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What Authority has the Bryant Government To

Commit the Republic of Liberia ?

by Counselor Frederick A.B. Jayweh, LL.M (Septemeber 27th 2005)  

"...Since taking power in Liberia , this transitional government has always been known and considered by the people of Liberia and more so by international community as been legally limited in content and scope. This means then that the Bryant led government, under the Constitution and laws of laws of Liberia , could do certain things, and could not do certain things. ...."

On the surface, if one were to fail and refuse to critically analyze or measure the contractual danger that the transitional Bryant government of the Republic of Liberia has desperately conspired and gone all out to bring on Liberia and Liberians by carelessly and heartlessly signing and extending major contracts or concession agreements in the name of the Republic of Liberia and its people,

If one were to refuse and subconsciously neglect to consider the nature of the contractual agreements prepared and executed by the Bryant government in the name of Liberia and its people, and more so, if in desperation, one were to also refuse to consider the duration or how long these signed concession agreements are to last and to continue to have legal and binding effect on the Liberia and the people of Liberia,

If one were to totally downplay and refuse to collectively consider what contracts or concession agreements have been signed and/or extended by the Bryant-led government in Liberia, in the name of the Republic of Liberia, and what actual and realistic benefits for Liberia are provided for and contained under these contracts, and how much will the people of Liberia stand to recover after these so-called investors shall have had and noted their own income and benefits,

Disproportionately, if one were to fail and refuse to critically measure-up these so-called benefits and match them critically and scrupulously against the huge and innumerous benefits that companies like the Firestone Rubber Plantations company, the Liberia Agriculture Company, and lately, the hurriedly signed concession agreement between Mittal Steel and the Bryant-led government, and if one were to comprehensively review the benefits that these companies stand to recover, and actually, if one were to know and comprehend the long-term impact and effect that these concession agreements are bound to have on Liberia and Liberians,

And submitting without admitting that the success of the Bryant-led government could simply be measured and numerated only against the number of contracts that this administration with desperate and criminous intent has signed, or left alone extended in the name of the Republic of Liberia, and against the people of Liberia, and taking into consideration the foregoing facts and circumstances to be accurate and correct, without any doubt, one might easily be fooled to believe and conclude that under the Bryant government, the Republic of Liberia has got to see and experience major economic development and progress.

But on the contrary, if one were to choose to undertake to closely cross-examine these hurriedly signed contacts and/or extended concession agreements, as well as analyze their terms and conditions, and if one were to choose to carefully compartmentalize and analyze these agreements for what they worth, especially so, the agreements that the Bryant-led government has extended with the Firestone Rubber Plantations Company and the Liberia Agriculture Company, and if one were to review in context the activities of these companies purely based on the history of the working and living condition at the place of work of Firestone and LAC,

Added to above, if one were to reconsider and examine the recently reached concession agreement that Mr. Bryant and his governmental officials ran so fast to breathlessly and heartbreakingly sign with Mitttal Steel, an agreement that covers the total period of 25 years and beyond, if the Liberian People were to know and understand that Mittal Steel and its foreign workers are exempted under this agreement from paying income and import taxes to the government of Liberia, though they will live and work entirely in the Republic of Liberia.

And if one were to account for the many misdeeds and dealings of the Bryant-led government and compare and contrast them against the spirit and letter of the laws of Liberia , one will be compelled to ask the question:

What Authority has the Bryant government to extra-constitutionally commit the Republic of Liberia ?

What Authority has the Bryant Government To Commit the Republic of Liberia ?

So far, the government that Mr. Bryant and his officials have knowingly been permitted and sanctioned to run in the Liberia, and in the name of the Republic of Liberia, has always being politically known and legally designated as a limited transitional government. Thus, this limited transitional government, has for all intents and purposes been known and treated as having certain specific factual and legally limited authority and function. Since taking power in Liberia , this transitional government has always been known and considered by the people of Liberia and more so by international community as been legally limited in content and scope. This means then that the Bryant led government, under the Constitution and laws of laws of Liberia , could do certain thing, and could not do certain things.

Consistent with this analysis, the original creators and framers of this narrowly constructed government in Liberia, in order to allow this extra- constitutional government to exist and survive in the Republic of Liberia, they literally went ahead, agreed, and committed themselves to suspend certain constitutional powers and functions that are duly given by the Constitution of Liberia to the duly elected President and the Legislature of the Republic of Liberia. Thus in their wisdom, the Parties under Article XXXV of the Accra Peace Agreement agreed:

Article XXXV

1a. “ In order to give effect to Paragraph 8(i) of the Ceasefire Agreement of 17 th June 2003, signed by the GOL, the LURD and MODEL, for the formation of a Transitional government, the Parties agree on the need for an extra-constitutional arrangement that will facilitate its formation and take into account the establishment and proper functioning of the entire transitional arrangement.

b. Accordingly, the provisions of the present Constitution of the Republic of Liberia , the Statutes and all other Liberian laws, which relate to the establishment, composition and powers of the Executive, the Legislature, and Judicial branches of the government, are hereby suspended.

c. For the avoidance of doubt, the relevant provisions of the Constitution, Statutes and other laws of the Liberia which are inconsistent with this Agreement are also hereby suspended.

d. All other provisions of the 1986 Constitution of the Republic of Liberia shall remain in force.

e. All suspended provisions of the Constitution, Statutes and other laws of Liberia , affected as a result of this Agreement, shall be deemed to be restored with the inauguration of the elected government by January 2006. All legal obligations of the transitional government shall be inherited by the elected government.”

Since the foregoing Special Provisions were enacted and agreed to by the Parties in order to establish this limited and narrowly constructed Transitional government, what Legislative and Executive powers under the Liberian Constitution did the framers of the Bryant government suspend?

To achieve their goal and to ensure that a transitional government was established in Liberia , the framers and creators of the Bryant-led government knowingly and intentionally suspended:

Chapter 6

Article 50-Executive Power

The Executive power of the Republic of Liberia shall be vested in the President who shall be the Head of State, Head of government and Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia. The President shall be elected by universal adult suffrage of registered voters in the Republic and shall hold office for a term of six years commencing at noon on the third working Monday in January of the year immediately following the elections. No person shall serve as President for more than two terms.

Article 51

There shall be a Vice-President who shall assist the President in the discharge of his functions. The Vice-President shall be elected on the same political ticket and shall serve the same term as the President. The Vice-President shall be President of the Senate and preside over its deliberations without the right to vote, except in the case of a tie vote... And

 

Chapter 5 Article 29-Legislative Power

The Legislative power of the Republic shall be vested in the Legislature of Liberia which shall consist of two separate houses: A Senate and a House of Representatives, both of which must pass on all legislation. The enacting style shall be: “It is enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Liberia in Legislature assembled.”

The Parties having totally and unconditional acted as stated above, they proceeded and further went ahead under the Accra Peace Agreement to agree:

Article XXI

Establishment of a Transitional Government of Liberia

1.An all-inclusive Transitional government to be called the National Transitional government of Liberia , (NTGL), is hereby established to replace the present government of Liberia . Could this unconstitutional and unelected government legally replace the elected government of Liberia ?

2. The NTGL shall be inaugurated and fully commence operations on Oct 14, 2003 , and its mandate shall expire on the third Monday of Jan 2006, when the next elected Government of Liberia shall be inaugurated.

Article XXII

Structure of the NTGL

The National Transitional government shall consist of the following structure:

I. The National Legislative Assembly, NTLA;

ii. The Executive, and

iii. The Judiciary.

Article XXV

The Structure NTLA

1. There shall be established a National Transitional Legislative Assembly in Liberia , which shall reflect a broad spectrum of the Liberian society.

2. The NTLA shall be unicameral in nature and shall replace, within the transitional period, the entire Legislature of the Republic of Liberia .

 

Article XXV

The Structure Executive

The National Transitional government shall be headed by a person called the Transitional Chairman. The Transitional Chairman shall be assisted by a Transitional Vice Chairman.

Apart from the above understanding reached by the Parties, they also went ahead and subscribed to and mandated the Bryant-led government to:

1. Scrupulously implement the Peace Agreement.

2. Implement the Ceasefire Agreement.

3. Oversee and coordinate the political and rehabilitation program.

4. Promote reconciliation to restore peace and stability.

6. Supervise and conduct an internationally supervised elections in Liberia in Oct 2005.

7. Disarm, demobilize, rehabilitate and reintegrate the fighting forces.

8. Restructure the Armed Forces of Liberia and disband all other irregular forces in Liberia .

9. Establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Liberia ; and

10.Establish a Good Governance Reform Commission in Liberia .

How did the suspension of the Legislative and Executive Powers under the Liberian Constitution impact the authority of the NTGL?

How did the Suspension of the Legislative Power

Impact the Authority of the NTGL?

To begin with, under the Constitution and all other laws of the Republic of Liberia, for the Legislative and Executive branches of government to fully take legal advantage of, and exercise the Legislative and Executive powers contained under the Constitution of Liberia, the government so interested to solely exercise these powers must have been fully voted for and elected by the people of Liberia. This is contrary to the formation of the NTGL.

Along these lines, article 29 of the Liberian Constitution unequivocally states that the power of the Republic shall be vested in the Legislature of Liberia which shall consist of two separate houses: A Senate and a House of Representatives; both of which must pass on all legislation. The enacting style shall be: ”It is enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Liberia in Legislature assembled.” The NTLA could not act in Legislature Assembled because it was created by the framers as a unicameral body.

Under this provision, could the National Legislative Assembly, whose framers have intentionally suspended the constitutional powers of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Liberia , proceed and attempt to act under these same and identical powers? Just a reminder, in order to give life to, and to legally allow a transitional government to exist and survive under the laws of Liberia, the framers of the Accra Peace Agreement went ahead and consciously suspended the constitutional powers of the Legislature of the Republic of Liberia. A power that specifically mandates and states that only the Senate and the House of Representatives of Liberia, both of which must pass on all legislation, acting in Legislature assembled:

Moreover, what the framers created under the Accra Peace, was nothing more and nothing less than a limited and narrowly constructed caretaker government; a government that was born with no legislative powers; the power to pass on all legislation in legislature assembled by the Senate and House of Representatives as provided for and duly contained under the Constitution of Liberia. So then, if the NTLA was born with no constitutional and legislative power to pass on all legislation in Liberia , where did the Bryant-led government derive the power and authority to enter into and extend concession agreements in Liberia , and to attempt to commit the people of Liberia and the Republic of Liberia ?

How did the Suspension of the Executive Power

Impact the Authority of NTGL?

Without any doubt, under Article 50 of the Liberian Constitution, the Executive Power of the Republic shall be vested in the President who shall be Head of State, Head of government and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia. The President shall be elected by a universal adult suffrage of registered voters in the Republic and shall hold office for six years commencing at noon on the third working Monday of January of the year immediately following the elections. The Executive Power of Liberia was not intended to be vested in Mr. Bryant, because he was not elected.

In their wisdom and rich understanding, the Parties to the Accra Peace Agreement, chose to understandably suspend the Powers that related to the establishment and the composition of the Executive branch of government of the Republic of Liberia . The Power to act under the laws of Liberia as the duly voted for, and elected President of Liberia. The question then is, if the framers of the Accra Peace Agreement, agreed to, and did intentionally suspend the Executive powers as contained under the Constitution of the Liberia, could the Bryant-led government which was created without any legislative and executive powers, —powers that are constitutionally reserved for the used of an elected government, proceed and act under this same suspended executive powers?

Clearly, it must be noted and the Liberian people need to be reminded, that what the Parties agreed to, and certainly created in Liberia on Oct 14, 2003, was literally a Transitional government; a caretaker government that was born with no Legislative and Executive Powers. This government was never voted for and elected by the Liberian People. Textually, the Parties intentionally agreed and took away the Legislative and Executive Powers from the narrowly constructed Bryant-led government. Laterally and so then, the power to appoint and to dismiss was also intentionally withheld from the Bryant government. Without any doubt, this constitutional power was reserved intentionally in the parties.

To further restrain the so-called executive branch of the Bryant-led government from behaving and acting as an elected executive President, the Parties again went ahead and agreed that the National Transitional government shall be headed by a Transitional Chairman who shall be assisted by a Transitional Vice Chairman. Because the Bryant-led government was knowingly established in the Republic of Liberia with no Legislative and Executive Powers, both under the Accra Peace Agreement and the Liberian Constitution, this government could not and has no authority to commit the Republic of Liberia and its people.

Furthermore, because the Parties suspended the Legislative and Executive Powers under the Liberian Constitution, powers that are reserved to be used by the elected President and elected Legislature, the Bryant-led government was without any authority, both under the Accra Peace Agreement and the Liberian Constitution to have signed and extended the concession agreements with the Firestone Rubber Plantations Company and the Liberia Agriculture Company. Only a duly elected government by we, the People could legally have done so.

Additionally and in view of the foregoing, Mr. Bryant and his government had no right to have entered the concession agreement with Mittal Steel, or any other companies. By acting outside of its mandate, the actions of the Bryant-led government shall have no legal and binding effect on Liberia .

What Authority has the NTGL?

Without overstating this point, the powers vested in the Bryant-led government were to:

1. Scrupulously implement the Peace Agreement.

2. Implement the Ceasefire Agreement.

3. Oversee and coordinate the political and rehabilitation program.

4. Promote reconciliation to restore peace and stability.

5. Supervise and conduct an internationally supervised elections in Liberia in Oct 2005.

6. Disarm, demobilize, rehabilitate and reintegrate the fighting forces.

7. Restructure the Armed Forces of Liberia and disband all other irregular fighting forces in Liberia .

8. Establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Liberia ; and

9. Establish a good governance Commission.

As it stands, only actions taken by the Bryant-led government within its mandate shall have legal and binding effect on the Liberia . Any other actions to the contrary shall surely be subject to judicial review.

______________________________________________________________  

 

About the Author

Counselor Frederick A.B. Jayweh holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA degree in Biblical Studies) from African Bible College, Bachelor of Laws, (LL.B degree in general lawfrom the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia, and Master of Laws (LL.M degree in American And Comparative Law) from the University of Denver College of Law, Denver, Colorado.

 Also, Counselor Jayweh is a member of the Grand Bassa County and the Supreme Courts Bars, Republic of Liberia, a registered member of the Liberian National Bar Association, and former Executive Director of the Civil Rights Association of Liberian Lawyers, Inc. Presently, Counselor ayweh lives in Denver, Colorado, and can be reached at; 303-884-2652, or fjayweh@hotmail.com.

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