TUBMANBURG, Bomi – A dispute between Bomi Superintendent Miatta Dorley and the chair of the Bomi County Council, Thomas Washington, is threatening to halt all development activities in the county.
The County Council is responsible for approving the county’s annual development plan and budget, imposing local taxes, and enacting rules and regulations in the county. Council members are selected to represent key groups within a county. As the chair of the Bomi County Civil Society Council, Washington was appointed to the nine-member County Council to represent civil society organizations.
The row between Washington and Dorley began after the superintendent informed Washington that she could no longer work with him because the civil society grouping had suspended him. She vowed to work only with the eight other members of the County Council until Washington could resolve his issues with the civil society group.
She instructed the co-chairperson of the County Council, Rachel Saah, to assume Washington’s responsibilities by performing all transactions to avoid shutting down development programs in Bomi.
“We’re going to work with the co-chair and the council until they can resolve their issue and come back to us with a written statement that Mr. Washington has been reinstated – that’s the only way,” Superintendent Dorley said.
Meanwhile, Washington has noted that by law, the superintendent has no authority to remove him as chair of the County Council – that can only happen if two-thirds of the Council votes him out.
“I am saying this here for the record, that I remain the legitimate chairman of the Council – the superintendent is in error, and she needs to rethink [her decision] because it is not backed by law,” he said. “In fact, I have not been given due process, and I have not been found guilty of anything wrong.”
The co-chair of the County Council, Rachel Saah, who Dorley called on to assume Washington’s position, has refused to do so, noting that Washington has not been investigated and found guilty of any wrongdoing.
“The Local Government Act did not give me the right to work in place of my boss when he is present,” Saah said. “Not that I am disrespecting the superintendent, but I cannot honor that instruction.”
The Bush Chicken did obtain a copy of Washington’s suspension letter from the National Civil Society Council of Liberia, dated February 16, 2024, under the signature of John Alexander Nyahn, the National Co-chair of the National Civil Society Council of Liberia.
The letter accused Washington of unilaterally appointing a co-chair of the group and the misapplication of funds, including the unlawful signing of L$1 million checks.
Meanwhile, the Bomi County Legislative Caucus has not made any statement on the disagreement between the superintendent and the County Council chair.
Featured photo by Richard Williams
