Monrovia – The controversy of the L$16 billion that reportedly disappeared in two 40ft containers started when Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe confirmed media reports of the missing money on VOA, but his assertions were soon debunked by Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Tweah, yet it did not help the situation.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
The truth of the matter has been lingering since then and various officials of government have been giving their own account of the incident – each leading to another controversy and adding up to the confusion.
Escape Move
Last Tuesday, the Central Bank of Liberia announced during a press conference that no money was missing while indicating that the L$16 billion in question is in the Bank’s vaults at several locations.
“The CBL wants to clarify to the general public and partners in progress that there is no L$16 billion missing, as has been erroneously reported in the media. The CBL has no records showing that the monies printed under its authority have not yet been delivered into its reserve vaults. Record from the Crane Currency of Sweden, which was contracted to print the money, shows that the Crane delivered 15.5 billion through the Freeport and RIA between 2016 and 2018 and that all these monies were logged by the CBL and delivered into the reserves vaults of the CBL,” said Mr. Nathaniel Patray who took over as Governor in July this year.
Governor Patray’s clarification came at a time the government had launched an investigation into the matter and also called on the expertise of ECOWAS, AU and the UN to help with the investigation. Also 30 employees of the Bank including the son of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who serves as Deputy Governor were banned from traveling pending the outcome of the investigation.
Not only had the reputation of the Republic been tainted with yet another level of high-scale corruption, but also the country’s foreign reserves risked being frozen by the United States Federal Reserves until there is a full understanding of the unfolding.
Prior to the CBL press conference on Tuesday, October 2, President George Manneh Weah upon his return from the UN General Assembly openly denied any money being missing, threatening journalists who reported saga with investigation.
There had been pressure on the government to ensure that money is accounted for. Some pressure groups including the Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia (EFFL) and the Concerned Citizens United to Bring Our Money Back (COCUBOMB) petitioned the international community to withhold all foreign aids from the government until the L$16 billion is properly accounted for.
“We will continue to campaign for social justice until this money is fully restituted and those who are linked to this horrific corruption scandal are brought to justice. This money got missing under the Presidency of George M. Weah, so this government must account for it,” Kollie and Gonquoi maintained.
The Bank’s press conference in the view of some pundits was tailored to lay the matter to rest and regain the country’s image.
The Unanswered Questions
But there remain more questions than answers surrounding the saga; opposition leader Alexander B. Cummings over the weekend rhetorically asked, “How is it that at one point the government can tell us that millions of dollars is missing and identify individuals who are under investigation for the missing money, but yet at another point the government through its Finance Minister and the Central Bank Governor can announce that there is no money missing? Which version is true? Does this suggest a cover-up at the very highest levels of government? Is the missing money the result of incompetence or outright thievery or both by government officials?
Cummings asked these questions in the presence of Information Minister Nagbe when he served as Guest Speaker at this year’s Annual Convention of the Association of All Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States.
Facing Embarrassment: CBL Not Off the Hook
Perhaps embarrassed by these unanswered questions, Information Minister Nagbe insinuated that the government was not taking the Central Bank’s report as whole truth.
According to him, the government considers the disclosure by the Bank as it’s side of the story in the ongoing investigation.
“Our position is that monies
Minister Nagbe’s disclosure comes in contradiction to the CBL’s statement which vacated the 30 employees who were placed on travel ban in connection with the missing billions.
Nagbe further shifted blames on ex-president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, accusing her of ordering the printing of L$10 billion and failing to inform the new administration.
Nagbe: “A few months to election, our former boss gave instructions for the printing of money. Whether it was within or without the ambit of the law, that would be determined at a later date. So, L$10 billion was printed very close to the elections, a new President took over, he wasn’t briefed about this development by the Governor of the Central Bank… During the transitional period, Mr. President wasn’t briefed, the exchange note did not say that this happened so when he got briefed of the situation he ordered an investigation which any President should do and the President has convened an investigation which is not to say that money got missing, because if we say there’s missing money, we’ll know who took it.”
He said the investigation is only intended establish the whether the L$15.5 billion printed in 2016 and 2018 passed through the legal processes and can be fully accounted for.
“We want some forensic accounting of all the monies that were brought in the country in 2016 and up to the inauguration and beyond,” he said.
Madam Sirleaf had insisted that her government is innocent of any mishaps in connection with the reported missing billions. She told the BBC, “I am certain whatever my administration did was in accordance with the law and the Constitution and there has been no money that has been missing.”