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Snowe's
meddling not reason for resignation
Saturday,
July 22, 2006
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
I did my
share of Snowe-bashing right after the national
elections in October, when it became obvious that the
boy wonder would defeat his politically seasoned
opponent decisively for the office of Speaker in an
election no one thought he could win.
I was furious about Snowe’s candidacy and
that of others, including the shameless and mouthy
Jewel Howard Taylor, and wished the surrogates of the
notorious Charles Taylor wouldn’t win, but would be
arrested immediately before they inflict any more
damage on the nation.
Edwin Snowe was never arrested nor was Jewel
Howard Taylor, who went on to win a senatorial seat in
Bong County.
Snowe believed in himself, fought hard and
dirty for what he thought belonged to him and went for
it aggressively, while his critics, obviously
disorganized and disunited fell short of stopping him
from achieving his political dream.
House Speaker, Edwin Melvin Snowe
Had it not been for the heavy baggage he
carried with him during the campaign, Snowe, who
proved he can take the heat would have been a
formidable candidate for the presidency in 2012, not
because he’s a competent and capable leader, but
because of the toughness he showed under fire, and his
proven ability to buy his way into any job he sets his
eyes on.
With all his political and personal problems,
Edwin Melvin Snowe managed to win a seat, first in the
House of Representatives, and would later defeat the
overrated Dusty Wollikollie for the position of
Speaker, becoming third in line in the national
leadership chain of command, thereby changing the
political landscape of a crisis-prone nation still
trying to get a grip on its newly minted democracy and
the nuances that comes with it.
Edwin Snowe, the Speaker of the Liberian House
of Representatives who cannot shake the mess he
created off himself, is a man who cannot leave his
native soil for any foreign soil or risk arrest,
because of an imposed travel ban by the United Nations
for his part in the civil war and his involvement with
the deposed Charles Taylor.
While he may not be able to travel out of the
country, Snowe became a one-man foreign policy
“expert” who went out of his job description by
trying to influence the foreign policy of the
republic, when he attempted to negotiate the
recognition of Taiwan instead of respecting the
“one-China policy,” which is the official policy
of the Republic of Liberia.
That reckless exercise got some activists
to ask for his resignation. According to the
“constitutionalists,” Snowe violated the 57th
article of the revised 1984 Constitution, which authorizes
only the president to conduct the foreign affairs of
the nation.
In no way, shape or form did the same
Constitution laid out any guidelines for punishing a
private citizen, an official of government, or a
member of the Legislature with jail sentence,
resignation or impeachment for playing president, or
for attempting to run the foreign policy of the country.
However,
it is bad business when a member of the House of
Representative, the Speaker, or even a Senator
attempts to do the work of the president, or when the
president tries to do the job of the other branches of
government, knowing that the Constitution clearly
separates their functions.
It is even risky business when the Speaker who
does not understand his role or the workings of global
politics thumbs his nose at something as intricate as
foreign policy, at a time when the new administration
is trying very hard to win over friends and allies in
its reconstruction efforts.
I joined the chorus for Snowe's resignation
when he was just a newly elected legislator who came
into the job with no experience, no credibility but
lots of money to buy his way through.
If my activist friends want us to debate this
part, well that’s fine with me, but Snowe’s
meddling does not warrant anything close to
impeachment or resignation, but a mandated course
(lecture) in the separation of power, to be followed
by an oral reprimand from his colleagues who should be
politically wise and bold enough to discipline one of
their own for the shame he brought to the office.
I know it is quite easy to blame the Liberian
voters for making such a monumental blunder when they
elected Snowe and other tainted individuals like him
to such high-profile positions in the first place.
But when one is poor and vulnerable, and is
approached by a man such as Snowe who cannot give any account
of $30 million from his previous employment, and is
in the position to spend some of that money to get
elected, individuals who are easily persuaded will
jump immediately to the temptation to sell their votes
to Snowe or the highest bidder.
It is true that the obvious lack of voters’
education and abject poverty had a considerable effect
on how some Liberians cast their votes in October, and
later in November during the run-off national
elections.
As a result, those Liberians who did not
understand the process voted for criminals: rapists,
killers and others who lacked legislative skills, as
those individuals would later rely on intimidation and
the power of the job to get their way, as we sadly
witnessed months ago when the deputy minister of
finance, Francis Karpeh, and the minister without
portfolio, Morris Saytumah, were jailed for contempt
for 72 hours, because the duo deducted taxes from the
traveling allowances of the honorable members of the
House and Senate.
I don’t want to be seen as trying to save
Edwin Snowe’s political career. Because being on the
same page with this guy is uncomfortable.
I wish that my activist colleagues in Monrovia
would be fair, balanced and consistent in their
activism, and wished they mounted a fierce an
around-the-clock joint protests with other groups to
discourage Snowe and his other colleagues from running
in the early days when they decided to seek political
office.
Even as we discussed Snowe’s embarrassing
antics, there are scathing reports about Chief Justice
Johnnie Lewis’ alleged ethical problems and his abuse of
power; to Sinoe County Senator, Joseph Nagbe’s
recent tampering with the legal process, when the
latter used his position as a lawyer and a senator,
and helped the Russians who were accused of allegedly
raping those Liberian women to flee the country months
ago.
What became of Senator Joseph Nagbe’s case,
and the issues about Chief Justice Lewis? Will there
be any investigations and possible impeachment if
those men are found to have violated the law? What happened to the legislators who jailed Karpeh and
Saytumah for 72 hours, for doing their official
duties?
And how come I did not hear my activist friends
scream and yell through the rooftops about
investigations and possible resignations?
Do we only ask others to resign or be impeached
when they are not our friends, former classmates and
county/ethnic buddies, or do we advocate justice and
good government even when our best friends violate the
interests of the people?
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