Civil servants might not get pay

A stalwart of the Coalition for Democratic Change or CDC Dr. Lester Tenny is cautioning Liberians, particularly Coalition partisans that President-elect George Weah is going to inherit a broken system after inauguration on 22 January, and the new government might not be able to pay civil servants for some time.

“We need to go back to the fundamentals, President Weah is not going to make magic to make things happen, so we will have to explain to the people on the current state of the economy,” he underscores.

Outgoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf recently appointed a transitional team headed by Foreign Minister Manjor Kamara that includes, among others, her Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Boima Kamara and the Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia, Milton Weeks, who are working with a team from Weah’s side to ensure a smooth transition.

Dr. Tenny notes that the expectation of Liberians that the incoming administration will start to turn things around immediately should not be high, because according to him, there is nothing in the national coffers for the new government to start with.

“The President-elect will handle a broken system, the millions of dollars that disappear from the Central Bank of Liberia are among things that are causing this new government to inherit this broken system”, Dr. Tenny alleges without substantiating his claims.

Speaking on Truth FM 96.1, a private radio station in Du-Port Road, Paynesville City outside Monrovia on Wednesday, 10 January Dr. Tenny frowns on huge monthly salary of lawmakers here, saying that the monthly salary of each lawmaker in Liberia is too high for a suffering country that heavily depends on donors’ funding and the extractive industry for survival.

“One person earning $10,000 is not good for this suffering economy, we need to pull some of those amount into social development, constructing roads, providing vocational and technical programs for youth and other people.”

He says the administration of President-elect George Weah will not be a CDC government only, but rather a CDC victory government must be holistic, adding “We will incorporate everyone that has the expertise whether you’re from the UP, ALP, LP, among others.”

Dr. Tenny further warns that any member of the Coalition who will be culpable of economic malpractice will bear the full weight of the law, stressing “We cannot afford to allow people go with impunity.”

He says CDCians whose names had been recorded for economic malpractice will have to first, exonerate themselves or else, they will not be incorporated into government.

The organizer of the Liberia People Democratic Party or LPDP, one of the political parties that make up the Coalition for Democratic Change, former Speaker Alex Tyler, criminally indicted by the Government of Liberia along with some members of the ruling Unity Party for alleged bribery, is on trial for multiple charges, including economic sabotage.

It remains to be seen whether the CDC-led government would truly allow the law to take its course by allowing him and others indicted to have their day in court, as Dr. Tenny vows.

-Editing by Jonathan Browne