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Thieves
as "honorable" officials in the outgoing
Liberian government
Wednesday,
November 23, 2005
By
Emmanuel Abalo
An outrageous situation is obtaining in the
Liberian capital, Monrovia where members of parliament
have voted to override a veto of a bill, which in
effect, grants themselves ownership of state-owned
vehicles, office furniture, pens, and even toilet
papers.
This mad rush to grab anything of value
entrusted to the interim parliamentarians comes just
prior to the inauguration of the newly elected
government within the next few months.
According to new reports the bill passed
earlier authorizing or legalizing the seizure of
government vehicles that were assigned to the
parliamentarians about two years ago when the National
Transitional Government was cobbled together to
administer the affairs of the country to national
elections.
The
bill earlier sent to the Chairman of the National
Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), Charles
Gyude Bryant was vetoed. To his credit the Liberian
interim leader, Gyude Bryant disagreed with the bill
calling it “improper to take public assets for
personal use especially when the public official to
whom a public property was assigned is no longer in
the employ of the government.”
Again, this is a clear example of our so
called “honorable” officials demonstrating the
highest level of public irresponsibility, impunity and
corrupt demeanor in spite criticism, outcry and
opposition from ordinary Liberian who has endured
untold suffering and degradation for the last fourteen
years plus.
Government properties paid for by the taxes
payers, in this instance, the country’s resources
and business taxes cannot and should not be co-opted
for personal and unscrupulous use by any civil
servant, let alone government official.
The obligatory question here is whether these
“professional politicians” have no other means of
earning a living other than “sponging off”
government and the sweat of the ordinary people. I
guess some of these parliamentarians and members of
the Executive branch also subscribe to the saying,
“Government is elephant meat: so take as much as you
can…”
This brazen act, which can only be called by
its real name, stealing, must be confronted head-on by
every well-meaning Liberian and the international
community in order to shame these “lawmakers” or
shall we say “lawbreakers,” if they still have any
modicum of decency left.
We applaud the United States government, who
through its Ambassador Donald Booth, has warned that
it will deny U.S. entry visa to these parliamentarians
and any government official who take government
property along with their exit.
According to Ambassador Booth, “The US
considers these transfers unscrupulous, irresponsible
and contrary to the public interest of the people of
Liberia. The Liberian government resources are for the
benefit of the Liberian people and should not be
misappropriated for private use."
The U.S government further maintained in its
statement that “Violations of the public trust by
government officials could render such officials and
their families ineligible for U.S. Government funded
programs and services, including consideration for
Diversity Visa, and other visitor visa services. This
also applies to persons facilitating such transfers of
Liberian government property. Persons in private
possession of Liberian government will be monitoring
the situation closely.”
The irony is that Interim Liberian
Transitional Administration last September grudgingly
endorsed the Governance Economic Management Plan (GEMAP),
which is aimed at providing international oversight
over the accounting and expenditure of the resources
of the Liberian government.
A local daily, the “News in an
editorial on November 21, 2005, noted, “…We call
upon the lawmakers, especially those who will no
longer be in the Legislature by virtue of their
unsuccessful electoral bid, to turn over these
vehicles to the General Services Agency (GSA) as
required by law.
We take cue from Section 15.81 of the Criminal
Laws of Liberia which provides that: "a person is
guilty of first degree felony if he knowingly steals,
takes, purloins or converts to his own use and benefit
of the use of another; or without authority sells,
conveys or disposes of anything of value belonging to
the Liberian government or any of its agencies or
public corporations, or any property made or being
made under contract for the Government of Liberia or
any Ministry, Agency thereof or public corporation
"
It
is within this cardinal legal provision that we appeal
to the sense of decency, nationalism, and plead with
the lawmakers to see the need to stop the suffering of
the Liberian people who will have to once again come
up with the money to replace these expensive cars.
We urge them to turn these assets over as
required by law instead of seizing them under the
disguise of the law; after all what use is a law that
is not in the general interest of the people. It is
our hope that this plea will fall on fertile grounds
because the practice of seizing public assets when
leaving public office is not only unwholesome but also
borders on an act of deliberate and organized
larceny.”
We also urge the Liberian media to “out”
these 76 out-going parliamentarians, and any other
member of the Executive Branch by publicly naming them
if they persist in this outrageous action. The
incoming government should spare no effort and put
these people on notice for prosecution on charges of
larceny.
Additionally, we call for the United States
government to further invoke Presidential Proclamation
7750 section 212(f) of the US Immigration and
Naturalization Act - which could be used to extend the
ban to the family of a barred person or persons the US
believes, "to have committed or benefited from
corruption that adversely affects diverse US
interests."
In our concerted effort, we plead with the
European Union to assist in the fight against
corruption by banning these Liberian parliamentarians
and any other in government from entering and or
transiting through Union countries.
Emmanuel Abalo is an exiled Liberian
journalist, media and human rights activist. He
resides in Pennsylvania, USA.
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