BACKGROUND
The Liberian Constitution of 1847 as well as the revised 1984 Constitution and the form of government is based on the principles and ideals of democratic government as modeled after the Constitution of the United States of America.

The writers were especially concerned with limiting the power of the government, tenure of the president, members of the legislature and securing the liberty of citizens. The Constitution’s separation of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government, the checks and balances of each branch against the other, and the explicit guarantees of individual liberty were all designed to strike a balance between authority and liberty.

The Constitution was suspended on April 12, 1980 after the military coup which overthrew President William Tolbert. Subsequently in 1981, a Draft Constitutional Commission was appointed headed by Dr. Amos Sawyer, to draft a new constitution to transition the nation towards democratic civilian rule. The Commission made several significant changes to limit the powers of government, the presidency, the independence of the judiciary, accountability, transparency and good governance. This discourse, among others things, will focus on one of such changes, the tenure of the president and members of the legislature.

Prior to the 1980 coup, the Constitution outlined the tenure of the president and members of the Senate and House of Representatives as eight (8), six (6), and four (4) years respectively. The draft Constitution of 1981 changed the tenure of the president from 8 to 4 years, senators from six (6) to eight (8 ) years, and four (4 ) years for representatives.

According to Dr. Abraham James, a member of the 1981 Draft Constitution Commission, due to the lack of security in the country and in the absence of a Constituent Assembly, the Chairman of the Constitution Commission, Dr. Sawyer requested for the establishment of a larger body, a Constitutional Advisory Assembly. The Constitutional Advisory Assembly was to review the Constitution before ratification.

Many Liberians at that time expressed concerned that another body or a Constitutional Advisory Assembly, would delay the return of the country to a constitutional rule. Members of the ruling People’s Redemption Council (PRC), at first, even rejected this notion of forming a second body.

RATIFICATION PROCESS OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
Similar to the ratification process of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, many delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia returned to their home states to organize support for ratification. The ratifying conventions served the necessary function of informing the public of the provisions of the proposed new government. It also served as forums for proponents and opponents to articulate their ideas before the citizenry.

Significantly, state conventions, not Congress or another convention or larger body, as was being requested by some delegates, were the agents of ratification. This approach insured that the Constitution’s authority came from representatives of the people specifically elected for the purpose of approving or disapproving the charter, resulting in a more accurate reflection of the will off the electorate.

Ratification of the U.S. Constitution took place in the form of debates when a group opposed to ratifying the Constitution known as the Anti-Federalists began marshalling arguments to persuade state convention delegates to vote against ratification. This group feared the new balance of power from the state to the national government. These fears were countered by the Federalist, who favored ratification. The Federalists arguments were in series of articles that later became known as the Federalist Papers.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL ADVISORY ASSEMBLY
There are several questions to consider during the ratification process of the draft Liberian Constitution. (1) Was the establishment of a Constitutional Advisory Assembly necessary? (2) What was the role of the new body, Constitutional Advisory Assembly? (3) What was Dr. Sawyer’s intention when he proposed for the establishment of the Advisory Assembly? (4) Did Dr. Sawyer get it wrong or did he think that the actual work of the Constitutional Advisory Assembly was to review the draft Constitution and make recommendations?

According to Dr. James who was a member of the Commission, the overall idea of establishing the Constitutional Advisory Assembly was to review the draft Constitution and provide comments before ratifications. But, shortly after the establishment of the Constitutional Advisory Assembly, members of the Assembly adopted an adversarial position towards the Draft Constitution Commission. Instead of working closely with the Draft Commission, the Assembly began to distance themselves from the Draft Commission by taking up office space 100 miles away from the Capital in Gbarnga, Bong County. Members of the Assembly believed that their work could supersede that of the Draft Commission.

Furthermore, as members of the PRC became expose to political power, according to Dr. James, many within the PRC government including then Head of State, Samuel Doe, began interested in the presidency while other officials were interested in seeking senior positions in future civilian government.

The inclusion of many safeguards, as noted by Dr. James, in the draft Constitution against excessive presidential powers, tenure of elected officials, accountability and transparency appear to have been viewed hostile by the PRC government. Consequently, the Chairman of the Assembly, Dr. Edward Kesselly and members of the Constitutional Advisory Assembly, began a close working relationship with the Head of State and members of the PRC government.

Subsequently, the Draft Constitutional Commission was dissolved before their work could even be completed and the term of reference of the Constitutional Advisory Assembly changed to enable it make changes to the draft law. The Advisory Assembly eliminated many of the important changes made by the Draft Commission and extended the tenure of the president from 4 to 6 years, tenure of senators from eight (8) to nine (9) years, and representatives from four (4) to six (6) years. These changes especially in the tenure of senators and representatives will have the potential of excluding many qualified Liberians for a long time if any of these officials were to serve more than one term.

TERM OF OFFICE

The framer of the Constitution believed that elected officials must reflect the views of their constituents. Representatives must work for those they served. Short terms and frequent elections keep representatives on their toes and closer to their constituents and public opinion. On the other hand, the framers wanted Senators to be independent from public opinion. The original six year term was enough and provided them this protection. Long tenure in office is not good for our democratic and political system.

Frequent short term elections, as outlined in the original Constitution, increases competition within government, encourages new challengers, breaks ties to special interests, improve tendency to vote on principle, and introduces fresh thinking and new ideas in government. When leaders remain in power to long, they tend to acquire bad habits and abuse power, become tyrants, dictators and corrupt. Additionally, they may increasingly prone to become complacent and extravagant, to deny reality, and to lose their moral bearings.

The changes to the 1983 draft Constitution were not intended to lay solid foundation for a democratic system but rather for selfish interests. But, no matter what the true intentions of the members of the Assembly were, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, no work of man is perfect. It is inevitable that, in the course of time, the imperfections of a written Constitution will become apparent. Moreover, the passage of time will bring changes in society which a Constitution must accommodate if it is to remain suitable for the nation and people.

AMENDEMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION

It is evident that many of the changes to the draft Constitution of 1983 were made by egocentric politicians whose aims were to serve members of the Constitutional Advisory Assembly and the PRC government. It is no coincidence that many members of the Assembly became senators and representatives.

Amending the Constitution is a hard work and requires time and resources. I am certainly not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But, I believe, moderate imperfections must be corrected to accommodate present day realities. Furthermore, laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As the human mind and societies become more developed, more enlightened, and as new discoveries are made, institutions must advance also and keep pace with the times.

We all have a right to correct past errors and to establish what is more conformable to reason and convenience. The framers made this provision in the form of Amendments to our Constitution. Let us then go on perfecting our laws by amending the Constitution those things especially the tenure of the President and members of the Legislature, as well as other provisions which time and trials show are still wanting and which will bring more effectiveness to the democratic and political system in our dear country, LIBERIA.

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The writer, Duke E. Kolliegbo resides in Indianapolis, Indiana and can be reached at gcduke@yahoo.com

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