Monrovia-Few days after former Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor spilled the beans about her not being given any benefits by the current government since it took office, Senator Abraham Darius Dillon has joined the fray, igniting what could a long fight and even widening the issue beyond only former vice presidents.
Madam Taylor, appearing on Spoon Talk last Sunday, shocked the nation when she disclosed her ordeal during the inauguration ceremony as well as the government’s failure to provide her with any benefits, which is her legal entitlement.
As part of his fight in the supreme interest of the former vice president, Senator Dillon has made a clarion call for an immediate probe into claims by the former vice president that she has been denied of her benefits as former Vice President of Liberia.
Writing on his Facebook page, the Montserrado Senator stated, “Understandably, the public generally feels that former officials do not deserve state benefits upon leaving office. This is due to the belief and or perception that especially every (past) administration “failed.”
He noted, “I am particularly concerned about former Presidents and Vice Presidents and to include former Speakers, Presidents Pro Tempore and Chief Justices who no longer work in and for government upon (honorably) leaving office.”
Dillon noted that there may never be a time where everyone will agree that holders of these offices were 100% on the job during their terms in office. There will always be plus and minus, positives and negatives, but this should never be the reason/s to deprive or deny them their due benefits upon leaving office unless impeached or prosecuted and convicted for acts done whilst in office.
“The trending news about former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor not receiving her legal benefits since leaving office is unfortunate (if true). We (the Senate) must investigate this claim and correct if found to be true and correct. And we must call the former Vice President to order if found to be untrue,” Senator Dillon stressed.
He said legal benefits should not be provided on the basis of who likes the former officials or how we feel about them. “So long they served, they are entitled. This is the law in Liberia and in keeping with best practices around the world,” he concluded.
