Monrovia – At least eight civil society organizations (CSOs) have described the alleged “missing” L$16 billion bank notes as a high degree of criminality and one of the worst economic crimes the country has experienced.
Report by Bettie K. JohnsonSpeaking-Mbayo, [email protected]
on behalf of the CSOs, Jefferson Knight, executive director, United Methodist Church Human Rights Monitor, said the alleged disappearance of the money is scaring.
However, the CSOs welcomed the statement by the Liberian government that it has requested the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help in the ongoing probe.
The CSOs spokesperson indicated that when the FBI comes to join in the probe, they should head the investigation. According to them, when the FBI leads the investigating team, the investigation won’t be compromised.
Knight called on President George Weah to act in ways that would save the state from bleeding. He and other CSOs warned that the investigation should not be swept under the carpet.
They condemned Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweh’s clarity on a local radio on Thursday, September 20, that no money has gone missing. The Finance Minister’s comments ran contrary to statements made by Information Minister Eugene Nagbe and Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean, for this, Knight recommended that Tweah should be arrested and investigated.
“You are not the Information Minister [Tweah]; the official mouth piece and Ministry of Justice have released all the information. I think he [Tweah] should be called in for questioning,” Knight stated.
According to Knight, the Finance Minister knows about the alleged missing money and so must be questioned.
The CSOs stressed that more names need to be added to the ‘persons of interest’ list that the government released earlier. “We think there are more names and the government knows. They should not be shielded, no time to rubbish or sweep anything under the carpet.”
They want the President to speak on this matter. The eight CSOs joined others calling on the President to abandon his going to this UN-General Assembly scheduled for some time in October.
They want President Weah send his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Gbehzohngar M. Findley to represent him and he stays to confront crisis on the ground.