By: Wonderr Koryenen Freeman, Attorney, CFCS

During Liberia’s festive week – and while celebrating our 178^th independence – President Boakai just willy-nilly declared June 30^th 2025 as a National Day of Prayer. He simply summoned his Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials to write up a presidential proclamation. He didn’t’ see the need to seek legislative approval. The proclamation itself, issued on the 28^th of July 2025, did not clarify whether or not this is a one-off event or an ongoing observation. The Liberian public was simply left to conjecture or prayer for divine revelation. Mr. Boakai claimed in the proclamation that he was declaring 30^th June 2025, a public holiday – a National Day of Prayer. Note that the day, being a Wednesday, would have otherwise been a normal working day. Mr. Boakai claimed that he has the right to willy-nilly declare a public holiday by virtue of the “Authority” vest in him. This article seeks to uncover this “Authority” that was vested in the President of Liberia – to unilaterally declare a public holiday.

What does our Constitution say about public holidays and presidential proclamations?

Firstly, there is no mention of holiday in the Liberian constitution (1986). However, Liberia does have about eleven holidays; so, there must be some constitutional or statutory basis for declaring a public holiday. And what’s about presidential proclamation? What does our Constitution say about that? Proclamation is mentioned in the Constitution as follows:

1. Article 32(b) – granting authority to extend regular legislative session or call for an extraordinary session
2. Article 88 – authority to declare a state of emergency and related legislative session to get legislative approval

Okay, so there is no constitutional authority for declaring holiday and that which relates to presidential proclamation is specific to extra legislative session or a state of emergency. But Liberia does have public holidays; so someway, somehow, there must be a legal authority in the Constitution, and possibly amplify by a statute[1]. Given that a public holiday is mandatory and binding on all citizen and punishable by a fine, this amounts to a law, per se[2]. Furthermore, under Liberia’s constitution the authority to make laws rest with the National Legislature – Chapter V, article 29. The Constitution further details exactly what laws the Legislature can make (i.e., article 34 (a)-(l). None of the citations speaks to public holiday. However, article 34(m) can be loosely construed to include legislating a public holiday. Declaring a public holiday could count as “other laws” necessary for implementation of the Constitution. So, the authority to make other laws (aka statue) is vested in the Legislature, and the Legislature only. The Legislature can, by statute, delegate some of its authority. Yet, until we can identify such a statute granting the President the authority to willy-nilly declare a public holiday, it is reasonable to assume that authority is not found, verbatim, in the constitution.

Where is the statutory authority for the President’s “National Day of Prayer”?

We established in the first session that the is no constitutional authority for the President to unilaterally declare a public holiday. We established that declaring a public holiday amounts to [making] other laws, which is the prerogative of the National Legislature – unless otherwise delegated via statute. So, the next logical question is: has the National Legislature, at any point in time, delegated its authority to declare public holiday to the President? To answer that question we search for the relevant authorizing statute. Perhaps the next logical place to search is the Executive Law – Title 12, Liberian Codes Revised (1972). Here again, we note the mentions of holidays and proclamation, viz:

1. Holidays
   • §11.1 related to labor affairs
   • Article 24, schedule to section 12 – relates to refuges and labor

• Presidential Proclamation
  • Violation of presidential proclamation §1.6
  • Proclamation §3.2 relates to war powers
  • Proclamation §4.7 relates to special election to replace Vice Presidents

That’s all there is under the Executive Law (1972). Ostensibly, there is no such authority “vested” in the President to willy-nilly declare a public holiday. At this point, I’m tempted to seek divine intervention to find this authority to declare public holiday that Mr. Boakai claimed was “vested” in him as President. In a country governed by laws, every specie of power must be vested – either by the constitution or by statute. Well, as we have proven, we cannot find this authority in the Constitution, neither did we find it in the Executive law, Title 12 (1972).

The President of the Liberian Bar Association (LNBA), Cllr. Bornor Vahmah, writing in a Facebook post in support of the president’s authority to declare public holiday cited article 50 of the Constitution. He writes thus: … Yes, The President of Liberia can declare Public Holiday without prior approval from the Legislature, under certain circumstances. And citing his legal authority he says: The President, as the Chief Executive under Article 50 of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia, has the authority to issue executive proclamations, including those declaring public holidays. Well, a cursory search of the article 50 shows no mention of “holiday or “proclamation”. it is anybody’s guess where the learned Counsel inferred this authority. He cites no other statutory, regulatory, or historical basis. And, as you can see his constitutional claims lacks merit. So, he’s out of argument to continue his case.

Declaring a public holiday affects the Annual Budget (2025) and is, ipso facto, a taxation decision.

Our Constitution grants the National Legislature the power to tax and spend, including all revenue bills that must necessarily originate at the House of Representative. It is the Legislature that approves the budget and passes same on to the President for signature into law. No branch can unilaterally alter said approved fiscal budget. Whenever there’s a need to amend the budget, a collaborative process ensues between the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Executive. The President has no power to unilaterally amend the budget. Yet, by unilaterally declaring a public holiday, that act, amounts to amendment of the budget. A public holiday reduces the number of working days in the fiscal year and, by extension, reduces the gross revenue intake. My crude calculation leads me to conclude that for the current fiscal budget (2025) losing one day cost the Liberian government up to US$3 m in lost revenue. This is, prima facie, unconstitutional, unlawful and wasteful. Coming from a man who has previously expressed remorse and sought forgiveness for “squandering opportunities” the first time around, this is especially appalling and distasteful.

The presidential proclamation of July 28 2025 was intrinsically and legally defective

In a constitutional republic as is Liberia, all power is inherent in the people. From the people, power moves via the constitution and by the National Legislature through statutes. Any and all power claimed by the President must be vested either by the Constitution or by the elected representatives who may delegate via statutes. Accordingly, when a president claims a certain power in a proclamation, (s)he must state the sources of that power. Mr. Boakai’s National Prayer Day proclamation lacks such mandatory legal language. It is therefore prima facie legally defective. The said Proclamation failed to state any constitutional and/or statutory grounds for declaring a public holiday. It is not enough to say “by the power vested in me”, you must add specifics, for example, “pursuant to article XX of the Constitution or as per §11.11 of the National Holiday Act (1926). You cannot be vague or equivocal in such high-level legal matter. Here are some examples of a president making a solemn proclamation. Note the citation of the specific law from which the President (Donald Trump, USA) is claiming his authority and another example from former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

[July 23, 2025, on Iron Ore Processing]…NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 112(i)(4) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7412(i)(4), do hereby proclaim that certain stationary sources sub-ject to the Taconite Rule, as identified in Annex I of this proclamation, are exempt from compliance with the Taconite Rule for a period of 2 years beyond the Taconite Rule’s relevant compliance dates…

[January 20^th 2025 on Immigration] …By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered:

[Executive Order, Pres. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, on forest reform]

WHEREAS; the President is authorized under the New Executive Laws of the Republic of Liberia Chapter 3, section 3.4 (delegation of function) and Executive Law Chapter 10, section 10.5, (Regulation in general) to designate and empower the Head of Ministries or Agencies in the Executive Branch of Government or any official thereof, who is required to be appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate to perform such function which is vested in the President by statute or regulation; and

As can be seen by the above examples from the USA and Liberia (ex-President Ellen Sirleaf), one cannot leave the public to fill in the blanks as to what exactly is the source of the authority that the president is claiming. It is simply disgraceful for a President claiming 50-years of government experience not to know the basic rudiments of presidential proclamation. Who wrote such a defective presidential proclamation? Liberia has proud history in diplomacy and law and this President, Mr. Boakai, is doing is utmost to stain this proud legacy.  

Evidence from history and case law – on authority of the President to declare a public holiday.

While the nitty-gritty of the cases was not specifically about legal authority to declare a public holiday, the information in these cases, shreds any iota to the claim that, as President, he has the authority “in him vested” to declare public holiday. For example, in 1976, then President William R. Tolbert was authorized by the National Legislature to declare May 13^th as a public holiday to be name: “National Rally Day”, to promote Tolbert’s “brilliant’ idea of “Rally Time”. I cannot vouch for the brilliance of ex-President Tolbert, but at least I can vouch for the fact that, unlike, President Boakai, he left no doubt as to where his authority came from.

Therefore, It is enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Liberia, in Legislature Assembled: Section 1: The Act entitled: “AN ACT DECLARING THE 13TH DAY OF MAY IN EVERY YEAR, BEING THE DAY THE CONCEPT OF RALLY TIME WAS INTRODUCED BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM R. TOLBERT, JR., A DAY TO BE KNOWN AS A NATIONAL RALLY DAY.” …That from and immediately after the passage of this Act, the 13th. Day of May of each year, being the day on which the brilliant concept of Rally Time was introduced by Dr. William R. Tolbert, Jr., President of Liberia, shall be set aside as a Public Holiday to be known as National Rally Day and celebrated in common with other National Holidays throughout the Republic. See more at  http://www.liberlii.org/cgi-bin/disp.pl/lr/legis/acts/nrda1977

Evidence from Supreme Court cases on presidential proclamations

References in case law to presidential proclamation of a public holiday was always by statute – by an Act of the National Legislature. There is no precedent for the President of Liberia to unilaterally declare a public holiday. For example, in the following cases, (1) White v Thorpe et al [1971], 20 LLR 644, and Thomas v Toe [1976], 25 LLR 37 – the reference to presidential proclamation was via the Emergency Powers Act (1969). Both cases were not related to holiday declaration but to presidential proclamation, and that said legal authority was previously delegated by the National Legislature via the Emergency Power Act. This Act is further referenced in the historical footnotes in the Executive Law, Title 12, LCLR, Vol. III, p. 361. Again, Mr. Boakai’s claim of power “vested in him” to declare a public holiday, is, unfortunately, short on legal precedents. I really thought he has legal advisors. Doesn’t he?

The complicity of the Liberian National Legislature.

The rudimentary principle of a republic is that there be three branches of government to control for abuse of power and for counter-balance. However, the Liberian National Legislature has succumbed to partisan politics and have abandoned any and all pretense of balancing power and controlling executive excesses and frequent brazen illegalities. Our Legislature continues to be silent as Mr. Boakai assails our Constitution and statutes. From yellow machine scam, to illegal extrabudgetary expenditures (Public Works $22m), to defying the Supreme Court orders on multiple occasions, to refusing to enforce the laws against UP partisans who break the law, President Boakai has done it all. The only illegality yet to be done is to “sell” Liberia. I bet he already working on that. At this point, silence is not the right word. Complicity is! This is an utterly disgraceful dereliction of duty. History will be very unkind to this generation of leaders at the Legislature. Allowing Mr. Boakai to go on violating our Constitution and squandering our resources may one day meet up with an ugly backlash from the people. I’m no soothsayer, but history has a lot of lessons for those willing to listen.

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[1] Statute – law made by a parliament (legislature) or related public authority

[2] Executive Law, Title 12, Chapter 1 (§1.6)