Worlea-Saywah Dunah Dunahsaywahd@yahoo.com
The Supreme Court was constitutionally right when it said the legislative branch must solve its own problem as per the powers granted it in the constitution upholding the political question doctrine and abiding by the separation of powers cornerstones of our organic laws.
Unfortunately, it was shamelessly bullied into reviving a non-justiciable political matter that was politically resolved. The question is what legacy Chief Justice Youhn wants as she retires: is it to instigate an inter-branch conflict and constitutional crisis in our government not seen in our democracy since the dawn of the fourth republic in 2006?
A significant portion of Liberian media, notorious for being influenced which in their parlance is known as ‘Cadeau’ French word for grafting gift has decided for whatsoever ruling to be the determinant of what is lawful. And so, every day they reinforced a speakership that is dead and politically mummified.
The question is not what the media wants – Cadeau- rightly; it is rather how will the media propose that a speaker who has failed to summoned mere thirty-seven out of the membership to still be speaker when all the powers is gone. It reminds me of the late Sergeant Doe imbecility that he was still president when all he controlled was between Broad Street and City Hall.
Interestingly the simple but notoriously ignored fact is that the constitution gives powers to all branches not only the Supreme Court; same constitution sets parameters on the limitations of powers in the three-branch system. In that scheme the Supreme Court cannot dictate to the legislature as was stated in ruling.
When former President Sirleaf recently berated the Supreme Court for ambiguity, she was observatory of a past events; a call for the future given the long history of the Supreme Court using precedents from military rule era to avoid doing their job of interpreting the constitution. This must not be misconstrued as a directive for tumultuous exit song for a Chief Justice who has served.
It is self-immolating and particularly ridiculous assertion that it is legacy setting for her that under her leadership the House of Representatives Article 38 mandate plenary must be declared unconstitutional – a calamitous legacy it would be to ignite such political inferno as one exits.
But the Constitution of Liberia of 1986 granted inherent powers to all branches which exercise thereof the other branches are prohibited. The constitution in explicit texts assigned the matters of impeachment and the elections and removal of leaders within the political branch not within the judiciary- that becomes a constitutional prohibitive, a political question issue.
The framers of the constitution assigned two critical issues to the political branch of government: the impeachment process and the legislative leadership and governance; while assigning all civil and criminal disputes to the judiciary. This is built on the separation of powers doctrine and the check and balance structure.
Accordingly the Civil Procedure Code of Liberia says in Section 1.1 : ‘… code governs all civil matters before judges and in all courts in the judicial branch…..’; similarly the Criminal Procedure Code says in Section 1.1 that code governs the procedure for all criminal proceedings in all courts of the Republic of Liberia.
We cannot therefore use precedent law based on these two codes in the disposition of political disputes on constitutionally inherent powers as the Supreme Court did in the Speaker Snowe Case in 2007. In that historic anomaly all of the precedents cited as the requirements of due process were culled from criminal law and civil law cases based on these codes explicitly designed for civil and criminal matters not political question matters.
Inarguable political developments based on the constitution of Liberia have overtaken events and settled the leadership at the House of Representatives with only minor political squabbles remaining which are fading with time.
It is nationally known that some representatives acting as supporters of former Speaker Koffa obstructed and stopped plenary from using the new chambers for session in the Chinese annex. Thereupon, mindful of their constitutional duty the plenary resumed in the William R. Tolbert Hall, one of the known chambers for legislative work.
It therefore became the duty of the then speaker upon his return to Liberia to go to that chamber since this development happened in his absence; and most critically it was the Plenary, the majority, which decides legislative matters which took the decision to avoid violence.
Thus, plenary was constitutionally established and the duty rested on lawmaker Koffa to go to work there. Any assertion that majority lawmakers decided to meet somewhere is wholly untrue.
Subsequently complaint was duly filed against him to which he failed to respond in any manner. A response questioning and disputing the authority would have suffice in law; after all a challenge to a judicial or quasi-judicial body that cites you must be made to that same body. A total failure to do so makes one fit for default judgment according to our laws and the rules of the legislature. Consistent with these he was found guilty and removed for those violations.
At the point that he was removed and new elections were conducted with Speaker Koon taking the gavel of the leadership the political branch had solved its problem. Since then, the budget has been passed under that gavel as well as the annual report o of the executive, the state of the nation has been received; the budget is operational and the legislature is executing its constitutional function.
Yet a portion of the media keeps the former speakership alive. Is the media no longer reporting developments but deciding the outcomes and forming opinions on the developments?
In other words, a portion of the Liberian media is saying until they are satisfied the constitutional powers of the plenary of the lower house will be called majority and those who have abandoned work for months will be called minority misleading the world that we have a dysfunctional legislature when in fact two very crucial legislative duties have been efficiently performed.
The ridiculous double standard of that portion of the media is both incestuous and laughable: they reported that Janneh impeachment was illegal but referred to him as ‘former justice’; then they say the removal of Koffa is illegal but refers to him as ‘the speaker’!
But our assertion is backed by the veteran Ghanaian politician and current Speaker of the Ghanaian Parliament says at the end of his visit that the judiciary must never delved into such political matter
.In the end the Supreme Court has said in its Opinion on this matter that the legislature must solve its own problem recognizing the textually demonstrable constitution powers granted the legislature and the separation of powers as well as the no justiciable nature.
There is nothing left to conserve; the legislature has discharge its powers and failure to recognize it will serve only to ignite an inter-branch conflict.
