Africa-Press – Liberia. As the Liberia National Bar Association goes to the polls this November, the current president, Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe is calling on individuals who will be taking on the leadership to prioritize the construction works so as to give Liberian legal luminaries their first built headquarters since the establishment in 1907.
“We are one of the oldest bars in Africa so we need to have our own headquarters,” Cllr. Gongloe said.
“We are going to vigorously campaign against any candidates that will not make the headquarters project his or her primary focus. That person is not fit to lead the LNBA,” the LNBA president said.
According to Cllr. Gongloe, the construction of its headquarters is a top priority for the LNBA and asked qualified voters to know each candidate’s stance on it.
Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA), the umbrella organization of lawyers in the country, with more than a century in existence. The institution was established by an act of the Legislature but until now, it is yet to have its own headquarters.
The immediate past leadership headed by presidency Cllr. Moses Paegar was able to acquire a parcel of land along the Roberts International Airport Highway. During Cllr. Peagar’s regime, the LNBA administration managed to construct the foundation of the building.
Now, the Cllr. Gongloe’s administration is putting more energy to raise the project up into a four-story building but time is running out for him as there is no sign that he will be opting for a re-election.
In a conversation with journalists, Cllr. Gongloe after taking a tour of the facility said despite the former Liberian leader Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf commitment to set aside US$150,000 in the National Budget as government support for the construction of the four story-building, Gongloe said the money has not come fourth.
He said though President Sirleaf gave them the assurance while she was President, he expected the administration of George Weah to fulfill Madame Sirleaf’s promise since the government is continuity
Cllr. Gongloe added: “Government is continuity and so we expected the Weah administration to place the money in the national budget. But it is yet to be seen.”
Also, the Liberia National Bar Association president is calling on legal luminaries in the country to pay their project fee to enable the Bar to complete its headquarters at the Roberts International Airport (RIA) Highway.
Adding up, the LNBA president says he has no regret that the work will not be completed before the end of his tenure as the Liberia National Bar Association’s president.
