PARALLEL THEORY: "When Mr. Samuel K. Doe lacked the authority to remove Justices of the Supreme Court of Liberia, he asked them to resign under the disguise of corruption; when Mr. Taylor lacked the authority to remove the President Pro Tempore of the Liberian Senate, he asked him to resign. Similarly, when there is no basis under Section 10 of the Act to remove us, you have asked us to resign under the disguise of incompetence. I strongly believe that you are being poorly advised. Let me respectfully be abundantly clear that there is no incompetence here."
Ruth Jappah-Samukai, Outgoing Commissioner, Liberian Telecommunications Authority
Monrovia -
On Wednesday May 13, 2007, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, after a brief meeting with commissioners of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), made a startling declaration that all with the exception of Chairman Albert Bropleh should tender in their resign to make way for a re-commissioning of the entire board. President Sirleaf, according to sources, said only suspended Commissioner Albert Bropleh would be excluded from resigning his post because he is already serving suspension.
In the aftermath of Sirleaf’s ultimatum, nearly all commissioners subject to the President’s mandate declined to comment. Nearly one week later, it appears all have obliged and accepted to step down in keeping with the President’s ultimatum.
The LTA was established by an act of the National Legislature during the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), 2003-2006. In August 2006, the Liberian Senate confirmed the Chairman and Board of Commissioners of the newly established Liberia Telecommunications Authority. The body was to oversee the scopes and operations of the country’s telecommunications industry.
Nearly a week after the President’s ultimatum, FrontPageAfrica has come into possession of the resignation letter of one of the commissioners, Ruth Jappah-Samukai who has informed the President that she leaves the LTA with a heavy heart and some disappointments. The full text of Ms. Jappah-Samukai’s letter is published verbatim below:
Ruth Jappah-Samukai
Paynesville, Joe Bar
Monrovia, Liberia
May 18, 2009
Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
President
Republic of Liberia
Monrovia, Liberia
Madam President,
It is with deep regrets and great reluctance that I honor your request to resign as a Commissioner of the Liberian Telecommunications Authority (LTA). I am quite cognizant of the fact that none of the conditions set out in Section 10 of the Liberian Telecommunications Act is applicable to force my removal from the Commission and cause me to relinquish the remainder of my four-year term. The request to the commissioners undermines the Act and sets a bad precedence. Nonetheless, I offer this resignation voluntarily, recognizing the full weight and power of the Liberian Presidency and the consequences of resisting a request of the President.
FAVOR ABUSED
It is the political protection of the Chairman (Albert Bropleh) which has caused you the most embarrassment, as he has sought to abuse the favor with which you have graced him.
Ruth Jappah-Samukai, Outgoing Commissioner, Liberian Telecommunications Authority
When I first received the news of your nomination of me to serve on the Commission, I was at the bedside of my ailing mother. I stood at the precipice of deep personal conflict: whether to stay with my mother and serve the obligation to one of the two persons who reared and nurtured me all my life or honor the obligation of my country referred to as a failed state, whose rejuvenation our long suffering people had long awaited. As painful as it was for both of us, she encouraged me to come. I left my mother in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and heeded the call to duty as a citizen. I was optimistic and confident that I could contribute to the rebuilding of Liberia. Many calls had been made for Liberians to return home and make the ultimate sacrifice to rebuild our country.
Almost from the onset of constituting the Commission, it became mired in old-style Liberian politics as the Chairman began maneuvering to redefine his role outside of its scope and authority. The unfettered access of the Chairman to you and your office and the corresponding lack of access of other commissioners thereto, both encouraged and enabled the Chairman to usurp both the powers and functions of the other commissioners, leaving them as little more than mere employees of the LTA. We sounded these concerns but they fell on deaf ears. He quickly moved from the presiding officer of the Commission to its Chief Executive Officer as he usurped the powers of the commissioners and its executive staff.
As a consequence, rumors of self dealing, misappropriation of funds, conflict of interest and unilateralism began to swirl around the office of the Chairman and infest the entire Commission. I could have gone along with the whole charade, collecting my salary from the public and letting the Commission sink into the abyss of corruption and incompetence. Rather, I chose to stand up to defend the Act creating the Authority and bring the Chairman to book every time he exceeded the scope of his authority.
May I respectfully remind you, Madam President, that because the Executive lacked the political will to reign in the excesses of the Chairman, it took the Legislature to briefly imprison the Chairman and you to subsequently, but reluctantly, suspend him for the very acts and behavior for which I stood against him. Ironically, it was during his suspension that the Commission accomplished its most significant work; concluding the agreements with the GSM companies and obtaining more than US$13 million dollars for the public treasury. It is the political protection of the Chairman which has caused you the most embarrassment, as he has sought to abuse the favor with which you have graced him.
Madame President, good governance is also about the Executive obeying the law and exercising only the powers thereto ascribed. I find it sad that in this new epoch of our national life, bad actions of the past have revisited this new government, threatening our hopes and undermining the promise of change. When Mr. Samuel K. Doe lacked the authority to remove Justices of the Supreme Court of Liberia, he asked them to resign under the disguise of corruption; when Mr. Taylor lacked the authority to remove the President Pro Tempore of the Liberian Senate, he asked him to resign. Similarly, when there is no basis under Section 10 of the Act to remove us, you have asked us to resign under the disguise of incompetence. I strongly believe that you are being poorly advised. Let me respectfully be abundantly clear that there is no incompetence here.
Madame President, we must find the intestinal fortitude to speak truth to our leaders. I did so in private then; I do so on record now, for it will only correctly inform policies, build strong institutions, and serve you well in the long-run. Also, I am taking the liberty to publish this letter so that the public is left with no false impression that each of the commissioners did something wrong.
As I submit this resignation to you, I have few regrets, but I do not dwell on them now. There is nothing more noble than serving one’s country and nothing more admirable than leaving public service with a clear conscience. I have done nothing illegal or against the oath which I took upon entering this office. I believe I have served diligently and honorably and I know that history will record it that way. Yes, I was stubborn, but only on my insistence that we do what is right by our country and honor the trust that you had conferred upon us. As the only woman on the commission, I felt a singular responsibility of the need to concretized the dreams and visions that you have so eloquently espoused in moving the country forward - that government would be based on good governance, transparency, accountability and the rule of law. If in doing so, I was wrong, than so be it.
I am grateful for the support of my family and friends, and the Grace and Mercy of the Almighty. I have fought a brief but a good fight. I look forward to a day when I can return to public service where merit is more important than politics. I wish you well in your endeavor to make Liberia a nation of which we can all be proud.
With sentiments of esteem,
Ruth Jappah-Samukai
B.A., LLB, LLM, Member, New York State Bar & Liberia National Bar
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