By: S Winston Blyden, Sr.
IPNews-Monrovia: In keeping with Article 58 Constitution of the Republic of Liberia, President George Manneh Weah, will on today presents his third ‘State of the Nation Address’ (SONA) to the third Joint Session of the 54th Legislature.
According to Article 58 of the Liberian Constitution, ‘the President shall on the 4th working Monday in January of each year, presents the administration’s legislative program for the ensuing year, and shall once a year report to the Legislature on the state of the Republic’.
In presenting his annual report, President Weah is expected to touch on the state of economy of the nation as well as the administration’s achievement, challenges, expenditure, income and plans for the ensuing year of the regime.
As Legislative tradition of the occasion dictates, the President is to begin his address 4 P.M. prompt in the Joint Chamber of the Legislature. Interestingly, Legislative procedure dictates that must be a quorum of the 103 Legislators of both Houses, supervised by the Presiding Officer or Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Presiding Officer will then entertained a motion for Session to be called to order. That motion is usually on a one item agenda; and that is, the President’s State of the Nation Address.
When that is done, the Presiding will mandate the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives, Brigadier General Martin Johnson to escort the President to the Joint Chambers of the Legislature for the State of the Nation Address.
General Johnson along with the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Liberia Senate and the Joint Committee on Executive will escort the President who may be in any part of the bailiwick of the Legislature.
President Weah will move straight to the podium after he is announced by the Sergeant-at-arms and begin his address. There is no set time given to the President for his message to end.
What matters is that the Presidents’ message must be delivered from 4P.M. in keeping with Article 58 of the Constitution. Protocol also forbids, lawmakers’ to question the President’s address after delivery at the ceremony.
Judges of the Supreme Court of Liberia, officials of Government, and members of the Diplomatic Corps including invited members of the public are expected to be in attendance.
However, it is not clear whether Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor will be in attendance. Owing to her conspicuous absence from the official opening of the 3rd Session of the 54th Legislature.
The Liberian Vice President has not been seen at the Legislature since the opening of the 3rd Session of the Legislature.
However, Sinoe County Senator Milton Teahjay recently hinted at a news conference that the issue of the Vice President has been resolved and that she is expected to form part of today’s occasion. The pronouncement by Senator Teahjay was elevated when Pro Temore’, Albert Chie constituted a committee Thursday, January 23, 2020, to hold consultation with Vice President Jewel Taylor. The outcome of the consultation was not may public but a member of the committee who confided in IPNews stated that Vice President Jewel Taylor will be in attendance at today’s State of the National Address by the President George Manneh Weah.
President Weah address to the nation today comes amidst a nearing recession economy rocked by the unavailability of basic social services and commodities. In recent days, there are huge cue of motorist striving to get gasoline at various filling stations across the country due to the insufficiency of gasoline. But the LPRC has since denied the shortage of gasoline on the Liberian market and warned street vendors (cane boys) to desist for holding the commodity.
The government is yet to settle the dust lingering over the full investigation of the controversial US25million and 16 billion Liberian dollars mop up of excess liquidity on the Liberian market.
The Liberian leader will also be addressing the nation at the time citizens have taken to the street with two successive mass-based protest calling for reform in governance, the end to corruption and making public the full investigation into the US$25million and 16 billion reports.
Liberians look keen today to hearing good tidings from their leader and as well as his plans to resuscitate the economy and bring about key reform in the governance process of the state.
In a related development, the Senate Special Committee constituted by Pro Tempore Albert Chie, to delve into concerns of Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor and revert to the wisdom of Plenary for possible redress, says it will report its findings on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.
The Committee which comprises of Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence (Liberty Party) as Chairperson, Senator Varney G. H. Sherman (Unity Party, Cape Mount), Senator Commany B. Wesseh (Unity Party, River Gee), Senator Sando D. Johnson (NPP, Bomi) and Senator Abe Darius Dillon (Liberty Party, Montserrado County), is meanwhile urging the Vice President to end her boycott and attend Monday’s Annual Message of President George Manneh Weah.
The Committee, in a statement, said while it will ultimately speak through its report next Tuesday, it has prevailed on the Vice President to attend the President’s annual message on Monday January 27th and return to work as they try to resolve these concerns, in line with its oversight responsibilities.
The Committee has also called on surrogates of the Government to end its abuse on talk-shows against the Vice President.
“We will also urge Government functionaries to stop using radio stations to abuse the Vice President, as the office of the Vice President is the second highest office in our land and must be respected at all times,” the statement said.
The Vice President has raised alarm in recent days, suggesting that her office is being deliberately strangulated by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
In an exclusive interview with FrontPageAfrica last week, the Vice President said: “Sadly, over the past two years, the budgetary allocation for office operations (to include funds for special projects) has not been paid to my office.
This has hampered my ability to positively impact and contribute to the Liberian Women’s agenda; a commitment made by our Government generally and by me, specifically.
This inability to remain thus engaged, as one of Liberia’s female Leaders, has grieved me greatly. So, though the operational payment for my office deals with items needed to make my office functional….it also includes funds allocated for women empowerment and scholarships for girls’ education.”
The MFDP, responding to an FPA inquiry this week, dismissed suggestions that it is selectively targeting the Vice President’s office: “The Ministry of Finance has made payments to all branches of Government within the limits of what is possible.
The Office of the Vice President has received more than US$3 million in both compensation and goods and services since 2018. Fiscal challenges have led to austerity that have affected senior leadership of all branches of Government. The ministry is not selective in administering payments but follows rule-based fiscal rules that aim to contain the deficit and assure budget credibility.”
The VP disagrees, telling FPA this week that the office of the Deputy Speaker, which is lower than hers was paid a whopping US$150,000 in December by the Ministry.
Said the VP: “Knowing that other offices have been paid their operations, so they’re better functioning, offices that are lower than the Office of the Vice President have received all of what they have requested, I found out that two payments were made on December 23, the first payment was made in two checks to the Office of the Deputy Speaker of operations in the amount of owner 150,000, United States dollars and then made it House of Representatives for some other payment. And I was just totally blown out of water.
And this is not particularly to the individual in our office and I want to be clear, because, you know, politics is a really tricky thing. So, it wasn’t about him ,it was about the fact that the Ministry of Finance, could make a $US150,000 payment for operations for the Office of the Deputy Speaker and they have not done that for me in two years.”
The withholding of funds, according to the VP, has led her to go begging around for help. “I, over the last two years have had to go beyond my means, you know, get to friends to help us – oh, please repair this car. And I just got tired doing it.
And when I found out that somehow, you know, this funding that is so important to my office was also being paid to other offices, I felt that there was something wrong and that I had to – even though I had engaged them from time-to-time, that I had to actually do something, so people will know that – I believe is an error and it has strangulated my work.”
