no more Cold Water or White Kola to exceed $us30.00 for public officials. At long last, the controversial Code of Conduct Bill, which has been in the corridors of the Legislature for as long as Liberians could imagine of their lawmakers, has landed. Yesterday on Capitol Hill in Monrovia, the House of Representatives finally concurred with the Liberian Senate on the passage of the delayed Code of Conduct Bill. The Senate had earlier passed the bill, which also demands that presidential appointees resign before contesting any elected post; but the House made an increment of three years. Members of the House of Representatives took the decision Tuesday, during their regular session in the chamber of the lower house in Monrovia. Provisions in the Bill, which restricts elders, chiefs and traditional leaders from offering gifts to political leaders were also removed. Making the motion for the concurrence, Lofa County Representative Eugene Fallah Kpakar noted that the bill is intended to erect checkpoints of transparency and accountability for public officials, and to safeguard the emerging democracy that the country and its people have begun enjoying today. The over-whelming support for the bill was evidenced by the unanimous votes cast by all members of the House of Representatives present during Thursdays session. Speaking during the debate prior to the passage, Rep. Acarous Gray, Chairman of the Committee on Governance and Government Reform at the House of Representatives, indicated that if the 53rd Legislature was not committed to duty, the Code of Conduct would not have had a smooth landing. He also noted that the Code of Conduct was not only for civil servants, but also NGOs who do business with the Government of Liberia. According to Gray, when passed and signed into law, the Bill would not consider current government officials, but those coming after them. The Code of Conduct is a must, and this generation of law makers will make sure that this Bill is passed; the Code of Conduct is not for elected officials only, but civil servants as well, Representative Gray of Montserrado County Electoral District #8 indicated. Speaker Alex Tyler said the House of Representatives was under obligation to perform its Constitutional tasks, adding that history would judge its members if the bill was passed because of party favor. According to Speaker Tyler, the Code of Conduct Bill was not a magic, because if passed into law, it did not mean corruption would stop immediately, stressing that there was still a lot more work to be done. The bill, if signed by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, will strictly prohibit public officials from seeking elected offices, while serving in the Executive Branch of government.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 09:41:11 +0000
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