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Monrovia – A Senate staffer working in the office of Grand Bassa County senator Nyonblee Karngar-Lawrence, has offered the lawmaker US$100, intended to buy gasoline for her vehicle, according to the Bassa lawmaker.
While a majority of Liberians live on not more than just a US dollar per day, lawmakers in Liberia, including Senator Karngar-Lawrence, who is also married to Montserrado County District #15 Representative Adolph Lawrence, take-home pay on a monthly basis is an estimated whooping sum of US$12,000.
This gesture exhibited by the unnamed staff member in Senator Karngar-Lawrence’s Capitol Building office is a rare occurrence in the employee-employer relationship in Liberia, a nation hugely saddled with high level poverty.
An estimated 64 percent of Liberians live below the poverty line, of whom 1.3 million live in extreme poverty. Social safety nets are poorly developed, making many individuals, whether employed or not, to most times look up to those in the upper economic class, as a means of securing the necessities of life.
On Wednesday, Senator Kangar-Lawrence posted on social media, that an employee in her office had called to inquire whether she was on her way to work, as she was being awaited by the staffer to buy her gas [for her car].
“Honorable are you coming to the office today because i want to buy you gas – Message from my employee! This made my day!” Senator Karngar-Lawrence, posted on her official Facebook page Wednesday.
The first post of the Bassa lawmaker was followed by another, this time, she posted a photograph of two US dollar banknotes in the $50 denomination, stating, “My gas money was given.”
