Bility Sermonizes Legislative Reform

-Challenges Monrovia’s Status Quo, Makes Wake-up Call

MONROVIA – Nimba County Representative Musa Hassan Bility is sounding the alarm on Liberia’s governance, questioning the true purpose of the Legislature in his latest ‘Letter from Saclepea’. In a candid reflection, he challenges lawmakers to introspect on their role, asking if they are truly serving the people or just collecting a paycheck. Rep. Bility’s letter sparks a timely debate about accountability and governance in Liberia, echoing concerns about lawmakers prioritizing personal interests over national welfare. The Analyst reports.

In the latest edition of his “Letter from Saclepea”, Nimba County Representative has questioned the true purpose of the Legislature, asking, “Do we truly see why we are here?”

The lawmaker takes a hard look at the institution, lamenting that “not the glamour, not the motorcade, not the salary, not the public show” are the reasons why lawmakers were elected.

Instead, he emphasized that the Legislature was created “to be a check and balance for governance. A place where power is questioned, not worshipped. A place where national decisions are weighed, not rushed.”

According to the Representative, the National Legislature was designed to make “ordinary citizens feel, in the deepest sense that they are in charge of their government.”

He stressed that government is not a distant force that happens to them, but an institution that answers to them.

The lawmaker expressed concern that lawmakers often forget their sacred assignment, noting, “If we would sit down, quietly, without cameras, without pride, without party slogans, and reflect on why this branch of government was created, would our behavior remain the same?”

He wondered if representatives would “still reduce national suffering to partisan advantage,” “treat oversight as personal warfare,” or “turn the people’s mandate into private comfort.”

The Political Leader of the Citizens Movement for Change (CMC) urged his colleagues to return to the original meaning of their role.

“I believe that if we returned to the original meaning of our role, many of our actions would change,” he noted.

He called on lawmakers to “think beyond partisan politics” and “align our votes, our debates, our priorities, and our discipline with the welfare of the people.”

Bility emphasized: “Before we ask for more respect, let us ask whether we have respected the purpose of the institution we serve. Before we demand honor, let us ask whether we have honored the calling.”

 He asked his colleagues to pause and reflect: “Are we really doing the job for which this branch of government was created?”

He went on: “This week, I find myself asking a simple question that should unsettle every one of us who sits in the Legislature: Do we truly see why we are here? Not the glamour. Not the motorcade. Not the salary. Not the public show. Not the noise we make in the Chamber, the yelling, the cursing, the endless partisan performance that wins applause today and leaves nothing standing tomorrow.

“I am reflecting, as a lawmaker and as a citizen, on the purpose for which our founding fathers created the Legislature in the Constitution. And I ask myself, and I ask my colleagues: Do we ever pause long enough to contemplate the sacred assignment we were given?”

Continuing, the CMC leader noted: “Because if we did, if we honestly did, we would admit that many of the things we celebrate today were never the dream. They were never the design. They were never the intention. The Legislature was not created as a stage for ego. It was not formed as a marketplace for influence. It was not built to become a battleground where we trade insults while the people trade their dignity for survival. It was created to be something far more serious.”