By Precious D. Freeman
A delegation from the European Union (EU) in Liberia paid a courtesy visit to Cllr. Taiwan Gongloe aimed at soliciting his view on the governance performance of President Joseph Boakai.
The three-member European Union delegation was headed by the Ambassador of the European Union to Liberia Nona Deprez.
During the conversation, Cllr. Gongloe shared his perspective on the establishment of the War and Economic crimes court, systematic corruption, organized crimes, salary disparities between the government and civil servants and ordinary Liberian as well as disorganized information dissemination by the government.
Furthermore, he provided recommendations to enhance improved governance and regain public trust and confidence.
The closed door meeting which lasted for over an hour was held at the former Liberian People’s Party (LPP) political leader’s law firm in Central Monrovia.
However, following the conclusion of the conversation, Cllr. Gongloe briefed the press regarding the meat of the conversation.
Explaining the intent of the visit, Cllr. Gongloe said that the team visited his office in order to solicit his view on the governance process of the country by the United Party administration.
According to him, he was asked how he sees the governance of the country, and in what he termed as his sincere response, Gongloe explained that he told the diplomatic delegation that Unity Party government must do a lot in order to regain the public trust.
He said that there is peace in Liberia but, the peace can only be sustained when the War and Economic Crime Court process goes to civil society, adding that he strongly believes that the President should have the highest consultation in the appointment of the individual to head the country.
Cllr. Gongloe said the government must provide information to the public and publish it in newspapers as well as broadcast through radios the Term of Reference of the Executive Director of the War and Economic Crimes Court to avoid protest and speculation.
He described the head of the War and Economic Crimes Court, Jonathan Massaquoi as a good lawyer and should not be deprived from heading the court because he represented people against the state.
“They are consulting about how I see the country and the state governance. I told them that there is peace but it will be sustained if the War and Economic Crime courts process goes to the support of the civil society and the Liberian National Bar Association. The President should still meet with the LNBA leadership and Civil Society because they have a lot of information and the victims trust them. Many of them are seen by the victims as people who care for them” he noted.
Cllr. Gongloe pointed out that with that, the process cannot succeed without the support of the Bar and Civil Society therefore, they should not feel ignored.
Also, during the conversation, he said that he also made mentioned about systematic corruption in Liberia in terms of how few people in the government made so much salary compare to civil servants.
He added that the Legislature is involved in spending therefore, it undermines their oversight responsibilities and functions, stressing that if the Executive and the Legislature is engaged into spending as its done now, who is going to monitor who.
“The Legislature has initiated something in the budget called legislative project which they said will be implemented by the Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment in the amount of US$13 million. However that will be done with the direct authority of specific lawmakers in his constituency. This undermines our democracy” Cllr. Gongloe noted.
