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It seems glaring even to the notice of the least person that the executive power being steered by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and that of the Senate being headed by the Senate Pro-Tempore Gbezongar Finley are going through the turbulence and therefore experiencing a rough ride.
The Senate’s recent decision to pass a Vote of No Confidence in Acting Monrovia City Mayor, Madam Mary Broh, for being disrespectful and unyielding to that Honorable Body appears like a suppressed air in a closed bottle.
The Senate’s dagger, for instance, could not hit the target as desired because President Sirleaf has apparently placed a garment of protection on Madam Broh. She has accordingly mandated her to go back to job and continue to execute her duties and functions as Acting Monrovia City Mayor.
The seeming bigheaded Monrovia City Mayor is as usual expected to fumble and foam flamboyantly because she has got renewed presidential backing. No doubt power is clashing with another power.
The power of the Executive and that of the Legislature (the Senate) are having an uneasy coexistence. The Senate is obsessed with annoyance, anger and perhaps belittlement. She has vowed therefore to suppress the budget for the Monrovia City Corporation, if and when President Sirleaf refuses to uphold the decision of the Senate.
The action of the President to order Mary Broh back to job implies a lot. Hence, the question that wings in the air in all concerned quarters is whether the President will succeed in passing Madam Broh through the needle’s ear.
Observers are of the opinion that the President will as usual cast “money bait” on the floor of the Senate to quiet the situation. “I don’t trust the Senate; they are toothless bull dogs; they cannot stand for a cause; they are not strong enough to resist the temptation and disgrace from the Executive,” said one frustrated student of the University of Liberia who spoke to our reporter on the basis of anonymity.
“If the Senate goes down to Mary Broh, it would have lost all respects and dignities,” said Ciapha Stephen of Gardnersville, outside Monrovia.
“Ellen is poised to bring disgrace to the Liberian Senate,” observed a market woman at the Gobachu Market in Paynesville. As it stands, all eyes are set to see the end result of the matter in the wake of the apparent clash between the Executive on the one hand and the Senate on the other.
Political pundits believe that Mary Broh is going to pass through the ear of the needle so long the President is on her side. President Sirleaf is noted for defending and standing by someone she loves like bees do to honey.
A case in point is said to be Mary Broh’s desecration of evening meal for fasting Muslims at the Benson Street Mosque in 2010. She sees no harm in defending what she loves no matter the public outcries. The public’s outcries backed by that of the House in the wake of the appointment of her son, Robert, as Board Chairman of the Liberian Oil Company (NOCAL) could not deter her.
She defended her position to the fullest and today Robert sits upon the throne comfortably. She vowed to place her neck on the chopping board for Agustine Ngafuan then Finance Minister when he (Ngafuan) was linked to corruption. Hence, there is likelihood that Mary Broh will go through the ear of the needle so long the President has vowed to stand by her.
What unfolds brings to mind the fallen powers-those of Samuel Doe, Taylor, and Tolbert.
These men exercised the executive power in like manner. Doe’s confidants and tribesmen were driven through the ears of the needle by means of executive power. Taylor at one point ordered his cabinet not to appear before the legislature to clarify issues of national concerns. Tolbert also defended those he loved and others who were close to him even when they did wrong.
In the Liberian society, the executive power is like the Lord and Gospel, the Alfa and Omega, etc. The executive power supersedes the law. It is so executive to the point that it can undo what the law endorses. The executive power has its ingredient including executive clemency, executive appointments, executive love, executive hatred, executive dismissals and all other things associated with the presidency as far as the African/Liberian tradition is concerned.
Unless and until the executive power is adjusted to observe and respect the powers of the legislature and judiciary in the truest sense, the practices of democracy will continue to be marked by mockery. |
