By Amb. Aloys Uwimana, Contributing Writer
I read with great interest an article in a local newspaper last month captioned, “Liberia Is Dying”. The author wrote: “While President Weah has appointed most of his side friends to lucrative positions in the public sector, similarly, VP Jewel Howard Taylor has influenced the appointment of her family relations and her close associate, Mobutu V. Nyenpan, to another lucrative position in the government.
“The government is fast turning into a club of friendship. Both VP Jewel Howard Taylor and President Weah are turning the new administration into a Club based on FRIENDSHIP,” the author of the article continued.
I cannot agree with this opinion, which contradicts the 1986 Constitution of the Republic of Liberia and is contrary to the Public Administration Theory and Practice Principles. Article 54 of the aforementioned Constitution gives power to the President to nominate, appoint and commission the Government high ranking officials from Cabinet Ministers, Deputy and Assistant Cabinet Ministers to Marshals, Deputy Marshals and Sheriffs through Diplomats, Justices and Judges of Subordinate Courts, Local Officials and Members of the Military.
In order to avoid the abuse of that power by the President and in the name of the Principle of Checks and Balances, the same Constitution has provided the Senate with the power to consent to the President’ s nominations through the confirmation process.
At fhis effect, the Liberian Senate must truly exercise their confirmation power by confirming those who are competent and show experience for positions they are appointed to and reject those who, in their judgment and wisdom, do not have the competences and experience for positions they are appointed to.
In addition, any student of Political Science under which Public Administration falls, should know that there are various systems on the basis of which the personnel can be recruited and appointed. One of such systems is the Spoils System. According to this system, the public offices constitute spoils to be enjoyed by the political party that becomes victorious at the polls. As a result, nominations and appointments are made mainly on the basis of party considerations and other personal relationships.
In this regard, Article 54 applies to the Spoils System and concerns the nomination, appointment and commission of the political servants, commonly known as political appointees. Concretely, when a party comes to power, it dismisses all political appointees of its predecessor and fills the vacancies with its own men and women.
It is worth noting that President George M. Weah has retained some officials, who were appointed by his predecessor, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Meanwhile, the new Liberian President has been criticized for some of his nominations and the way they were generated. In my opinion, any new President can have his or her governing approach and channels of consultations and should not be tied up to what some politicians have called “a tradition” initiated by the predecessor of President George Weah.
I understand that this tradition is the involvement of the Caucuses in the nomination process. Although the President may consult the Senators on some nominees to facilitate their confirmation, he has no constitutional obligation to do so. Many people may disagree with me if I recognize that some of the issues facing the counties are due to the interference of the Caucuses in the domain of the Executive Branch, especially in the project cycle. Nimba County is a perfect illustrative case. Here, I need to concede that this interference is legal since it was introduced by the former regime through the Budget Law. Nonetheless, it is harming the sacro-saint principle of the separation of power among the three Branches of Government.
In criticizing some of George Weah’s nominations from Nimba, opponents have invoked Article 18 of the Liberian Constitution. This Article states that all Liberian citizens shall have equal opportunity for work and employment regardless of sex, creed, religion, ethnic background, place of origin or political affiliation, and all shall be entitled to equal pay for equal work.
My understanding of Article 18 is that it does not apply to the Spoils System developed above but to the Merit System of personnel appointment. In this system, the personnel appointment and conditions of service of an employee are determined solely by his own merit, which includes his education and technical qualifications, personal capacities and physical fitness. Under the merit system, recruitment is made through open competitive examination conducted by an independent agency like the Liberia Civil Service Agency (CSA).
No distinction should be made between citizens on the basis of any party affiliation. Clearly, Article 18 applies to the civil servants, who, in a democracy, must remain neutral in politics as they are to work with any incoming administration in order to serve every citizen regardless their political affiliation. They have the right to adhere to any political party and vote. They are not, however, allowed to be publically engaged in politics.
The author of the newspaper article I mentioned earlier also wrote: “…I would have thought that given the economic emergency the country is faced with, a team of seasoned professionals and technocrats would have been hired in critical sectors of the country to deliver the basic goods”.
I would not comment much on this assertion since I do not know the credentials of all those who have been hired. What I can be sure of is that the qualifications of some of them match their responsibilities.
Moreover, the political appointees are mainly managers whose roles and competences include, among others, representation, communicating, facilitating, using power, decision and policy-making, enabling, negotiating, financing, overseeing, and leadership. I think the recent steps the President has taken- the meeting with the rice importers and the establishment of a committee to develop an economy recovery program, among others- clearly indicate the President’s determination to redress the Liberian economy.
In consideration of whatever criticism that may be made about President George M. Weah, Liberians of all walks of life should understand that the President has been in office for less than three months now. Though the expectations are high, yet he should be given enough time to put his administration in place and set a stage for his government’s priorities. So, it is too soon to easily conclude that Liberia is dying. Liberia cannot die and will never die.
Many readers may think that I am defending President George M. Weah. I am not. I do not know him personally, I have never met him, and he does not know me. I am just contributing to the political debate by fulfilling my obligation as a Public Administration scholar.
About the author: Amb. Aloys Uwimana teaches Economics, French and Public Administration at Nimba County Community College in Sanniquellie City. He can be reached at Cell phone Nos 0777 778 034 or 0888 644 125 and at