Citizens in Liberia say that they are very exasperated with the on-going disbursement of funds to lawmakers even as they wallow in deepening poverty and neglect under the Weah Administration.
On June 10, 2021, lawmakers signed for and received the first installment of USD $15,000 (Fifteen Thousand Dollars) for “Legislative Projects” which they are free to identify.
The money is part of budgetary allotment negotiated by the lawmakers. No sooner had reports of the disbursement of the first installment broke, citizens vehemently opposed the scheme and urged their lawmakers to return the funds to Government coffers, instead, for it to be used for more urgent needs including the procurement of vaccines to fight the raging COVID-19 pandemic and supplies for medical facilities.
Senator Abraham Darius Dillon of the administrative District of Montserrado County, the seat of the national government, initially sounded the alarm of the initial disbursement and offered to return the money to Liberian Health authorities. But the Minister of Health Dr. Wilhemina Jallah declined the gesture and asked not to be drawn in the “politics” of the matter.
Other lawmakers conveniently accepted the initial disbursement but, to date, have yet to transparently showcase the “legislative project” they have completed.
News of the second disbursement to lawmakers hit social media late on Thursday when the office of Senator Emmanuel Nuquay released a statement saying he “has received US $15,000 (Fifteen United States Dollars) as the second disbursement of the Legislative Engagement Fund as allotted in the 2020/2021 National Budget.
A check bearing the amount was received on Thursday, July 15, 2021”
The Senator, in the press statement signed by his Chief of Office Staff Ebenezer M. Wilson, explained that the disbursement would be used to purchase 20 (twenty) motorcycles for commercial motorcyclists in his constituency and an additional five “will be given to other well-meaning Margibians as a means of empowerment…” The statement did not elaborate on the criteria his office is using to select “other well-meaning Margibians.”
The country’s National Legislature has one of the lowest approval ratings and has come under sustained criticism as a “do-nothing body”. Liberians are facing crushing economic woes compounded by allegations of massive corruption in Government. Unemployment and lack of opportunities continue to plague most Liberians who continue to call for economic and political reforms.
Recently, the U.S. Embassy near Monrovia chastized Senators over poor judgement they exhibited in electing a former and notorious warlord Senator Prince Johnson to head a subcommitee.
Johnson is accused of serious rights abuses during the country’s back-to-back wars in the 1990s. Johnson recently stepped down from the Senate subcommittee position under pressure.
Another lawmaker Senator Varney Sherman has been sanctioned by the U.S. Government for “corruption.”
The U.S. Treasury Department in December 2020 said at the time,“…Sherman is designated for being a foreign person who is a current or former government official responsible for or complicit in, or directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery...”
A national religious body which is composed of various faiths in the country, the Liberian Council of Churches (LCC), has joined calls for a complete audit of the National Legislature. Results of prior audits have “died” at the Government integrity agency which oversees audits and recommendations.
The country’s National Legislature has opposed any intrusive audit of his finances.
The latest disbursement of money to lawmakers has drawn fierce reactions from Liberians who are posting their opposition and anger on various social media fora.
Another lawmaker Senator Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence of Grand Bassa County which is in the southeast of the country, strongly registered her opposition to her colleagues’ acceptance of the money. “… I would like to restate in no uncertain terms my position that it is untimely for Legislators to accept said disbursement in the face of our country still going through the COVID-19 crisis”, she said in a statement posted on social media on Thursday.
Senator Karnga-Lawrence continued, “Accordingly, in adherence to the outcry of our people, I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in requesting the Executive Branch to direct the money to the fight against COVID-19 and other priorities. Should the Executive insist on making the disbursements, I shall reject mine unconditionally,” her statement concluded.
Some Liberians pressure groups and civic organizations have warned the lawmakers that they would stage a peaceful march on the Capitol Building, the official seat of the National Legislature, to press their demand for lawmakers to reject the disbursements which total USD $30,000 (Thirty Thousand U.S. Dollars) in less than a month.
This story was first reported by African Star newspaper
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