–Characterizes Weah’s 2nd Term Bid as ‘Suicide Attack’ to Destroy Liberia
IPNEWS: When the framers of the Liberia 1986 Constitution, headed by the deceased Prof. Amos C. Sawyer, penned the words of what is now Liberia’s constitution today, in their minds the Office of the President of Liberia needed enormous powers in order to steer the ship of state in keeping with democratic tenets.
In Chapter IV: The Executive – Article 50; the framer wrote: “The Executive Power of the Republic shall be vested in the President who shall be Head of State, Head of Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia. The president shall be elected by universal adult suffrage of registered voters in the Republic and shall hold office for a term of six years commencing at noon on the third working Monday in January of the year immediately following the elections. No person shall serve as President for more than two terms.”
In Article 53, they wrote: “a. The President and the Vice-President shall, before entering on the execution of the duties of their respective offices, take a solemn oath or affirmation to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the Republic and faithfully execute the duties of the office. The oath or affirmation shall be administered in joint convention of both Houses of the Legislature by the Chief Justice or, in his absence, the most senior Associate Justice.”
“b. In an emergency where the Chief Justice and the Associate Justice are not available, such oath or affirmation shall be administered by a judge of a subordinate court of record.”
In Article 54 the framers wrote: “The President shall nominate and, with the consent of the Senate, appoint and commission– a. cabinet ministers, deputy and assistant cabinet ministers; • Cabinet selection b. ambassadors, ministers, consuls; and c. the Chief Justice and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and judges of subordinate courts; d. superintendents, other county officials and officials of other political sub-divisions; e. members of the military from the rank of lieutenant of its equivalent and above; and
Article 56: “a. All cabinet ministers, deputy and assistant cabinet ministers, ambassadors,
Ministers and consuls, superintendents of counties and other government officials, both military and civilian, appointed by the President pursuant to this Constitution shall hold their offices at the pleasure of the President. b. There shall be elections of Paramount, Clan and Town Chiefs by the registered voters in their respective localities, to serve for a term of six years. They may be re-elected and may be removed only by the President for proved misconduct.”
Article 58: “The President shall, on the fourth working Monday in January of each year, present the administration’s legislative program for the ensuing session, and shall once a year report to the Legislature on the state of the Republic. In presenting the economic condition of the Republic the report shall cover expenditure as well as income.
Article 59: “The President may remit any public forfeitures and penalties suspend and fines and
Sentences, grant reprieves and pardons, and restore civil rights after conviction for all public offenses, except impeachment.”
Article 60: “The President and the Vice-President shall receive salaries which shall be determined by the Legislature and be paid by the Republic. Such salaries shall be subject to taxes as defined by law and shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which the President and the Vice-President shall have elected.”
Article 61: “The President shall be immune from any suits, actions or proceedings, judicial or
otherwise, and from arrest, detention or other actions on account of any act done by him while President of Liberia pursuant to any provision of this Constitution or any other laws of the Republic. The President shall not, however, be immune from prosecution upon removal from office for the commission of any criminal act done while President.”
Article 62: “The President and the Vice-President may be removed from office by impeachment
for treason, bribery, and other felonies, violation of the Constitution or gross misconduct.”
Article 63: “a. whenever a person elected to the office of President dies or is otherwise incapacitated before being inaugurated into office, the Vice–President elected shall succeed to the office of President, and this accession shall commence a term.”
- “Whenever the office of the President shall become vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, or the President shall be declared incapable of carrying out the duties and functions of his office, the Vice-President shall succeed to the of the President to complete the unexpired term. In such a case, this not constitute a term.”
“The Legislature shall, no later than one year after the coming into force of this Constitution, prescribe the guidelines and determine the procedure under which the President, by reason of illness, shall be declared incapable of carrying out the functions of his office.”
- “Whenever the office of the Vice-President becomes vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, inability or otherwise, the President shall, without delay, nominate a candidate who, with the concurrence of both Houses of the Legislature, shall be sworn in and hold office as Vice-President until the next general elections are held. Whenever the Vice-President-elect dies, resigns, or is incapacitated before being inaugurated, the President elected on the same ticket with him, shall, after being inaugurated into office, nominate without delay a candidate who, with the concurrence of both Houses of the Legislature, shall be sworn in an hold office as Vice-President until the next general elections are held.”
Article 64: “Whenever the office of the President and of the Vice-President shall become vacant
by reason of removal, death, resignation, inability or other disability of the President and Vice-President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be sworn in as Acting President until the holding of elections to fill the vacancies so created. Should the Speaker be legally incapable or otherwise unable to assume the office of Acting President, then the same shall devolve in order upon the Deputy Speaker and members of the Cabinet in the order of precedence as established by law. The Elections Commission shall within ninety days conduct elections for a new President and a new Vice-President.”
Bearing in mind what the framers of the 1986 Constitution envisioned and wrote, the former president of the Liberia National Bar Association (LIBA), now presidential hopeful for the pending 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections, Cllr. Tiawon Saye Gongloe, says those who elected Mr. George Weah as President of Liberia in 2017 abused his (Weah’s) rights, because politically “Mr. Weah is a child” who does not know and understand the magnitude of the presidency.
Speaking Wednesday, August 17, 2022, at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Congo town, where he joined many Liberians to celebrate 19 years of stability and peace in Liberia after the end of the 14-year devastating civil war that took over 250,000 lives, Cllr. Gongloe, who is also the presumptive standard bearer of the opposition Liberia People’s Party (LPP), said that Mr. Weah mismanaged his personal businesses in Liberia, including Junior Professional , The Weah Sports Business Center, which was located at the corner of Randall and Benson Streets and Royal Communications Incorporated, The Old ‘School’ Night Club, among others something many of those who voted for him are aware of.
Cllr. Gongloe noted despite the electorates knowing the inadequacies of Mr. Weah back in 2017, to the point that he could not even run and sustain his personal businesses in the past, they ignorantly voted for him to become President of Liberia, and after ascending to the presidency and later knowing that he was not up to the task, decided to delegate his authority to the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, the now sanctioned and suspended Nathaniel McGill to call the shots and run the Government of Liberia at his own whims or caprices.
Meanwhile, Cllr. Gongloe has characterized President Weah’s second term bid as a ‘suicide attack’ that will destroy the nation for a century and called on all Liberians to save the state at the pools.
According to him, citizens keep getting poorer every day under Weah’s Administration to the point, that we no longer hold up to their human responsibilities.
“Liberia is currently under intensive care unit (ICU level), it’s on all the worst indexes in the World, it’s the Country the higher infinity rate, higher mortality rate, Country here there is more Children t of school than in school, it’s among the Countries with more hungry populations in the World”, Cllr. Tiawon Gongloe asserted.
He stated, why poverty is increasing in Liberia, the sanctioned and suspended Minister of State of Presidential Affairs, Nathaniel McGill and others are publicly spending the country’s money like they have private more money-making machines in their homes.
Cllr. Gongloe accused public officials of being so reckless by insensitively creating hardship and going around with gifts in the form of philanthropism.
