By Lincoln G. Peters
Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillon and House Committee Chair on Foreign Affairs has accused the Executive Branch of government headed by President Joseph N. Boakai of aiding and abetting the proliferation of drug addiction across the country.
Speaking over the weekend, when his Center for Rehabilitation and Reintegration graduated an all-female batch on Saturday, he stated that the Executive, through the Liberian National Police and the Ministry of Justice, has refused to implement and enforce the drug law, which is said to be very comprehensive and stringent.
” When will you people ask what the Executive is doing. We can’t prosecute as lawmakers. We can ask the Executive a question. We can only press the Executive. So, my people, the drug law is there and strong. However, the reason it appears to be missing and weak is that there’s no enforcement. We put people at the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency to design a program for us to fund. They were fighting,” Senator Dillon disclosed.
Sen. Dillon stated that in 2023, the LDEA budget was under US$2 million. However, when President Joseph N. Boakai’s administration and the rescue government took office, they expanded the LDEA budget to US$4 million to establish the program and empower it to ensure enhanced border security.
” We put the people to the DEA instead of them going to do the work, I believe you’ve heard that they were fighting there for power. The president has to remove them from there. All these things we are doing here are for the end users. If we can reduce or completely stop the importation of drugs in our country, it will be good. When the one who is in the country is finished and they are not seeing it again, will they take drugs? No. So, we can continue to rehabilitate our citizens, but multiple people will still be on drugs because people are seeing it,” Dillon noted.
Providing insight on the Drug Law, Senator reminded Liberians that in 2022, they passed the Drug Law and amended it. He stated that in the amendment, they provide that if anyone imports the drug, mass produces, and engages in the whole process when they are caught, they will be put in jail and there is no bail bond for them while they are going through trial.
Also, he further indicated that if the drug is brought on a ship, airplane, or by any means, they will confiscate the equipment used, and after a court trial, when they are found guilty, the Liberian government will sell the mode of transportation, while the money realized from there will be used to fight drugs.
Accordingly, he disclosed that the law also provides that when a person is investigated, tried, and found guilty, they should go to jail for twenty to twenty-five years, and if the person is a foreigner, the law further provides that they serve their jail sentence, and after that, they are deported to their country.
” After we finished passing the law, under the leadership of former President George M. Weah, the entire country caught US$100 million of cocaine. The government allows the ship to go and set free all those who brought the drug into the country. Now, people are starting to ask what the lawmakers are doing. The Justice Ministry took some people to court, and the court ruled that they were the wrong people, so they were released and allowed to go home. Even though the business center where they caught the cactus in their yard in a container is still open and operating. Still, people are asking what the lawmakers are doing.
He indicated that they make the law and pass it for the Executive to implement and enforce. When the Executive does not enforce the law, people begin to question the lawmakers’ working and oversight responsibilities.
” When we get on the Executive back to enforce and implement the law for the benefit of the people, they deal with the lawmakers for dealing with the Executive for implementing the rules.
According to him, lawmakers make laws governing how traffic should flow, while the Executive Branch, through the Ministry of Justice and the Liberia National Police, is responsible for ensuring that traffic flows in accordance with the law.
He argued that when there is a traffic stall somewhere, the first thing that comes to mind for Liberians is what the lawmakers are doing, despite being aware that the lawmakers have made the law. At the same time, the Executive, through the Police, should execute and implement it.
” When you are a lawmaker, you ask what the traffic is stalled, your reply is, you are a lawmaker, and so, what are you doing. But we have already passed the law. Also, if you are a lawmaker and you see the traffic and decide to come down and help, people will complain about lawmakers directing traffic. I don’t know what they want us to do,” he noted.
