Liberia’s Lawmakers Cut Salaries, Allowances by 30% in 2020 Budget

-


Liberia’s lawmakers have agreed to cut away 30 per cent of their total earnings in the country’s 2020 budget
The lawmakers said the move is to help the West African nation meet the important IMF Standard
The actions of the Liberian lawmakers occurred about one month after Nigerians sued their own senate for proposing to buy N5.5bn worth of cars its principal officers Reports in Monrovia say federal lawmakers of Liberia have passed the country’s 2020 budget with massive cuts to their salaries and allowances.
According to FrontPage Africa, a magazine in the West African country, the lawmakers, in a selfless move on Tuesday, October 1, voted unanimously to have their earnings slashed.
The lawmakers cut the proposed budget by the executive arm led by President George Weah, a former international football player, by almost $7million. Weah had proposed $532.9m but the lawmakers approved $526 million after cutting their own earnings and those of the officials of the judiciary.
The budget committee said it came up with the reductions in order to help the country meet the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Standard.
The action of the Liberian lawmakers is reminiscent of that of the Italian parliament which is set to reduce the number of the country’s federal lawmakers in the bid to save funds.
The Italian lower legislative chamber approved a bill to reduce the number of the members of the parliament from 630 to 400 and senators from 315 to 200 in line with a promise made by the country’s main party, the Five Star Movement.
The lawmakers unanimously agreed to have 30 per cent cut off from their earnings in a selfless move.
OsunReporters News reported recently that the senate was sued by citizens and some civil rights groups lik Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, BudgIT and Enough is Enough over plans to spend N5.550 billion (approximately $15.3m) on vehicles for its principal officers. The suit against the senate was filed at the federal high court in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The citizens urged the court to “restrain, prevent and stop the National Assembly Service Commission from paying or releasing the budgeted sum until the downward review of the amount proposed by the Senate.”
OsunReporters News also reported earlier that Ekiti state governor Kayode Fayemi said that Nigeria can cut down on legislative spending by doing away with the Nigerian Senate. He argued that the country can scrap the red chamber and adopt a unicameral legislature.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

14,406 poorest Oyo households to get N7,500 monthly till 2020

-
Image
 A total of 14,406 poorest of the poor households across 19 local government areas of Oyo State have been captured to receive N7,500 every month under the World Bank Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO). State Coordinator, Oyo State Operation Coordinating Unit (SOCU), Mrs Olaide Lasisi, made this known on Wednesday, in Ibadan, at a sensitisation of Chairmen of local government areas in the Community Based Targeting Exercise of the YESSO programme. Noting that the 14,406 households amounted to 58,435 individuals in its register of beneficiaries to collect N7,500, Lasisi said the state coordinating unit had also just identified another set of 14,594 households in the remaining 14 local government areas as potential beneficiaries. Upon the cleaning of its new data of 14,594 households, Lasisi said disbursement will be accelerated across all 33 local government areas at once, because the YESSO programme is meant to end next year. She advocated for the supp
Read more

Makinde To Appoint Adviser On Labour Matters, Negotiate Minimum Wage With Workers

-
Image
The Oyo State governor-elect, Engr Seyi Makinde has congratulated the Nigerian Labour Congress in Oyo State on this year’s Labour Day and urged them to protect the interest of their members. In a release signed by his spokesperson, Prince Dotun Oyelade, Makinde said it is pertinent for the labour union and government to engage in constant dialogue in a very transparent and sincere manner to move the state forward at the advent of new administration in the state. He further asked them to discourage members from acts of collusion with desperate politicians who are taking advantage of the transitional period in the state. He reassured the union that his administration will be labour friendly and involve them in the day to day running of the administration by creating the office of a Special Adviser on Labour Matters.
Read more