Monrovia – Liberia’s Minister of Public Works (MPW), William Gyude Moore says he is prepared to live with his recent decision to cancel a bid awarded to a Liberian firm for the construction of a feeder road project, saying he has made tremendous changes at the Ministry but those against change are behind what he is describing as negative and misleading information coming from the Ministry.
Minister Moore’s comments come in the wake of Senator Sando Johnson(NPP, Bomi County) allegations that a lot of corrupt practices are taking place at the Ministry. Senator Johnson vowed that he is preparing a letter to the Liberian Senate to inform them about happenings at the Ministry of Public Works.
“The Senate is going to get involved. We are not going to let these guys to destroy our people and this country. I am personally going to get involved in this”, the Bomi County Lawmaker promised.
But Moore, in an exclusive interview with FrontPageAfrica Wednesday, said he’s not going to ignite an argument with Senator Sando Johnson of Bomi County who is also a member of the Senate Public Works Committee, adding that ‘government cannot be run on the radio’ or in the public.
Debunking Nepotism Claims
The Minister who has spent 18 months heading the Works Ministry said he inherited several problems including over a hundred million dollars’ worth of contracts awarded to contractors through the single source bidding process, something he said showed that negotiations were done between the MPW and a constructor.
“Since we have been here at the Ministry of Public Works, we’ve never issued a work contract by single source,” he said. “Every single works contract we have issued has been competitive – strictly bidding; we invite six, eight or ten (bidders) and the last time we invited 18 companies,” Minister Moore vows that the ministry wants bidders to have a confidence in the process.
Reacting to accusations that he has employed his friends and families at the Ministry, he said the ministry has 654 employees and refuted claims of influencing the appointment of any one of the employees revealing that since he took over; all promotions are done in-house on the basis of competence and experience.
“We did not bring anybody from outside to come and take those positions because those people have been here (and) they have the capacity; they have the experience. Out of one of the 654 persons working with the Ministry is a person I shared classroom with when we were refugees in Ivory Coast.”
Stand By Decision
Minister Moore heads the ministry’s procurement committee along with seven other persons and according to the Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC) law, he along with the others cannot participate in bids evaluation process.
But with concerns brewing about the termination of a US $1.4 million contract bid reportedly won by Babara Ogunti, the mother of his Special Assistant, he insists his recent decision to cancel the contract of the successful bidder he only identified as B&N was to avoid conflict of interest after a member of the independent bid evaluation panel revealed that the contractor was the mother of his Chief of office Staff.
“So, I called an emergency procurement meeting…; in the emergency procurement meeting I told them, there will always be an issue of conflict of interest even if she (my chief of office staff) is not involved in the procurement process (but) the mere fact that she is my special assistant and her mother won two lots it will be difficult to convince an already skeptical public that there was no unfair advantage to her so we will cancel it,” he explained.
Minister Moore said B&N was immediately informed about the ministry’s decision to cancel the contract while the PPCC was also notified that the bid will be retendered, adding that the action was never taken out of frequent dissenting public opinions on talk radio in Monrovia.
“She (Madam Ogunti) reported me to the PPCC and copied me on the letter that I violated her rights as a Liberian taxpayer,” he said, while revealing that the PPCC has informed him that it is investigating the issue. At the same time, the MPW boss said, Madam Ogunti has threatened to take the matter to court if the PPCC doesn’t handle the case.
Minister Moore says he did not have sufficient time to recuse himself from the procurement process after the independent bidding committee unearthed the alleged conflict of interest which prompted his decision to cancel.
“What I’m suggesting to the procurement committee is that the beginning of (any) bid process, let there be full disclosure,” something he said will prevent the other bidders from feeling cheated and could have even averted the current situation.
The Works Minister has come under pressure for cancelling the contract with some saying he has bowed to public sentiments forcing him to cancel the contract of a successful bidder. However, Minister Moore claims that as much as he wants to help the mother of his office staff, he is committed to seeing Liberian contractors having confidence in the ministry’s procurement process.
“Sometimes you make decisions that are unpopular and people will have opinions about them – this is one of those decisions – I’m prepared to live with it,” he insists.
Reacting to speculations about alleged corruption at the Ministry of Public Works, the Minister said MPW received US$23 million in the 2015/2016 budget and is adequately managing the fund regardless of the wide misinformation.
He said, under his administration, the ministry has tried to remove discretions from bidding process , a system which appears to be quite unpopular and disliked by contractors who often damned the process and term it as unfair once they fail the procurement procedurals.
Denies US$65,000 Claims
He also denied media speculations that over US$65,000.00 was seen in his vehicle, an amount purportedly considered as bribe to overturn the decision against Madam Ogunti and her firm – who reportedly won the procurement process on merit.
He slammed the media report and said the amount was never in his vehicle but rather his Assistant Minister’s Car which he clarified was LD$60,000.00. Assistant Minister of Administration, Ousmane Kamara who owned the money also told FPA that he had collected his salary from the bank and left it in his vehicle before sending it for repair.
Kamara said while the vehicle was under repair, he then asked the mechanic to give LD$5,000 to an individual but once the car returned the speculations about the money intensified.
Paying for Fixing the System
Minister Moore said his administration has coordinated and collaborated effectively with the General Audit Commission (GAC) by abiding by all its recommendations. He mentioned that his administration then requested the GAC to test an improved system under his watch, which will ensure credibility, transparency and accountability during his time with the MPW, saying his administration is ‘open and ready for the GAC to do an audit.’
“In my view these are not the action of somebody who wants to steal; you don’t put yourself through all of these things,” explaining that the bottlenecks to ensure the procurement process is successful creates room for a credible and fair procedure.
“I’m not saying as an individual that I’m this perfect person but at the Ministry of Public Works here we have instituted a system that makes it difficult for people to manipulate the procurement process.”
Commenting briefly on the Japanese feeder road project, he said what was approved by the Japanese during the administration of former Minister Samuel Kofi Woods is still being implemented under his watch after receiving instructions from the PPCC regarding the bidding process.
He asserted that there is a resistance to the changes he’s made at the ministry and may be feeling the burn for the massive progress he’s made in limiting discrepancies which others may gravely dislike him for.
“Contractors use to come and walk in these offices here trying to get some sort of advantage (but)that is not possible anymore because even if you go in somebody’s office and the person promised you, they can’t guarantee you a contract.”
He added that a lot of people have been fired due to irregularities and corruption which included defrauding the system through bank checks and submission of fabricated field reports. “You have to realize that some of these people work here for years they have friends here; there is a level of resentment,” he said.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that the ministry will exclusively award laterite roads projects to only Liberian firms adding that he has opted and recommended for foreign companies implementing huge projects to also work with Liberian firms to ensure they learn from the foreign contractors.
Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, FPA STAF WRITER