Monrovia – The London-based watchdog group, Global Witness is urging the George Weah-led government in Liberia to immediately reinstate Mr. Konah D. Karmo, as head of Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI).
The organization’s statement comes just days after President Weah declared that he had done nothing wrong by appointing former lawmaker Gabriel Nyenkan as Head of the LEITI Secretariat.
“I have broken no law,” the President declared at a news conference recently when he returned from a recent trip to Monrovia.
President Weah said he was simply exercising his constitutional power in his appointment at the LEITI, as the Liberian constitution gives the President the power to appoint officials of various agencies of government.
But in its statement Thursday, March 29, Global Witness said it is important for the organization to maintain its independence.
LEITI is part of the EITI- a global standard to promote the open and accountable management of extractive resources.
The Act establishing the states that only the LEITI Multi-stakeholder Steering Group (MSG) can appoint or remove the Head of Secretariat. Mr. Karmo still has three years left to be in the position.
On Monday, March 12, 2018, Mr. Nyenkan took the country by surprise when he arrived at the offices of the LEITI to take over the Secretariat.
Mr. Karmo informed the MSG the same day that Mr. Nyenkan had bulldozed his way into the office and taken over.
“I write to inform you that the offices of the LEITI Secretariat were on today, March 12, 2018 invaded by officers of the Liberia National Police to have Mr. J. Gabriel Nyenkan forcibly take over as Head of Secretariat.”
“As a result, I was evicted from the office and the assigned vehicle ceased by the LNP officers, who accompanied Mr. Nyenkan and his supporters. “
“The action which took place at about 12 noon was characterized by massive influx of Mr. Nyenkan and his supporters. Based on this, I requested other staff of secretariat staff to leave the office…”
Nyenkan later told journalists that he invited the police because Karmoh had refused to respect the President’s order, as Karmoh said that his post was a tenure contract given to him by the MSG.
Global Witness credited LEITI under Karmoh for being instrumental in its investigation on Liberia, including its latest allegation bribery in the Exxon Block 13 oil block negotiations.
“Exxon investigation was made possible by information published by the Liberian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI), an independent agency that publishes annual reports of payments made by companies to the government.”
“Without this information, Global Witness would not have started researching Exxon’s 2013 deal,” the organization said.
“Our investigation shows not only that Liberia’s oil sector was corrupt, but also how important LEITI is for the country,” said Gant.
“The latest news that President Weah has illegally fired LEITI Secretariat Head Konah Karmoh is alarming and may show a weakening of political will to tackle corruption.”
The GW findings uncovered that when Block 13 was sold in 2013, Exxon obtained 83 percent of the block. Canadian Overseas Petroleum obtained 17 percent of the block.
The transfer of Block 13 was structured in a way that 100 percent of the block was first transferred from BCP to COPL, and then COPL transferred Exxon its share.
Exxon stated in a PowerPoint presentation obtained by Global Witness that it wanted to structure the transaction this way “due to” its US anti-corruption concerns.
Of the US$120 million Exxon paid for Block 13, US$68.5 million went to BCP. Global Witness estimates that Mason and the estate of Willie likely received a share of US$3.3 million.
If Lawrence still held a BCP interest when Exxon purchased Block 13, Global Witness estimates he would have received US$15,000.
The Global Witness’ call comes as several civil society organizations and international stakeholders are contemplating withdrawing from LEITI in protest.
FrontPageAfrica has learned that the civil society bloc of the LEITI MSG or PWYP Liberia (acting as founder of LEITI) is due to call a press conference shortly and issues a position statement, calling on the President of Liberia to withdraw the nomination of Mr. Gabriel Nyenkan as Head of LEITI Secretariat.
The body is also expected to use the LEITI Act to point out the error made by the President and highlight the implications of the President’s action for investments in the struggling economy; and inform the Liberian people and the world in the event President Weah refuses to withdraw the nomination of Mr. Nyenkan.
The organizations are also considering boycotting the LEITI until the LEITI Act is respected regarding the appointment of the Head of Secretariat.