Sports Minister Snubs Senate

Despite being in readiness for the appearance of Youths and Sports Minister before the full Plenary to give reason why he should not be held in contempt, Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe Thursday snubbed the Liberian Senate by not showing up. Instead, the minister, again, wrote the President Pro Tempore informing him about his travel. 

The move comes as Senator George M.Weah of Montserrado County described the posture of Nagbe against the Liberian Senate as ‘disrespectful and unacceptable’ after the latter had allegedly refused to appear before the Weah Committee on Sports to give reasons why the nation’s county sports festival-the County Meet, was called-off.

“The action of Minister Nagbe is totally unacceptable, disrespectful, and such practice and utterance should not be encouraged by the senate,” Weah vented his anger during last Thursday’s session of the Senate’s Plenary.

Senator Weah’s anger followed a response to a communication sent to the Youths and Sports Minister, citing him to appear before the Ad-hoc committee to explain why the national County Meet was cancelled.

Nagbe, rather than appearing, reportedly wrote the Liberian Senate and its committee on Sports urging them to redirect their energies and strengths to how to increase the budget of sports in the 2015/16 national budget.

Making the report to the full Plenary of the Senate- the highest decision-making body of that body, Weah, who served as Chairman of the committee, asserted that Nagbe also published the ministry’s response to the committee’s letter in a local newspaper and on social media (Facebook), refusing to send a copy of his reply to the committee.

However, Senator Jewel Howard Taylor of Bong County filed a motion of reconsideration. The motion called for the minister to appear before the sports and youths committee. The motion was subsequently defeated.

The minister, however, expressed regrets about his failure to show up on Thursday-the scheduled time,, but promised to appear upon his return to the country.

The appeal was reluctantly granted by the Presiding officer-the President Pro Tempore, Armah Jallah.

By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor