Senator Augustine Chea: – Rare, Fearless Crusader in Battle Rights & The Rule of Law

MONROVIA – The rule of law is the foundation of any just and civilized society. It ensures that no one is above the law, and that everyone is treated equally and fairly. Throughout history, many great thinkers, leaders, and philosophers have spoken about the importance of the rule of law, and the need for justice and fairness in society. The renowned English philosopher John Locke once said, “whenever law ends, tyranny begins,” and as Martin Luther King, Jr. noted, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Indeed, Sinoe County Senator Augustine Chea, while many self-style champions of rule of law, and justice were snoring during the year in the Capitol Hill justice jungle spectacle, was the lone man in the dissert of justice crying, enlightening the public and demanding the right thing to be done.Chea showed much courage in speaking out against the ongoing leadership nemesis on Capitol Hill which has threatened to rip off the fabric of legal righteousness from the undiscerning face of Mother Justice to summon antidemocratic forces that are hellbent on destroying Liberia’s nascent democratic gains.The Sinoe County lawmaker distinguished himself from many so-called independent minds, in essence saying, like Martin Luther King, Jr., “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in the moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”He refused to be “politically correct”, or legislatively opportunistic, as he fought to bring clarity via his write-outs and utterances bellowing across the nation, calling for the rule of law, for justice, for morality in governance against the denied, oppressed and taunted Speaker of the House of Representatives and colleagues. Though a torchbearer of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) within the Liberian Senate, Cllr. Augustine Chea’s propositions on the matter were widely judged to be impartial, helping to save the image of the country was being dragged in the mud of international scorn. The Sinoe County Senator is a well-versed constitutional lawyer who remains undaunted in challenging the unconstitutional stance employed by the House of Representatives Majority Bloc and the undue influences of the Executive Branch in fueling the crisis on Capitol Hill.The Senate’s involvement Although the House of Representatives and the Senate occupy the same edifice at the Capitol Building and coordinate functions to ensure smooth functioning of the nation’s first branch of government, the Senate, considered the House of Elders mainly chose to intervene in the House leadership crisis when the situation threatened legislative operations vis-à-vis the drafting and passage of laws including the national budget.The presence of two House Speakers thus presented an unprecedented political anomaly for the National Legislature, a situation that created a conundrum for the smooth functioning of the three branches of government: the legislature which drafts policies/laws and approves the national budget; the executive which implements policies/laws such as the national budget; and the judiciary which interprets contentious laws.Throughout the leadership tussle on Capitol Hill, public opinion has seen the senate as a passive observer unwilling to interfere in the House crisis – until recently when the Liberian Justice Minister Oswald Tweh presented his legal opinion that led the Executive and the Senate to recognize the Richard Koon-led Majority as the legitimate House of Representative group to do business with.Prior to that, the Senate had set up a committee to intervene, but the outcome of that committee’s work has left much to be desired.Meanwhile, amid the confusion and contestation for legitimacy within the House of Representatives, Senator Augustine Chea has remained unbending in strongly condemning his colleagues for siding with the majority bloc of the House of Representatives, led by Representative Richard Koon, as Speaker, describing the entire process as an attack on the Rule of Law, and arguing that if democracy must be strong, it must be supported by the rule of law, not the other way around.His positions, throughout the matter, have been legal than partisan, never relenting to correct legal travesties, including fellow senators and the executive branch of government that chose to present the 2025 national budget to the Majority Bloc which was recently passed in what the public now describes as a “5G process” that circumvented the usual budget hearing process.“Does the President understand that submitting the budget to the ‘majority bloc’ (through the Deputy Chief Clerk) does not and cannot confer legal authority upon them to receive and act on it,” he loudly spoke against the actions of the Executive in one of his widely read pieces.“Of course not, because only our constitution and laws can confer legal authority. Also, the anti-Koffa bloc does not have a constitutional mandate to hold ‘sessions’ (Plenary Sitting). Whatever they’re doing at the Capitol is irregular.” In any case, whatever outcome derived from the ongoing House leadership crisis, there is no gainsaying that Senator Augustine Chea will go down in history as one the few lone voices that refused to dance to the whims and caprices of undue influences bent on circumventing the smooth implementation of the rule of law. This is why he is THE ANALYST’S 2024 Awardee.

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