Ramses K Nah
Ramses_nah@yahoo.com
August 24, 2010
Madame Sirleaf,
It is very disheartening to know that the proposed Act transforming the
Bureau of Maritime Affairs (BMA) to Liberian Maritime Authority (LMA) is
still being drafted and forced through an incompetent, bribe prone
Legislature.
Its is also very unsettling, that you, Madame President and Mr. Kesselley
are insistent upon ramming this seditious, corrupt bill down the Liberian
people’s throat. Mrs. Sirleaf and Mr. Kesselley, this Bill is not in the
best interest of the Liberian People. This Bill is not in the interest of
“Best Practices” as is described by Mr. Kesselley. This Bill ferments a
culture of corruption and impunity. This Bill produces an “Imperial”
Governmental Agency, sanctioned by the President of the Liberia for
selfish reasons.
Madame President, you and Binyan will be culpable in robbing the Liberian
people of the valuable resources the country needs for selfish political
and personal gain. What other employment opportunity is the LMA going to
create that BMA cannot?
The reasons given by Mr. Kesselley so far do not support the creation of
the LMA. Liberia does not self-manage her registry; in fact, we contract
out this function and will continue to do so under the LMA. The section of
the Act which seeks to have the LMA “establish and maintain the capacity
to conduct maritime surveillance, etc” is a function of the Liberian Coast
Guard. The Liberian Coast Guard should be funded and supported for this
function, not the LMA.
The Act proposes a reported seven year term for the Commissioner, and
authorizes the Commissioner to select his/her deputies. Is this “Best
Practice”? Mrs. Sirleaf, common sense tells us that this is a recipe for
selective cronies and the Commissioner to gorge the Republic of valuable
resources, with impunity. All autonomous Agency heads, including the BMA
or LMA, should serve at the pleasure of the President, period. This would
engender transparency and accountability and curb, in the least, some form
of corrupt practice.
Also, the BMA or LMA should not be exempt from being audited by the
General Auditing as it is a governmental agency. This agency especially, a
major contributor to the budget of the Republic should be audited
regularly by the GSA. Ironically, this agency budget has never been made
public. The salaries of the Commissioner and staff are so secretive. At
one time, the Commissioner was so arrogant in stating that his salary was
none of the Liberian people’s business. Madame President, we the Liberian
people demand to know, not only the BMA budget and salary, but your salary
and every other government entity
Moreover, Mrs. Sirleaf, any unnecessary money retained by the BMA/LMA is
taking away from the National budget and development; money which can be
spent to support more useful reconstruction projects needed by the people.
The propose LMA should be abandoned, now and forever. The propose Act to
create the LMA is not what former U.S. Secretary of State Edward
Stettinius had in mind in 1948. The BMA was created to provide a flag of
convenience and revenue source for the government. At this time in our
history, we cannot afford to relinquish one additional penny to some
frivolous autonomous authority.
Kill the Bill, Madame President, in the best interest of the Liberian
People. We do not need this economy killer and seed of corrupt practice
Bill. The LISCR is already doing all functions as proposed by this Bill.
This is an attempt to rob the Liberian people blind, especially, with
their eyes wide open.
This incompetent and bribe prone Legislature is abetting this process,
also.
This Bill should be stopped.
Sincerely
Ramses K Nah
Disclaimer: This commentary does not represent
the views of this website, its parent company The African Media Network
and affiliates. Comments, concerns and questions should be directed to the
author at
ramses_nah@yahoo.com.
Ramses Nah is a Liberian who resides in McKinney,
Texas.
