Naymote Partners for Democratic Development on Monday, September 9, 2024, released its midterm legislative performance report which covers the period from January to July 2024. Addressing a press conference, Naymote Executive Director Eddie D. Jarwolo said during this period the House of Representative and Liberian Senate performed their three critical functions of lawmaking, oversight and representation, and both the House and the Senate had to undertake a series of compelling actions.
Mr. Jarwolo said during the period under review, statisticians from both chambers reported a total of 122 sittings, including 73 regular sittings, 38 House and 35 Senate, 28 executive/secret sittings held by the House with none at the Senate. Two Special Sessions were called for by the President of Liberia in April and nineteen extraordinary sittings (10 House, 9 Senate). He said the House of Representatives passed 4 bills into law, while the Senate passed 2 bills, with a total of 6 bills coming from the Executive passed.
“50% of the total bills passed came from the President’s office. There were 34 public hearings held by the House as recorded, with July recording the highest number, 9. The month of January had no hearings. Senate Chamber statistics show that 893 executive officials were confirmed by the Liberian Senate,” he said.
According to him, with the 55th Legislature now seated, it is equally anticipated that it will embrace and execute crucial reforms needed to strengthen its institutional capabilities in exercising oversight, promoting inclusion, and advancing democracy and accountability.
He said Naymote conducted a Key Informant Interview, (KII) to collect information from several persons from both Houses including staff of lawmakers, lawmakers, and professionals working in the legislature who have firsthand knowledge about the Liberian Legislature.
“A study of closed and open-ended questionnaires was administered for the KII, data were collected and analyzed, verifications were made on the information collected and a final report was produced for publication,” he said.
Jarwolo recommended that the legislature implement immediate institutional reforms to strengthen its various oversight committees and establish the appropriate systems for transparency, and accountability, including limiting “executive/secret” sessions to only matters with serious implications for national security and defense as required under the law.
He said the leadership of the legislature should set up a functional website and ensure voting records of members of that body are made public and available to effectively assess the performance of its members.
“That, with system audits––that are either underway or have ended at the House of Representatives or the Senate, each House must ensure that full-scale audits are conducted as the General Auditing Commission (GAC) may deem appropriate and consistent with its Act. The legislature provides the necessary tools or digital applications to enhance the grossing clerks’ and stenographers’ data collection and reporting skills to foster legislative openness and effectiveness,” he told journalists.
He said the Joint Public Accounts, Expenditures and Audits Committee must be supported to host town-hall meetings, and public engagements, and use social media platforms to educate citizens about the ongoing works, prospects, challenges, and recommendations to ensure accountability and transparency in the management of public funds.
The Naymote Executive Director said the legislature should make a deliberate effort to support constitutional reforms in support of affirmative action that increases the proportion of women in both Houses and the legislature, as part of its oversight responsibilities, ensures ministries, agencies, and commissions (MACs) submit their regular quarterly and annual reports to the public.
