MONROVIA, Montserrado – The Senate has voted to reject President George Weah’s bill that sought to eliminate all tenured positions within the executive branch.

The Senate took the decision on Thursday, May 30 following discussions on a report on the bill from the Judiciary Committee.

The Senate’s decision comes after a meeting held with the president at the Capitol Building when lawmakers requested that the bill be withdrawn.

Making the motion to throw out the bill, Maryland’s Senator Gblehbo Brown said the Senate had already discussed the matter with the president.

“We cannot be dragging on this matter,” he said. “We took a decision and this decision was communicated. It was not just verbal but written as well. This Senate stands by the communication that was sufficiently communicated to President Weah.

In November, the House of Representatives passed the bill submitted by the president. However, lawmakers at the lower house amended the bill Weah had submitted to exclude the Central Bank of Liberia, the National Elections Commission, and the General Auditing Commission.

The bill was then forwarded to the Senate. However, it has since suffered many setbacks in gaining support from senators.

Many have criticized the bill, including the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia, which noted that “removing tenures from the [Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission], [the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission], and other public integrity institutions will not only make them vulnerable to manipulation by the presidency and other higher-ups in government but also worsen the country’s disappointing fight against corruption.”

“While other countries around the world are anxious to make their integrity institutions more independent and autonomous, we are treading the opposite path,” the organization wrote. “This does not augur well for us now or in the near future. We do not see how already ineffective public integrity institutions will improve if made vulnerable to the presidency and other higher-ups in government.”
Weah submitted the bill to the House of Representatives in October 2018 during the first day sitting of the legislature extraordinary session. In his justification, he said he believes that tenured personnel in the government were impeding or adversely affecting his development agenda.

Passing the act submitted by Weah would mean tenured officials would only serve at the will and pleasure of the president.

Currently, officials serving in tenured positions such as the executive governor of the Central Bank of Liberia, the executive director of the Public Procurement and Concession Commission, and the heads of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission and the National Elections Commission cannot be dismissed by the president, except for specific causes relating to their ability to perform their duties or failure to adhere to specific ethical guidelines.

Other tenured positions are the heads of the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation, Liberia Telecommunications Authority, and the commissioner general of the Liberia Revenue Authority.

Featured photo by Zeze Ballah