The former general secretary of the Grand Old True Whig Party has called on the Government of Liberia possess the headquarters of the Party on Ashmun Street.
Counselor Clarence Simpson, also onetime attorney general in the Tolbert Government said proceeds used for the erection of the imposing structure, known as the "E. J. Roye Building" were deducted from taxpayers and hence it is wise for it to now be turned over to government.
"It is quite foolish for successive governments to sit by and allow this building to deteriorate when government could renovate it for use, he said."
Cllr. Simpson, who was general secretary of the Party until it was deposed from power by a violent military coup led by Master Sergeant Samuel Kanyon Doe was testifying Tuesday before commissioners of Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) at Monrovia's historic Centennial Memorial Pavilion, also on Ashmun Street.
He proposed that the building be renovated by the government to host array of public offices to save the state of vast financial resources which he proposed could be used for other developmental programs especially to boast the country's declining educational sector.
Cllr. Simpson called for more investment in the country's educational sector, saying that peace and reconciliation would only be durable in Liberia if citizens are well educated.
He described as "bold face lies" assertions by other witnesses that the country's degenerated into conflict due to ethnic, religious and other reasons. Mr. Simpson said that the problems of the country were compounded by the failure of successive regimes to prioritize the education sector of Liberia.
Under the theme: "Understanding the Conflict Through its Principal Events and Actors," the ongoing hearings are addressing the root causes of the conflict, including its military and political dimensions.
The hearings are focused on events between 1979 and 2003 and the national and external actors that helped to shape those events.
The TRC was agreed upon in the August 2003 peace agreement and created by the TRC Act of 2005.
The TRC was established to "promote national peace, security, unity and reconciliation," and at the same time make it possible to hold perpetrators accountable for gross human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law that occurred in Liberia between January 1979 and October 2003.
