Speaker Koon Outlines Legislative Progress At End Of 2nd Quarter
The House of Representative on Friday July 18 concluded the second quarter of its second session of the 55th Legislature, outlining gains made so far during the period under review.
In a remarks, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Richard N. Koon, commended his colleagues for the confidence they have impose in him to lead them as speaker of 55th Legislature, and stress that he take the task seriously and said their courage has also strengthen his result to lead with inclusiveness, integrity and also in the best interest of the country.
“I’m equally grateful to our international partners, diplomatic community, the religious community and all those who help in resolving the impasse, your commitment to peace, dialogue and institutional collaborations was very instrumental in resolving the impasse and restoring orders to the country’s democracy process,” Speaker Koon said. Speaker Koon said during the period under view, the House took bold steps to strengthen good governance and accountabilities; where key legislation were passed aim at combating corruption and promoting accountability and transparency. “Some of those legislations include an act to ratify the Special Agro Industrial Processing Zone Project, a loan agreement between the government and the OPEC Fund for International Development, an act to ratify the Protocol to the African Chapter on Human and People’s Right which seek to establish and African Court on Human and People’s right among other legislations passed,” he indicated. However, Speaker Koon also outlined activities during the period under review, as 19 regular sittings, 3 executive sittings and 2 special sittings, total of 24sittings and in tern of bills, 19 bill from House’s members passed, 11 bills passed including 12 senate bills passé, total of bill pass were 24 and one joint resolution was also sign.
Moreover, he revealed that there are still 36 bills in committee room, of which are 15 house’s originated bills, 8 Senate Bill , and additional 8 executive bills ,while 4 resolutions, and 1 petition are currently under scrutiny .
And as part of excising their oversight responsibility during the quarter, he said there were also appearances four appearances in plenary by institutions invited by the House, due to eighty-five communications that came from lawmakers, five from the Executive, twenty-two from other institutions and four from individuals, totaling one hundred sixteen instruments that were acted upon by them.
“Let me thank you once again for your commitment to working for your people. Colleagues, we have received from the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS), the validated results of the 2022 National Population and Housing Census. This data is foundational to our national planning and representation. In that regard, I now formally call on the Joint Committee on Elections and Inauguration, Judiciary, and Good Governance to commence due diligence in proposing a new electoral threshold, in alignment with the census figure,” Speaker Koon maintained.
As part of their efforts to ensure inclusion and equitable representation, Speaker Koon also proposed that any new seats created regardless of number should be exclusively reserved for women, with one seat set aside for persons living with disabilities, and also seize the moment to make history by institutionalizing representation for groups that have been long underrepresented in this chamber.
“I also acknowledge the Executive, through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), for the timely release of operational funds to the Legislature, these disbursements have allowed us to meet our obligations and carry out our duties more efficiently,” he said.
He cautioned his colleague as they take their break, urged each of them to meaningfully engage with their constituents, stressing that this recess should be an opportunity to listen, assess, and gather insights from the people they serve, as their voices must continue to inform the working there at the Capitol.
He, at the same time, called on all committees, both standing and statutory, to continue the activities even during the break in order to deliberate, comprehensive, and timely reports to enable all reports ready for endorsement early in the third quarter.