you know, this funding that is so important to my office was also being paid to other offices, I felt that there was something wrong and that I had to – even though I had engaged them from time-to-time, that I had to actually do something, so people will know that – I believe is an error and it has strangulated my work.”
