Liberia Council of Churches rejects Pres. Weah’s attempt to scrap tenured positions

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By Our Reporter

The Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) has opposed ongoing attempt by President George Manneh Weah to scrap most tenured positions in government, including those of some integrity institutions such as the Anti-Corruption and the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC).

The LCC stance is contained in the resolution of the Council’s 23^rd General Assembly, which ended in Monrovia on December 1, 2019 but just released to the media on Tuesday.

“That LCC fully supports the creation and maintenance of Tenured Positions within the system of the Government of Liberia for the purposes of ensuring accountability, transparency and stability within our governance process and interventions;” the umbrella group for Liberian Churches and signed by its President Bishop Dr. Kortu K. Brown.

The House of Representative has already approved President Weah’s Bill requesting scrapping of tenured positions for all but three institutions: the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), the General Auditing Commission (GAC) and the National Elections Commission. The Senate is yet to concur.

The latest LCC’s opposition to the Liberian leader’s attempt to scrap tenured positions follows some strong rejection in some quarters, with some critics considering the move as an attempt by President Weah to give unto himself greater presidential powers amidst the already existing cult of the Presidency.

But some of those who support the CDC’s Standard Bearer’s move see it as a step in the right directions to re-possess the executive powers the President already has in Article 56 of the Liberian constitution to appoint and dismiss officials in the Executive branch of Government at his will and pleasure.

In another development, the LCC said in its resolution that it fully supports the Call by the President of National Council of Churches in the United States, Rev. James E.

Rev. Winkler during the formal opening ceremony of the 32^nd General Assembly of the Liberia Council of Churches to the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump to grant reprieve to Liberians threatened with deportation from the United States due to the expiration of their Temporary Protective Status/Deferred Enforced Departure – TPS/DED by March 31, 2019.

The President of the National Council of Churches In the United States also pledged to cooperate with the Liberia Council of Churches and other relevant actors to lobby against the deportation threat because the “Bible commends us to welcome the sojourners”

SEE BELOW FULL TEXT OF LCC’S RESOLUTION:

RESOLUTIONS

OF THE 32^ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LIBERIA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

THEME: CONSOLIDATING NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND UNITY: AN IMPERATIVE FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

SCRIPTURE TEXT: 2 CORINTHIANS 18:20; GENESIS 1:1-2; 4a

HELD AT ST. STEPHEN EPISCOPAL CHURCH 10^TH STREET, SINKOR, MONROVIA

DATE: NOVEMBER 28^TH – DECEMBER 1^ST, 2018

WHEREAS, The Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) is the premier Christian communion church body comprised 22 (twenty-two) church denominations and 10 fraternal Christian organizations and have congregated as one Body for the purpose of holding the thirty-second General Assembly;

WHEREAS, The Church of Liberia has contributed and continues to contribute, since her founding, to the development of the nation through education, health, agriculture, social work and development;

WHEREAS, The General Assembly is committing the Liberia Council of Churches to the promotion of “national reconciliation and unity: an imperative for sustainable growth and development” convened for four (4) days, November 28 – December 1, 2018, received paper presentations, messages, reports and deliberated extensively;

We, consequently, herewith offer the following resolutions:

APPRECIATION AND GRATITUDE

That we offer profound thanks and appreciation to Almighty God for ably sailing us through the preparations and execution of the 32^nd general assembly of the Liberia Council of Churches;

That we offer thanks and appreciation to H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia for designating Acting Foreign Minister B. Elias Shoniyu to launch the “Waking the Giant” Project, an initiative by the churches to accompany the International community in the achievements of the 17 (Seventeen) United Nations sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and also recognized the presence of Cllr. Cooper Kruah, Minister of Post & Telecommunications, Senator Commany B. Wesseh of RiverGee County, Religious Advisor to the President, Rev. Emmanuel Nimely and Rev. Jarvis Witherspoon, Chief of Protocol, R.L. as well as Swedish Ambassador Ingrid Wetterqvist and the representatives of United States Ambassador Christine Elder in persons of Mr. Joshua Deloy and Mr. Anthony Quaye, for graciously attending the Assembly;

That we offer sincere thanks and appreciation to Canon A. Too Williams, Parish Rector and congregation of St. Stephen Episcopal Church as well as the Episcopal Church of Liberia for the warm and gracious hospitality we experienced during the Thirty-Second General Assembly;

That we offer special thanks and appreciation to our foreign ecumenical friends and partners from the National Council of Churches in the United States of America (NCC) represented by its President, Rev. Dr. James E. Winkler; All-Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) represented by its President, Bishop Arnold C. Temple; World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) represented by its Associate General Secretary, Bishop Thomas Schirrmacher, PhD; the Vice President of the Liberia Minister Association of North America; Rev. and Pastor Amos and Grace Komolafe from Prayer Trust London; as well as our local ecumenical partners that included: Association of Evangelicals of Liberia, the National Christian Council of Liberia, Liberia Fellowship of Full Gospel Ministers, the New Africa Research and Development Agency, National Union of the Disabled of Liberia, the Liberia Refugee, Repatriation and Resettlement Commission who witnessed and actively participated in the Thirty-Second general assembly.

The LCC acknowledged with high esteem Rev. Dr. James E. Winkler Keynote Speech that call on the Church not to lost her voice in the midst of the challenges facing the country; and the support of the National Council of Churches in the United States of America (NCCUSA) campaign against the deportation of Liberians from the United States of America and the promotion of Liberia – United States historic ties;

The LCC acknowledged the participation of the President of the All Conference of Churches (AACC) Bishop Arnold Temple, and representative of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and his presentation on the role of the church in the promotion of national reconciliation and unity, admonishing the church to give more attention to the promotion of sanitation and water, a support to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);

The LCC also recognized Bishop Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher, educative and inspiring presentation about the Biblical basis for the churches engagement in the promotion and realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 2030 Agenda developed by the United Nations, and the church maintaining its moral standards and ecclesiastical duties;

That we offer thanks and appreciation to the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit for the warmth and exceptional greetings extolling how “Liberia has emerged from a painful civil war and the engagement of the churches in the rebuilding the country cannot be overemphasized. Liberia also recently suffered a deadly outbreak of Ebola virus disease. In the midst of all this, and indeed because of all these, the Church is being called to continue being an agent of peace and justice and transformation for Liberia”, the statement read by Bishop Arnold C. Temple declared;

The LCC acknowledges with special thanks and appreciation the Celebration of the 70^th Anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Participation of the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) through its President and 1^st Vice President in the formal ceremonies of the 70th anniversary held in Geneva, Switzerland in June 2018;

The LCC further offers thanks and appreciation to the Speakers of the Assembly who included: Ambassador Ingrid Wetterqvist of Sweden; Mrs. Miriam Chimpipo, Country Director of United Nations AIDS (UNAIDS); Rev. Sis. Mary Laurene-Brown, President of the Stella Maris Polytechnic University; Dr. Togba Nah Tipoteh, Chairperson of the Ecumenical Economic Policy Committee of the Liberia Council of Churches; daily devotional speakers, amongst others;

The LCC acknowledged the selfless contributions and offer thanks to the Secretariat, Standing Committees and Commissions, Assembly Planning Committee, Executive Officers, dynamic Choir, Protocol officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, LCC volunteers, Catering team, as well as all others who worked so hard to ensure that a successful general assembly was held.

CONCERNING THE LIBERIA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

That the Liberia Council of Churches and the Church in general re-commit themselves to ensuring that the core-values of the Council, i.e. promotion of Christian Unity, Witness and Service are fully supported;

That appointed officials and other volunteers of LCC be encouraged and empowered to carry out greater awareness and capacity-building that would lead to increase commitment and efficiency at the LCC Headquarters and beyond;

That it was resolved that the nomenclature, “Youth Desk” being used to referred to LCC Youth is changed and styled as the “ECUMENICAL YOUTH ORGANIZATION” (EYO) to be in line with international youth organizations, to increase desire for proactivity and to promote the initiatives of the young people of the LCC and the church in general;

That Membership dues or assessment of LCC member bodies i.e. Full Members, Associate Members and Fraternal Members be paid at-least three (3) months to the sitting of the general assembly to help plan ahead of each annual meeting;

That the General Assembly mandates the Executive Committee to conduct a Data Survey to track statistics of churches of the LCC and that a Monitoring and Evaluation system be set up by LCC for transparency and accountability and that the “Waking the Giant” Project be considered for active and full promotion and implementation;

That the Finance Committee work closely with the Treasurer of the LCC on financial matters / transactions for a comprehensive and detailed report at LCC general assemblies and other meetings

III. CONCERNING NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

That the LCC established a program to work with the Educational system in our country to promote quality education with a focus on family, community and the society;

That LCC resolved to partner with UNAIDS to strongly advocate and seriously create awareness on HIV and AIDS and Tuberculosis and also promote index testing;

That LCC also resolved to partner with the Government of Liberia through its specialized Ministries, Agencies and Commissions (MACs) to foster awareness in HIV and AIDS and other diseases as well as championing the fight against domestic violence and rape;

That LCC reiterates its position for the FULL and TIMELY implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report and commended the United States House of Representatives for passing Resolution 1055 reaffirming support for the full implementation of the TRC report in Liberia;

That LCC fully supports the creation and maintenance of Tenured Positions within the system of the Government of Liberia for the purposes of ensuring accountability, transparency and stability within our governance process and interventions;

That LCC fully supports the Call by the President of National Council of Churches in the United States, Rev. James E. Winkler during the formal opening ceremony of the 32^nd General Assembly of the Liberia Council of Churches to the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump to grant reprieve to Liberians threatened with deportation from the United States due to the expiration of their Temporary Protective Status/Deferred Enforced Departure – TPS/DED by March 31, 2019, and the pledge to cooperate with the Liberia Council of Churches and other relevant actors to lobby against the deportation threat because the “Bible commends us to welcome the sojourners”

That LCC commended efforts by the Governments of Liberia and the United States of America to investigate circumstances surrounding the importation of Liberian through the Freeport and Airport to the tune of LD16 billion and make the findings public.

The LCC also resolved to call on the government of Liberia to take the necessary measures to stabilize the challenges facing the economy i.e. hike in prices of basic commodities, unstable exchange rate, reported corruption, and to review action of withdrawal of US$25 million from Liberia’s international reserves in New York to map-out excess “Liberty” currency from the market, etc., in order to ease the suffering of the masses;

That the LCC call a special meeting of Heads of Churches of the LCC and Churches in general to review and submit to the Government of Liberia recommendations contained in the report of the Ecumenical Economic Policy Committee (EEPC), which was organized by the Liberia Council of Churches and ecumenical collaborators to study and advise the church on the remedies to the poor performance of the national economy with key attention to the reduction of huge salaries in government circles, promotion of agricultural production, fight against fraud, abuse and waste, etc. [Amongst the 13-main recommendations of the committee is the proposal to transform the national budget and allocation of resources by making the following budgetary reductions or adjustments: Presidency – President’s salary – to US$5,000 per month, Vice President’s salary – to US$4,500 per month; Speaker’s salary – to US$4,000 per month, Legislators’ salaries – to US$3,500 per month, Cabinet Ministers’ salaries – US$3,000 per month, amongst others, in order to send a clear message “that any person who goes to work in government goes there to SERVE and not to make money…” This step is recommended to help redirect resources from the national budget to our development agenda;]

NOW, THEREFORE, WE the members of the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) and/or delegates convening at St. Stephen Episcopal Church, 10^th Street, Siinkor, Monrovia for the Thirty-Second General Assembly, November 28- December 1, 2018 RESOLVED that this Resolution CONSTITUTES all agreement and representation by Liberia Council of Churches (LCC), and there are no oral or written agreements or representation with respect to this resolution that shall extend and to include all member bodies of the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC)

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we, Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) have agreed and respectfully submitted on this 1^st Day of December, A.D. 2018.

[Resolution Committee Members included Rev. Morris Siah from the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention (LBMEC), Sister Joycelyn Brown from the Episcopal Church of Liberia (ECL), Sister Pauline Roberts from the Liberia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, Sister Christine Chea from the Ecumenical Women Organization (EWO), and Brother Philip McKay from the Lutheran Church in Liberia]

[OFFICERS OF THE COUNCIL: Bishop Dr. D. Jensen Seyenkulo, 1^st Vice President; Rev. Dr. Olu Q. Menjay, 2^nd Vice President; Rev. Christopher W. Toe, General Secretary and Rev. Deborah D. Toe, Treasurer]

Signed: Bishop Dr. Kortu K. Brown PRESIDENT, LIBERIA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

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