- Liberian lawmakers have been urged to squash the impeachment petition against President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf submitted by a group of former soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL).
On Monday, the ex-soldiers besieged the seat of the National Legislature in the capital Monrovia, demanding the immediate impeachment of Ms Johnson-Sirleaf for unconstitutionally dissolving the armed forces of Liberia.
The leader of the aggrieved protesters, Col. Wolo Nagbe, read out a petition insisting that the lawmakers began impeachement proceedings against the Liberian leader. Col. Nagbe wanted the lawmakers to address their concern with urgency to avoid any future embarassment.
A handful of lawmakers who received the protesters promised that their petition would be brought before plenary session of the House of Representative for deliberations. They were however asked to "live within the confines of the law", especially on matters regarding street protests.
But for the representative of Monrtserrado County, Dusty Wolokollie, the parliament would not entertain "such a wasteful petition" that lacks merit.
"The petition seeking to impeach President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has no merit; it would be a waste of time to discuss such document," he told deputies.
He said the petition should be "disregarded"on grounds that the AFL was never dissolved. Wolokollie said there was no such group called the dissolved AFL because the body was undergoing a restructuring process. He therefore advised the protesting ex-soldiers to take advantage of the restructuring process, as they are on the government's payroll.
Wolokollie's assersions were supported by other deputies, including Bhofor Chambers, the representative of Maryland County who described the ex-soldiers' claims as "unrealistic", arguing that it does not augur well with Liberia's peace and development.
The petition is believed to be going through parliamentary process. Liberia, rich in natural resources, especially beauxite, had just emerged from a 14-year rebel war.
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