Gbarnga, Bong County – Three Civil Society organizations in Bong County will on Wednesday, February 2 release report of an accountability research project on the management of Bong County Social Development Fund (CSDF).
The event will take place at the Gbarnga Administration Building, beginning 10:00 a.m. With funding support from ForumCiv, Media And Civic Education-Rural Liberia, Foundation for International Dignity, and Development Education Leadership Training in Action Human Rights Foundation partnered in implementing the “Bong County Social Development Funds Accountability Project” between September and December, 2021.
The research project focused on verifying how the local administration of Bong County expended US$1.7m of the County Social Development Funds (CSDF) on development projects in the County between 2018 and 2021, pursuant to the 2018 County Sitting Resolution valued at US$2.29m.
The three organizations found several irregularities in the management of the CSDF, awarding of contracts, and implementation of the various development projects, thereby resulting to several stalled projects.
The implementing organizations carefully and impartially documented the findings, and at the launch program, the report (narrative and video documentary) will be presented to the civil society and anti-graph institutions, foreign partners, and participants present at the occasion.Key among the findings are:
Out of a total of thirty (30) construction projects (bridges, clinics, schools, offices for chiefs, road rehabilitation, and renovation of public facilities) delegates agreed upon at the November 12, 2018 County Council Sitting, not a single project was fully completed in the county.
Bulk of these projects are far from completion and most of them are currently being abandoned across the county.
The leadership of Bong County through the Project Management Committee (PMC), paid US$59,000 to four contractors between 2019/2020 for the implementation of four projects.
These projects were never started by those contractors with no further steps taken by the county’s leadership against the companies.
Contracts were awarded to contractors outside the Public Procurement and Concession Commission Act of 2010.
Contracts were given out without bidding as required by law.
This gross disregard for the PPCC Act is a high contributing factor for the many stalled development projects in the Bong County.
The Bong County Project Management Committee in its “Summary Financial Update of January 1, 2019 to February 1, 2021,” reported transferring US$41,295.00 and L$288,000.00 to the widow of the late Marcus Berrian (former Bong County Engineer), on March 31, 2019, as 3 months’ honorarium.
However, contrary to the PMC Summary Financial Update, the research found that the widow only received US$6,900.00 and L$288,000.00.
There is a discrepancy of US$34,395.00.In addition, Superintendent Esther Y. Walker spent US$83,325.19 against the allotted US$46,000.00 in the 2018 Resolution for “Administrative cost” to her office.
This means that the superintendent spent additional US$37,325.19 outside of the 2018 Resolution.Similarly, Stephen J. Mulbah Jr., Chairperson of the Bong County Project Management Committee spent US$107,094.56 against US$75,879.00 agreed upon in the 2018 Resolution.
With this, Stephen J. Mulbah spent an unauthorized US$31,215.00.
Most members of the Bong County Legislative Caucus personalized and interfered with the implementation of projects, possibly for political reasons across the county thereby resulting to poor oversight from the lawmakers