It is a disgrace that some 48 members of the House of Representatives received US$15,000 each to announce a coup against Speaker J. Fonati Koffa. All those behind the dishing out of huge cash to remove Speaker J. Fonati Koffa should be ashamed of themselves.
We can see that clearly, they have no genuine cause, and their plan is purely belly-driven for selfish motives other than the people's welfare. How does removing the Speaker provide basic services to the people or enhance development?
Chills erupted down the spines of Liberians when news broke at the Capitol on Thursday, 17 October, that a group of lawmakers totaling about 48 were receiving US$15,000 each to sign a resolution for the removal of the Speaker. The total money is US$720,000, or an equivalent LRD 136,800,000, in what former presidential candidate and renowned human rights lawyer Cllr. Tiawan S. Gongloe described it as a criminal conspiracy.
If there were probable cause in the first place, we wonder why the cash inducement to execute what should be a legitimate action, especially when Speaker Koffa was out of the country. Now, we can see that the motive is more sinister than patriotic.
The coup plotters on Capitol Hill should be reminded that each time we carry out such an act as a nation, we undermine ourselves by helping to push our country backward and become a laughingstock in the subregion and the world at large, leaving our development partners wondering whether we Liberians are ready for business.
Cllr. Gongloe describes the act of lawmakers receiving US$15,000 each in a conspiracy to remove the Speaker of the House of Representatives as unethical, unlawful, and criminal.
Our leaders, especially those in the legislature, have lowered themselves so low for money that they care very little about integrity and respectability except what goes into their personal pockets. They have no interest in prioritizing the interests of the people they represent.
There are reports that each member of the plot was allegedly induced with US$25,000 but received an initial amount of US$15,000 in a 'paid-to-play' deal. Those dishing such an amount of money clearly indicate that such funds did not come from their sweet. These are public funds being misapplied for selfish goals.
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For once, it is important that lawmakers learn to keep the sanctity of the First Branch of Government as a custodian of public trust rather than being a rubber-stamp institution operating at the higher bidder's caprices.
We believe that lawmakers will serve the state better when they focus on enacting laws that improve the lives of citizens and future generations instead of embarking on a carb mentality of pulling one another down for selfish gains rather than the common good.
