The Plenary of the Liberian Senate Thursday finally passed a vote of no confidence in former Acting Monrovia City Mayor Mary Broh who was re-nominated by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to return to her post, months after she was booted out.
The senate passed the vote of no confidence in sympathy with their colleagues at the House of Representative who had previously declared the former mayor a non-governmental material.
Plenary requested their peers in the Senate not to confirm her after hearing that she was being re- nominated by the President.
Despite the Senate's concurrence with the House of Representatives not to confirm Broh, they also requested the lower house to delete the phrase from their communication that declared the former mayor a non-governmental Material.
Members of the Upper House said the term is in violation of Article 29 of the Liberian constitution to declare a Liberian a non-governmental material when the constitution gives the right to every Liberian to serve in any public office if elected or appointed.
A motion was filed by Maryland Senator John Ballout to bring the matter to an end after it was excessively discussed among senators. Said Ballout: "I move that this Senate affirm or re-affirms its commitment to stand with the House of Representatives in this Matter, and do not confirm Broh as Mayor.
Ballout is one of the Senators who have taken strong stand in the Broh saga and has spoken against the nomination of Broh by his party's Standard Bearer, Sirleaf.
During her days as Acting City mayor, Broh was accused of beating a staffer in Senator Ballout's office, during a clearing exercise in Monrovia. The matter was taken to plenary at the time where Broh was invited to go and give reasons for her actions against the Senator staff.
Motion for reconsideration
During Tuesday's plenary Senators could not hold discussion on the matter despite forming part of their agenda for the day as a result of a stay order placed on the issue by one of their colleague Senator Isaac Nyenabo (NDPL-Grand Gedeh County).
Nyenabo Friday filed a motion for reconsideration on the Mary Broh saga after Majority Senators voted in favor of a motion calling for the Senate to turn itself into a committee to recall the nomination of the nominees of mayors from the Internal Affairs committee.
Nyenabo's appeal was granted in keeping with the rules governing the plenary that any lawmaker has the right to file a motion for reconsideration in a given process if he or she feels disenchanted.
Nyenabo may have intentionally filed the motion for reconsideration with the knowledge that he was traveling to Uganda.
After the reading of the communication by the Secretary of the Senate, a motion was filed by Senator Dan Morais (NPP-Maryland County) that the communication be open for discussion though the crafters of the communication was not present.
The Motion was seized by Pro-Temp Gbehzohngar Findley who also has that power to seize a motion in keeping with plenary rules. Findley seized the motion on grounds that the rules governing plenary gives every senator that privilege right to file a motion for reconsideration and argued that the motion could not be discussed in the absent of the lawmaker who files the motion.
The pro-temp decision did not meet the pleasure of some senators including John Ballout, Dan Morais, Cletus Wortorson, Henry Yallah and Dallas Gueh who expressed their disappointment in a very unfriendly mood.
Unguarded discussion across the floor lasted for nearly thirty minutes, causing Pro-Temp to call all committee chair to his desk for a short leadership consultation of which Morais was a part about his decision this meeting lasted for nearly fifteen minutes.
After the meeting the leadership agreed that the Pro-temp decision stands with an argument that if the matter is open for discussion there will be no one to defend the communication with the crafter out of the country.
Despite several unpleasing comments made by Ballout and others the decision stood as final and the matter was lay to rest awaiting Nyenabo return.
Many see Nyenabo action as deliberate and a cleaver attempt to buy time to reduce tensions surrounding the discussion about the re-nomination of the controversial former Monrovia City Mayor.
What is true is that whether or not the senate confirms Broh as Monrovia City Mayor the President has the power to appoint her as acting mayor as she did in the past where Broh acted as City Mayor for more than five years.
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When are we ever going to dismantle this patronage system that patronage system that gives enormous power to the president and not to the people. I knew EJS was going to do something foolish after that for show firings.
This why our system of selecting majors of cities is wrong. The Major of each city should be elected by the residence of the City and not be subject to the approval of the senate nor appointed by the president.
Oh Hail Liberia. Mary kept the city clean. The Senators who deny her have problem keeping their own arse's clean, I swear.
Nonsense! what do you actually mean about the phrase" non government material" You hypocrites, first take the logs out of your own eyes and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. The present war against our progress now is ignorant, disease and poverty. Monrovia the capital city of Mama Liberia is very filthy; We need proper sanitations to crush the disease in our environment. Corruption is very rampant in the three braches of government and at the market places, these are some of the ills that the plenary of the senate and house should deliberating on, instead of telling one that they are not governmental material. In fact, what makes one governmental material.
LET'S-VOTE-FOR-MAYOR-OF-MONROVIA.TRUST-ME,MARY-BROTH-WILL-WIN.YES,60-PERCEN T,OR-MORE.
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