-‘Lawmakers have abused projects’-says activist
By D. Enoch Sandoe in Rivercess, Liberia
A Civil Society Actor in Liberia’s southeastern County of RiverCess has spoken of the need to repeal the Legislative Support Projects Act and the law requiring executive appointees to resign two years prior to an election they want to contest.
Mr. Charles Harrison Teah said the Legislative Support Projects arrangement has been largely abused over the years.
“Leaders of Liberia take oath to defend, protect and uphold the country’s constitution but they are the violators of the same constitution they promised to uphold,” he said.
Teah, who is also a veteran school teacher, said the Liberian constitution provides that the Executive breach of government has the power to implement government projects and not the Legislative branch.
The Rivercess County Civil Society activist made the statement while serving as guest lecturer at the end of a week-long training for community radio reporters on County Social Development Funds and Legislative Support Projects Funds Monitoring for Accountability.
The workshop was organized by the Liberia Media Development (LMD) Program and Internews, with funding from USAID held in Cestos City and brought together five reporters of the Rivercess Broadcasting Services Incorporated.
He said the act of taking huge portion of tax payers’ money to be given to individual Lawmaker to undertake projects in their own name is unlawful and unjust to the people of Liberia.
“They taxpayers money distributed among Lawmakers for self-glory could be used to increase the $200,000 USD given for County Development Funds rather than giving it to Lawmakers for self-glory,” the Rivercess civil society activist added.
“These guys are smart because they don’t know the function of a Legislator so they will say I will build bridges, make feeder roads, among others and when they are elected those promises cannot be fulfilled. And it led to them been booted out by the electorates that’s while they introduced Legislative Support Projects to enable them fulfill campaign promises made,” he said.
Teah said the law need to be quickly repeal for the benefit of the Liberian people money been misuse.
According to the Teacher-turned human rights activist, the act is a clear violation of the constitution that says “no one holding or serving in the other breach should serve or perform any duty in the other breach.”
He said the constitution provides that all citizens are equal under the law, regardless of tribe, religion and traditional belief in the nation.
“If the Lawmakers are saying Presidential appointees wanting to contest in an election should resign two years prior to that election, Representatives wanting to contest as Senators and Senators wanting to contest as President should also resign two years prior to that election since everybody is equal under the law as provided in the constitution,” Teah said.