In the 2015 State of the Nation Address Monday, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf pleaded with the Legislature to consider passing a bill permitting dual citizenship in Liberia, resurrecting a national debate on the subject.
“Honorable legislators, we will once again ask your consideration of the Act to permit dual citizenship which enables our citizens who are compelled to seek refuge in other countries to become more active participants in the process of nation building,” President Sirleaf requested.
The President also prayed the indulgence of that august body to pass into law a bill decriminalizing media offenses, whose first step her government took in signing the Table Mountain Declaration in 2012.
“After lengthy debates and reviews by stakeholders, we are ready to submit, and will urge you to speedily pass into law, the decriminalization of media-related offenses in keeping with the Table Mountain Declaration to which we have acceded because it is the right thing to do. This repeal law will advance our democratic aspirations and foster unhindered public debates. We are hopeful that it will improve rather than retard the growing media landscape of the country, and again testify to our continued commitment to an opened society ably supported by a responsible and independent press.”