Liberia: House Internal Disaster Leaves Executive In Ambivalence, Postpones Draft Price range Submission

Monrovia – President Joseph N. Boakai’s administration has postponed the submission of the draft nationwide funds for Fiscal Year 2025, citing ongoing tensions inside the House of Representatives as the explanation.

By Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]

According to a communication from the Acting Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Samuel A. Stevquoh, the funds submission, initially scheduled for October 31, was postponed to November 8, 2024.

The delay, based on Minister Stevquoh, stems from unresolved inner conflicts inside the House of Representatives. This battle reached the Supreme Court, with House Speaker Hon. J. Fonati Koffa submitting a Petition for a Writ of Prohibition. Speaker Koffa’s petition urged the Court to forestall sure House members from bypassing his authority and holding separate session.

In the letter addressed to Chief Clerk Mildred Sayon, the Minister additionally disclosed that Speaker had written the President informing him the bulk members of the House had been calling Executive Branch officers to look immediately earlier than them in joint chamber, reasonably than underneath his path and suggested the President to not permit any member of the Executive to look earlier than them.

The Speaker’s argument posited that this motion would “undermine the rule of law and set a dangerous precedent for our governance.”

However, on November 6, the Justice in Chambers Yarmin Gbeisay rejected Speaker Koffa’s petition, declining to subject the Writ of Prohibition.

Stevequoh mentioned President Boakai is intently monitoring the scenario and is searching for knowledgeable steering on the implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling. “The President regards the evolving situation with the utmost urgency and is unwavering about upholding the sanctity of the ‘three separate but coordinate branches of government,’” Stevquoh’s letter said, emphasizing the administration’s dedication to safeguarding constitutional steadiness.

Observers say this newest growth highlights vital pressure between the Legislative and Executive branches and should form Liberia’s governance practices.

The coming days will reveal how this judicial intervention and the President’s response impression each the legislative course of and the preparation of the nationwide funds.