Liberia Public Radio has reliably learnt that Liberian legislators are expected to cut short their constituency break to return to the Capitol in an extra sitting for the second this year.
Lawmakers were recalled by President George Manneh Weah in August to remain in session beyond their constitutional annual break until October to discuss some issues of national concerns.
The decision for the lawmakers to second extra sitting according to report boarders on the country’s economic stability including the printing of new Liberian banknotes.
Representative Acarous Moses Gray of the ruling Coalition of Democratic Change (CDC) was quoted by Front Page Africa as saying reasons for the quick return is to focus on strengthening the country’s economy.
“We are returning for economic reasons. We will work to strengthen the economy,” Representative Gray said.
On Monday of this week, Liberia’s Finance & Economic Planning Minister Samuel Tweah, in an interview with state radio ELBC and others stressed the importance of printing new or additional Liberian banknotes to avoid scarcity during the festive season.
Representative Gray who is the co-chair on Executive committee has been acting in the position since the committee chair, Munah Pelham-Youngblood fell ill.
Despite Rep. Gray’s confirmation, some senators have said they haven’t been officially informed about any decision to cut their break.
The request for the lawmakers’ return was reportedly made by President George Manneh Weah who urged the lawmakers to cut short their time off for a special sitting which is expected to commence from November 18 to December 16, 2019.
Opposing new banknotes printing
Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill have openly protested the printing of new Liberian banknotes saying that such move will have no positive effect on the country current economic nightmare.
In 2016, the House of Representatives passed a resolution approving the printing of L$5 billion but on a contrary more than LRD$18Billion was printed while LRD$16 billion of the amount went missing.
The government of George Weah continues to struggle with the stigma of the missing money since it was first brought to light by Liberian journalist Philibert Brown early March 2018.
However, a Liberian government investigative report found that banknotes worth L$16.5 billion remained unaccounted for. The report held responsible the Central Bank’s management for “deviating from conventional best practices.”
