Monrovia – A dispute over management of market services has escalated because the Liberia Advertising and marketing Affiliation (LMA) is demanding District Seven Consultant Emmanuel Dahn relinquish the keys to a number of market workplaces and services in accordance with a courtroom ruling.
By Emmanuel Weedee-Conway
In a petition delivered to Home Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon on Tuesday, June 3, the LMA accused Rep. Dahn of unlawfully withholding keys to the services regardless of a ruling from a reliable courtroom requiring their return to the affiliation.
The petition was learn and introduced by Adina Sesay on behalf of the LMA management, throughout a peaceable protest staged by entrepreneurs on the Capitol Constructing in Monrovia.
“This act of defiance not solely undermines the authority of our judiciary but in addition locations the well-being of our market neighborhood in danger,” the LMA petition said.
In accordance with the LMA, Rep. Dahn has ignored the ruling of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Civil Regulation Courtroom, which granted full authority of the contested market properties to the management of the Liberia Advertising and marketing Affiliation.
The entrepreneurs allege that the lawmaker has continued to keep up possession of the keys, stopping LMA employees and officers from coming into the services and resuming regular operations.
The contested services reportedly embody workplaces, market stalls, and public restrooms situated in key areas the place lots of of entrepreneurs function day by day. The continued deadlock, the LMA warns, is affecting income era, administrative coordination, and sanitation oversight on the markets.
Talking to reporters following the petition presentation, Adina Sesay expressed frustration over what she described as Rep. Dahn’s disregard for each the courtroom and the struggling of atypical Liberians.
“These services have been constructed with public and donor assist to profit the entrepreneurs and enhance their working situations. But now we have an elected official who’s utilizing energy to subvert the rule of legislation,” Sesay mentioned.
She famous that a number of makes an attempt had been made by the LMA to resolve the matter amicably, together with written communication and private outreach to the lawmaker, however with out success. “We’re peaceable individuals. We don’t desire a confrontation. However this example is turning into insupportable,” she added.
Along with urging the legislature to intervene, the entrepreneurs are calling on President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh, and Justice Minister Oswald Tweh to make sure that the courtroom’s ruling is revered.
“That is now not only a matter between LMA and a consultant. It’s now a take a look at of our justice system. If courtroom selections could be ignored by lawmakers with impunity, then we’re heading down a harmful path,” mentioned William Sumo, a market elder who accompanied the petition delegation.
The entrepreneurs warned that if the matter isn’t addressed inside an affordable timeframe, the affiliation will start a sustained marketing campaign to guard the rights of its members, together with mass protests and authorized actions. They stopped in need of detailing particular steps however made it clear that the persistence of the entrepreneurs is carrying skinny.
Receiving the petition, Home Speaker Richard Koon acknowledged the considerations raised by the LMA and promised a swift legislative response.
“I’ve heard your grievance and we are going to look into it. Please give us one week. We are going to deliver it to the eye of plenary once we meet subsequent Tuesday. Once more, I can guarantee you that it’s going to kind a part of our agenda for dialogue,” Speaker Koon advised the delegation.
Speaker Koon added that the legislature, as an establishment, has an obligation to advertise and defend the rule of legislation, and that any lawmaker present in violation of a courtroom ruling might be held accountable in keeping with legislative ethics and nationwide legislation.
Rep. Dahn couldn’t be reached for feedback.
The continued battle has attracted consideration from civil society teams and human rights organizations, a few of which have begun issuing statements condemning the standoff. The Middle for Market Girls’s Empowerment (CMWE) launched a quick assertion on Wednesday, urging all sides to respect authorized processes and prioritize the livelihoods of atypical market distributors, a lot of whom are single moms and sole suppliers for his or her households.
The Liberia Advertising and marketing Affiliation is without doubt one of the most influential and widespread commerce organizations within the nation, with 1000’s of members working in each rural and concrete communities. Lots of its members rely fully on day by day gross sales for revenue, making entry to purposeful, well-managed market services important to their survival.
