Former members of the House of Representatives of the 53rd National Legislature have filed a petition for the Writ of Mandamus before the Supreme Court of Liberia, seeking to compel the House of Representatives and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning to pay their salary and benefits, which were budgeted and signed into law.
The arrears owed the former lawmakers were allotted in the Special Budget of 2021, but the House of Representatives and the Ministry of Finance have refused overtime to perform their legal duties as required by the law by processing and making payments to the former lawmakers. In the Petition filed Wednesday by Cllr. Willie D. Barclay, Jr., of the Century Law Offices, which represents the aggrieved former lawmakers, with the Clerk of the Supreme Court, the former lawmakers, who served from 2012 to 2018, led by the former Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Worlea-Saywah Dunah and former Bong County legislator, Attorney George S. Mulbah, request the Supreme Court to compel House Speaker Bhofal Chambers, Deputy Speaker Koffa, the leadership of the House, the entire plenary of the House of Representative, along with the Minister of Finance and all Deputy Ministers, all Assistant Ministers and the Comptroller General of Liberia, to perform their Constitutional and statutory duties by enforcing the budget law by paying to them the full amount of US$832,000 captured in Section 4.7 of the Special Budget Law printed into handbill on July 1, 2021.
According to a resolution by the former lawmakers, which led to the action before the Supreme Court, the former lawmakers described the refusal to implement the budget law as illegal and a violation of the laws of the land. The Resolution states further that the defiance of Speaker Chambers and the entire plenary of the House of Representatives of the 54th National Legislature and the Ministry of Finance of the budget law, though under oath to enforce the Constitution and all laws of Liberia relative to their functions, is therefore in violation of the Constitution of Liberia, the Legislative Law of Liberia (Title 19, Liberia Code of Law Revised), the Rules of House of Representatives and the Special Budget Statute of July 1, 2021.
The former lawmakers lamented that after numerous engagements over the past five years they were convinced that their former colleagues, headed by Speaker Chambers, were holding these conversations in bad faiths, as shown by their repeated refusal to implement the law that they passed to pay the arrears, and therefore left them with no choice but a recourse to the courts. The resolution condemns their action as adverse to all principles of good governance and institutional good practices, given that they have willfully refused, deliberately neglected, consistently denied, repeatedly obfuscated and unlawfully stonewalled the enforcement of the law requiring them to pay the budgeted arrears even though they are under Constitutional oath to always implement and uphold the laws of Liberia.
At the same time, the former lawmakers have expressed high confidence in the Judiciary, which they described in their resolution as having a history of dispensing justice without fear and favor, and are certain of true interpretation of the law as all is set for the nation’s highest court in this matter.