By Our Staff Writer
MONROVIA: Crucial deliberations bordering on the key financial report as contained in President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s First State of the Nation Address (SONA), are expected to commence this week among leading financial experts within the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), this paper has reliably gathered.
The discussions, which would also focus on former President George Manneh Weah’s official disclosure as regards the actual amount of funds his erstwhile administration left in Liberia’s ‘Consolidated Accounts’ and newly elected President, Joseph Boakai’s subsequent response to ex-President Weah’s revelations on the matter will also attract the participation of members of the 55th Legislature on Capitol Hill, according to sources familiar with the contentions of both Weah and Boakai on the issues relating to said consolidated account.
Reports say the Consolidated Account is a conglomeration of several accounts of the Liberian government including Payroll, Revenue and Pension Payment among others.
The new President of Liberia, Joseph Boakai, said on Monday, in his SONA that the report of US$40 million as the government balance in the Consolidated Account, as December 31th, 2023 “is not supported by fact.”
President Boakai’s assertion relating to the balance in the Consolidated Account is considered by some economic and financial analysts as ‘the biggest critique’ of the outgoing administration led by former President Weah since he (Boakai) ascended to the Presidency over a week ago.
The balance, President Boakai said, “reported by the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) as of the same date was US$20.5 million, highly encumbered not US$40 million.”
But, investigation conducted by The ‘Investigative’ INDEPENDENT seems to establish a significant challenge for the new government as regards establishing the factual information as it relates to such State of Affair.
Sources in the Ministry of Finance and Developing Planning (MFDP), who prefer anonymity for fear of reprisal hinted this paper that between December, 2023 and January 2024, about US$11.5 million and LD$1.4 billion revenue were generated, and added to the balance of US$16.7 million and LD$1.1 billion of the December 31, 2023 balances to the Government’s Consolidated Account.
“While the new administration of JNB may have calculated the balance as of December 31, 2023, apparently ignoring revenue from January 1-19, 2024,” one source explained.
One of the sources explained that there are apparent lack of interest that suggest that some financial personnel in the new administration did not carry out properly vetting of the immediate past administration on the issue of the actual leftover in the Consolidated Account.
The Independent also gathered that the 2009 Public Financial Management Law and it succeeding amendments indicated that the Liberian government’s budget Law captured two currencies in its transactions-United States Dollar (US Dollar) and Liberian Dollars (LD).
During our investigation, it was established that the immediate past administration of former President George Manneh Weah used both the Liberian Dollar and United States currencies concomitantly in its financial transactions.
It was gathered that the US$40 Million reported by former President Weah was a sum of both US Dollar and Liberian Dollar of the Government’s Consolidated Account at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) for the period January-December 31th, 2023; and January 1, 2024 to January 19, 2024.
It was also gathered that as of December 31th, 2023, the Government of Liberia (GOL), under former President Weah had US$16.7 million along with LD$1.1 billion; while from January 1-19, 2024, the Weah Government also generated additional US$11.5 million and LD$1.4 billion.
MFDP source contends that ex-President Weah may have added both the December 31th, 2023 balance and January 19, 2024 of both the United States (US) Dollar and the Liberia Dollar currencies that amount to the US$40 Million which was left in the Liberian government’s Consolidated Account.
“Importantly, the new administration of President Boakai may have reported only took on the December 31th, 2023 balance of the Consolidated Account, since the year has ended and new fiscal year begins in January 2024,” sources said.
Some insiders of the Finance Ministry also indicated that there is no missing US$19.5 million instead, the new administration may have ignored the Liberian Dollar component of the Consolidated Accounts including revenue raised from December 2023, to January 19, 2024, the official end of the Weah administration.
The insiders maintained that the ‘missing links’ are the two currencies and two dates; December 31th, 2023-January 19, 2024.
“Those were two balances of the government. They said former President Weah was still running the affairs of the Nation up to Friday, January 19, 2024,” this paper also gathered.
Howbeit, Gbarpolu County Senator, Amara Mohammed Konneh stressed in strong terms that “Establishing the true balance in the consolidated account as of the aforementioned dates support transparency and accountability and is probably one off the most important economic governance issues for our country at this time as the country welcomes a new administration.”
Senator Konneh, former Minister of Finance and Development Planning, is now Chairman of the Public Account Committee of the Senate, the Upper House of the Country’s bicameral Legislature.
Meanwhile, the Plenary of the House of Representatives has cited the Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL, Aloysius Tarlue, along with his principal deputies to appear before the Plenary which is the highest decision-making Assembly of the Lower House today, Thursday, February 1, 2024, to address circumstances regarding how much was left in the CBL reserve by the immediate past government.
The decision to have the CBL Governor invited was based on a communication written by Margibi County District#2 Representative, lvar Jones, seeking the indulgence of his colleagues to establish as to how much was actually left in to the Liberian Government’s Consolidated Account by the past government.
“Honorable Speaker, my communication is induced by the Former President of the Republic of Liberia, H.E. George Manneh Weah’s Last Address to the Nation on January 21, 2024 in which he said: “and I am handing over to the Next Administration Net International Reserve position of Two Hundred Twenty-Two Million, Seven Hundred Thousand United States dollars. The total cash balance in the Government’s Consolidated Accounts is United States Forty Million, Forty-Four Thousand, Three Hundred Sixty-Five Dollars and Ninety Cent. This statement is not being concurred with by his successor, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai Sr.”, the letter indicated.
