Bryant rejects three LURD nominees to government posts

Gyude Bryant, the head of Liberia's power-sharing transitional government, has rejected three nominees for top posts in his administration put forward by the LURD rebel movement. Bryant issued a strongly-worded statement on Thursday, rejecting the proposed appointment of LURD's top military commander, General Aliyu Sheriff as Chief of Staff of the new national army, the Armed Forces of Liberia . He also vetoed the proposed appointment of former bank teller Isaac Nyanebo as deputy head of the central bank and Charles Bennie, the LURD spokesman in the Netherlands, as head of the government's customs and excise department. Eyewitnesses said Bennie turned up at the Finance Ministry earlier on Thursday with a heavy escort of unarmed LURD fighters and had tried to occupy the office of Commissioner of Customs and Excise by force. He was eventually persuaded to leave by UN peacekeepers who were called to the scene. Bryant, who was sworn in last week, said Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), the larger of the country's two rebel movements, had no right to appoint people to the three posts in question under the terms of a peace agreement signed in August to end 14 years of civil war. "It has been observed that some individuals from the parties to the agreement have begun acting in ways that are not consistent with the agreement," Bryant said. "It has also been noticed that some of the parties are announcing what they consider to be appointments in public service. Any vacancies in those areas will be filled through either the civil service or through the public policy protocol regarding executive appointments," he added. The peace agreement led to the appointment of Bryant as chairman of a transitional government that will lead Liberia to elections in 2005. It also allocated clearly specified posts to the National Patriotic Party of former president Charles Taylor, the two rebel groups, the other political parties and civil society groups. But Bryant called "on all concerned to take due note that the Armed Forces of Liberia, the Central Bank of Liberia, and positions within the civil service system are not included in all the allocations of positions to parties to the Agreement". Eyewitnesses told IRIN that Bennie escorted by four-Mitsubishi Pajero four-wheel drive vehicles carrying LURD fighters with dread-locked hair, had stormed the Finance Ministry building to demand that the current Customs Commissioner, Fatu Gittens-White, hand over his office to him. Gittens-White, a former university lecturer in Monrovia, was appointed to the job by Taylor in 2001. Bennie was denied entry into the building by security guards who demanded that he produce a letter of appointment from Bryant. The LURD official then caused as his escort of LURD fighters demanded to be let into the building. Ministry employees fled. Eventually a company of 15 Nigerian UN peacekeepers were called to calm the situation. Following the incident, Bryant's office sent an instruction to all ministers and heads of government agencies: "Not to allow anyone to assume responsibility for executive positions within their respective institutions, without a letter of appointment from the Chairman (Bryant)." Bennie had been nominated for the Finance Ministry job by LURD chairman Sekou Damate Conneh. He would have been responsible for collecting government revenues. LURD officials in Monrovia declined to comment on Bryant's rejection of their nominees. One told IRIN: "I think that is an issue the executive member will handle in due course." Nyanebo, LURD's rejected nominee for the post of Executive Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia, was formerly chief teller at the National Bank of Liberia.> He subsequently became the first secretary general of LURD, a Guinea-based rebel movement which took up arms against Taylor in 1999. Last Sunday, the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) expressed concern about the naming of discredited cronies of past leaders to posts in the new government. It warned that such practices would dissuade the international community from giving aid to help rebuild the country's shattered infrastructure "Those appointed or elected to the new government must be individuals of high moral character and integrity, with untainted past records. Every effort should be made to ensure that all members of the new government are appointed or elected based upon their professional abilities," UNMIL said in a statement. They would have to place the interests of the people ahead of any personal interests, UNMIL stressed.