The Center for Transparency and Accountability (CENTAL) is calling on President Joseph N. Boakai to reconsider his decision to appoint the very individuals whose appointments sparked controversies that led to a Supreme Court’ ruling. The group wants the President to revoke the appointments.
Addressing a press conference Tuesday, April 30, 2024, Executive Director, Anderson Miamen said suspension of the Board of Commissioners of Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA) and Governance Commission (GC) sends a wrong signal about the president’s dedication to the rule of law, especially in this instant case.
Miamen said Boakai must genuinely accord tenured officials substantive due process and not a mere procedural one that helps attain his goal of replacing them.
“We believe that such is important if the Supreme Court’s ruling must be sincerely respected and upheld,” he said.
He said it is barely 24 hours after public acceptance of the Court’s ruling, President Boakai suspended the Chairman of the Governance Commission and the entire Board of the LTA and appointed acting Board Of Commissioners Abdullah Kamara, Patrick Honnah, Clarence Massaquoi, Ben Fofana and Angela Bush, the very individuals earlier nominated against which the court ruled.
He stressed that CENTAL is deeply concerned over these developments, including suspension of the very officials who won the lawsuit against the Government of Liberia.
Miamen acknowledged the powers of the president to suspend officials of government involved in corruption and other suspicious dealings, but said such powers must not be exercised as part of a scheme to accomplish an agenda.
“We are also concerned that audits and investigations are being weaponized to get rid of those suspected to be political opponents, especially in this instant case. CENTAL believes that a true fight against corruption should be holistic or dispassionate and not one that sets out to find fault at all costs in order to settle scores for political and other reasons,” he said
