MONROVIA: While forming his government, something that is still in the making, President Joseph Boakai stepped on the toes of the Constitution and laws of Liberia by appointing individuals serving tenured positions, most of which were given their legal shields during the first governance epoch of the Unity Party while he was Vice President of the country. Many cried out and asked him withdraw the appointments but he insisted he was doing the right thing, thus compelling aggrieved public servants to drag his government to the Supreme Court for a review of his action. Weeks of adjudication of the prohibition petitions from officials of five different institutions ended into a verdict in which the High Court squashed four and upheld just one—the Environmental Protection Agency case. After vigorously fighting to the teeth apparently to abolish the concerned tenured positions and place his political kith and kin in charge, the Liberian leader now says he believes in the rule of law and building a vibrant democracy. The Analyst reports.
Following Supreme Court opinion which upheld the prohibition petitions of a plethora of public servants, and reversed attempts by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr. to appoint people of his choice to replace those in tenured position, the Liberian leader says he “believes that strict adherence to the rule of law is fundamental to strengthening institutions and building a vibrant democracy”.
An Executive Mansion press release quotes the President as welcoming the “rulings of the Honorable Supreme Court of Liberia relative to recent nominations at some government institutions”.
“The President reaffirms his commitment to upholding the rule of law and will, therefore, honor the rulings of the High Court,” the Executive Mansion release issued yesterday said.
“This principle,” he notes, “is at the core of the government’s ARREST AGENDA that focuses on Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation, and Tourism.”
The President pointed out that the rulings of the Supreme Court also set a significant benchmark for administrative actions and the procedures leading thereto.
“That benchmark,” President Boakai says, “will have significant implications for all government agencies and the country as a whole.”
The Supreme Court had placed a stay order on the government not to go ahead with further action concerning the tenured positions until a legal interpretation and determination is made on whether the government was right to effectuate the removal or the occupants have legal right to continue serving in their positions until the expiration of their various terms.
It can be recalled a number of officials were affected by President Boakai’s appointment of his partisans to replace them at the various institutions. They called the action “illegal removal”, and they severally petitioned the Supreme Court of Liberia for a Writ of Prohibition to stop the Boakai government from removing them from their respective offices in consideration that they serve for tenures.
Those who issued prohibition on the president’s action included the Chairman of the Governance Commission (GC), Garrison D. Yealue; Reginald K. Nagbe, Director General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA); Edwina C. Zackpah, Chairperson of the Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA) and Prof. Wilson K Tarpeh, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
All save Prof. Tarpeh’s petition were upheld by the Supreme Court which asked the President to quash all appointments to the affected institutions. The President obliges and put up a white flag, a sign of surrender and acknowledgement of wrong.
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