Monrovia, Liberia – The Legal Advisor to the President, Cllr. Bushuben M. Keita has disclosed that the cabinet has made a decision and has authorized the president to replace all tenure positions except for those that are specifically set in the constitution of Liberia and will be compensated as per their Tunure.
Speaking to Executive Mansion Reporters during a press conference on Friday at the Executive Mansion, Cllr. Keita referenced Article 56a of the Liberian Constitution as their reliance for said decision, which states that everyone who works in the Executive Branch of government serves at the will and pleasure of the President.
“The cabinet has authorized the president, and it has been concluded as a government policy that all of those tenure positions that are in government will be replaced. The President will exercise his authority to appoint people to any positions in the executive branch of government, whether the person has a tunue or not, except for those positions that are protected by the constitution of Liberia.”
He claimed that the Cabinet decided to enforce the law rather than engage in witch hunts, and that anyone who feels wronged should pursue legal action to resolve their grievance.
He argued that the Cabinet’s decision does not in any way imply that the government will replace all tenure positions except those that are unconstitutional under Article 56a of the Constitution. “This is not to say that all Tunure positions will be replaced, it is to say that the government reserves the right in keeping with the law to replace any Tunure position except for those that are specifically set in the constitution of Liberia.”
“For other Tunure officers who may be replaced, they will be compensated for the unexpired term of their contracts.”
Article 5.1 says, all officials appointed by the President of the Republic of Liberia shall not (a) engage in political activities, canvass, or contest for elected offices; (b) use government facilities, equipment, or resources in support of partisan or political activities; (c) serve on a campaign team of any political party for the campaigning of any independent candidate.
According to the law, you cannot hold a position of authority in the tunure and simultaneously engage in active politics, serve on a campaign team, wear campaign gear, post all of your campaign photos, and engage in all other activities without expecting your tunure to be respected or to be compensated in the event that it is taken away,” Cllr. Keita emphasized.
Cllr. Keita stressed that there is video and photo evidence to prove those in violation of the law and will not be compensated.
“If we say you violate the code of conduct, trust us, we have videographics and photographs to prove that you did participate actively in politics and wear campaign paraphernalia while serving as a tunure officer.”
Meanwhile, Cllr. Keita has informed the public that they are working on modalities to ensure that they rewrite the House of Representatives in order to scratch out tenure positions by statute and not by constitutional backing.
