The ongoing revoke against House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa is said to have contributed to the delay of Legislative projects within the country’s 73 districts.
Monrovia, October 31, 2024/Over the last few weeks, legislative sessions at the House of Representatives have been disrupted by the majority bloc of the Representatives opposing Speaker Koffa’s leadership.
The opposing lawmakers have succeeded mainly in crippling legislative functions through their conduct of separate meetings, while those backing Koffa’s leadership lack a quorum to proceed.
Amidst this ongoing battle between the anti-Koffa and pro-Koffa blocs, the Liberian people’s business remained stalled.
Legislative projects are among the Liberian people’s businesses that have been stalled. At least 315 projects are to be implemented by the Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE), which is funded through the budget.
Though not listed in their published counts against the embattled speaker, those wanting him out believe he has allegedly failed to prioritize engaging the executive for payment of the appropriation for the commencement of the projects in the seventy-three electoral districts, which, according to the anti-Koffa group, is gradually turning their constituents against them.
But sources within the corridors of the pro-Koffa camp believe otherwise. They say the delay in payment lies with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. According to them, funding for the projects was approved just after lawmakers got their US45K each for their vehicles.
However, the pressure on the Executive would have had some impact had the House been at ease with itself.
Recently, LACE Executive Director Julius Sele, at a MICAT Press briefing, said his agency has processed 315 projects across the country that are waiting to be implemented based on funding availability.
Some of the anti-Koffa lawmakers blamed the speaker, saying he downplayed their calls to him to prevail on the Ministry of Finance to release funds for the commencement of the projects.
But those from the Speaker’s camp say they could not have expected the Speaker to do so when they were pushing him for their vehicles.
“If the president goes to our respective districts and there is no single project to be dedicated, it is not just a minus to the president but us as the people’s representatives,” one of the anti-Koffa lawmakers explained.
He further made reference to Speaker Alex Tyler’s administration, which he said worked with the Executive to make funding readily available in time for the projects’ implementation.
But critics say lawmakers cannot complain about projects when their fight has stalled everything at the House.
When this paper reached out to the LACE Executive Director, Mr. Sele, he said he was optimistic that the projects approved in the recast budget would be implemented this year, as tendering is now completed and waiting for implementation.
However, he declined to discuss what our informers said as he believes it is a straight legislative matter and could not discuss the claims.
Mr. Sele hopes that President Joseph Nyumah Boakai will commission some of these projects during his planned nationwide tour.
