GBARNGA, October 7 (LINA) - Former Information Minister Emmanuel Z. Bowier has called for the enactment of a law compelling the President of Liberia to solicit from traditional people suggestions and opinions on national situations.
He said the outbreak of the Ebola virus in March this year is an example of national situations for which it should be legally imperative the president seeks the opinion of traditional people.
According to the Liberia News Agency, Bowier made the call when he addressed chiefs and elders in Gbarnga, Bong County at the end of the Carter Center-sponsored consultative meeting of traditional leaders on the Ebola outbreak recently.
Bowier noted that entertaining suggestions from this group of people on how to handle the Ebola outbreak would have been the first thing to do had there been a law on the books to that effect.
“They are owners of the land who have pivotal roles to play in the decision-making affairs of the country, and we want the government and people to at all times show respect for them through regular consultation in cases of national situations like Ebola,” he added.
He stressed: “Since Liberians are quick to forget, when the Houses of Representatives and Senate enact a law that compels the President to consult these people in time like these, we will hardly forget because it will be written on the books.”
LINA BK/JGT/PTK/JKW