GANTA, Nimba – Jeremiah Koung, representative of Nimba’s first district, has for the first time commented on the National Code of Conduct, offering a defense for the controversial law.

The law, which was enacted on May 12, 2014, required all presidential appointees to resign two years before any election, and for those having tenured positions, such as Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia, to resign 3 years ahead of any election.

A challenge to the law’s constitutionality was dismissed by the Supreme Court and the law continues to stand. Individuals such as the former head of the Central Bank of Liberia, Mills Jones, may have their presidential ambitions jeopardized if the law remains in place.

Additionally, the Daily Observer recently reported that leaders of the Congress for Democratic Change opposition party were clamoring for the dismissal of Unity Party leadership who also held presidentially appointed positions. Among the party leadership they wanted fire were Neto Lighe, the minister of labor who was elected as UP’s senior vice chairman, and Eugene Nagbe, the minister of information, culture, and tourism who was elected as UP’s national secretary general.

According to Koung, the law is not entirely bad, even though it is not perfect. He made the comment when he appeared as a studio guest on Radio Voice of Gompa in Ganta recently.

“There are lots of good things in the Code of conduct,” he said. “In the code of conduct, it talks about labor. People should not be discriminated at workplaces… So, it talks about lots of good things. It is a whole big document.”

The Nimba lawmaker said he was one of the many representatives that voted in favor of the law. He said his aim was to prohibit powerful government employees from using government resources to gain popularity.

“I voted in favor of the passage of that bill into law, and the reason was very simple,” he said. “We at the legislature make appropriations for ministries by lump sum. It is now left with the institutions’ financial technicians to [determine where] the funds need to be used.

He continued, “Now if the Minister is from a particular place that he has the ambition to contest in, it is possible that he or she is going to spend that money in that particular area to gain popularity. And at the end of the day, if he goes to run, based on his popularity with the people, he might definitely win.”

“There are lots of things in the code of conduct,” he added. “So, people should not just look at one and say, ‘this will disenfranchise the rights of others.’”

Featured photo by Arrington Ballah