The Amos Sawyer Educational Foundation has rejected the current Governance Commission Chairman’s claim that the deceased political scientist was involved with active partisan politics when he headed the entity.
“At no time did the late Professor Amos C. Sawyer participate in partisan political activity while he served as Chairman of the Governance Commission from 2007 to 2017,” the Sawyer Foundation said in a statement Monday in Monrovia.
According to the New Dawn Newspaper online, at a political rally on April 14, 2023, the current Chairman of the Governance Commission Garrison Yealue said “In 2011, Dr. Amos C. Sawyer, who was then the chairman of the Governance Commission (GC) endorsed and supported the re-election bid of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf”.
“Yealue’s accusation is false, unfounded and disingenuous,” the Foundation spokesperson Ibrahim Al-bakri Nyei said.
“Mr. Yealue made this statement, without any evidence, to justify his active participation in partisan politics while at the same time serving as Chairman of the GC.
The Foundation explained the Act Establishing the Governance Commission provides that “Commissioners must be nonpartisan to prevent the governance agenda and process from being a political one.” This political neutrality requirement is imperative because of the crucial role expected of the GC as a good governance and performance monitoring, and policy advisory agency of the government.
“Professor Amos Sawyer and all commissioners who served along with him strictly abided by this requirement throughout their tenure at the GC.
It was because of their political neutrality, demonstrated statesmanship and competency that the GC became a prestigious, credible, and efficient policy research, advisory and advocacy think tank in Liberia. Furthermore, their convening authority among political actors in the country made the GC a reliable mediator of political disputes.
“As a result of their political neutrality and convening power, the GC mediated and de-escalated several political crises, rallied politicians from all backgrounds to develop and promulgate the Vision 2030, the Strategic Roadmap for National Healing, Peacebuilding and Reconciliation, the National Policy on Decentralization and Local Governance, the National
Security Sector Reform Strategy, and the 2017 Farmington Declaration on peaceful and violence-free election, among others.
“We encourage Mr. Yealue to live up to the obligations and requirements of the office he holds, and refrain from making comments that could undermine the credibility and legacies of others who served before him.
