Monrovia – In recent weeks, two theories from defendants in the ongoing Global Witness Bribery scandal seem to suggest that they did nothing wrong because the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf requested passage of the law documented in a letter the President wrote House Speaker Alex Tyler Speaker.
Report by Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
“The law that was passed did not include section 75. They claimed to have an embossed version. If this document exists, it is a fake and will not be able to stand up to evidentiary scrutiny in court.” – An Investigative Source, Speaking on condition of anonymity
THE LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT, OBTAINED BY FRONTPAGEAFRICA READS: SEE LETTER HERE
Dear Mr. Speaker,
I am pleased to submit herewith for review by your honorable body the Amended and Restated Public Procurement Concessions Commission Act (PPCC) of 2005.
The need to review the PPCC Act of 2005 was conceived in 2006 when the newly-elected government reviewed all contracts that had been entered into by the NTGL.
This exercise which was undertaken under the auspices of the Governance Economic and Management Assistance Program (GEMAP) recommended the review of the PPCC Act for the Primary purpose of improving the competitive bidding process and harmonizing the enabling legislation of the PPCC with those in the minerals petroleum and other sectors.
The process of review, restatement and amendment of the PPCC Law has been protracted, it has particularly benefited from a wide-range of technical expertise and international best practices.Extensive technical assistance was provided by the World Bank, which has been Liberia’s premier partner in supporting the establishment, mobilization, and operations of the PPCC elaborate technical assistance has also come from the United Nations Development (UNDP) and the International Senior Lawyers’ Program(ISLP).
Additionally, professional and technical support has come from Liberian institutions.
Valuable inputs have come from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs, Ministry of State for Economic Finance and Legal Affairs in the Office of the President of the National Investment Commission, and the Commission itself National inputs have been exceptionally useful in providing the appropriate insights and environmental context against which international best practices have been tested and passed upon.
Within the context of the above, this restated and amended PPC Act is duly informed by national professionals, Liberia’s international partners, and international best practice around the world, specifically, this restated and amended act has been successful in achieving the following:
Enhanced the core value of transparency in the bidding and concession processes to ensure value for money in public procurement and economic value for concession rights.
Harmonized bidding processes with concession granting and licensing procedures in the mining and other sector legislations (forestry, agriculture hydrocarbon.
Rationalized thresholds established in the 2005 Act, removing it from the law and placing them in regulations since they may be subject to change periodically; and Strengthened the complaint process under the law by clearly defining and articulating the functions of the Complaints, Appeals and Review Panel(CARP) and the complaint review and disposal process.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that this Act is best for Liberia and in the interest of our country and people and recommended that you submit it to the Honorable Legislature for enactment.
Sincerely,
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President
The accused contend that if there is any wrong doing alleged, then the President must be a part of it.
A Global Witness exposé uncovered more than US$950,000 in bribes and other suspicious payments by UK mining firm Sable Mining and its Liberian lawyer, Varney Sherman. Responding to Global Witness’ findings, the government has pledged to investigate and hold those culpable to account.
The report, The Deceivers (1), shows how in 2010 Sable hired Varney Sherman, Liberia’s best-connected lawyer and current Chairman of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Unity Party, in an effort to secure one of Liberia’s last large mining assets, the Wologizi iron ore concession in northern Liberia.
Sherman told Sable that in order to obtain the contract the company must first get Liberia’s concessions law changed by bribing senior officials, according to a source familiar with the discussions. The account is backed up by leaked emails and company documents seen by Global Witness.
According to the documents, Sherman then began distributing Sable’s money to some of Liberia’s most important government officials.
The report suggests: “Sable and Sherman paid bribes in order to change Liberia’s law and get their hands on one of its most prized assets, the Wologizi concession,” said Jonathan Gant, Senior Campaigner with Global Witness.
Sherman, House Speaker Alex Tyler and several others including the London AIM-listed Sable Mining (SBLM.L) have since been indicted on charges including bribery.
President Sirleaf had ordered an inquiry into Sable’s attempt to acquire an iron ore concession in northern Liberia after the watchdog group Global Witness made accusations of wrong-doing.
The accused have been indicted for bribery among other crimes. It is alleged that the defendants conspired to use their positions to amend Liberia’s public procurement and concessions law that they succeeded in changing the law to give the Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy the power to declare a concession area as a non-bidding area.
The indictment named as defendants Sable Mining, parliament Speaker Alex Tyler, Varney Sherman, a senator and chairman of President Johnson Sirleaf’s Unity Party, and Deputy Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy Ernest C.B. Jones, as well as Christopher Onanuga, a Liberian businessman.
Amid the claims of the President’s involvement, sources familiar with the situation tell FrontPageAfrica that the argument of contentions and allegations by lawyers and legal advisers to the accused named in the indictment cannot be sustained because the indictment charges that the conspirators inserted into the law (section 75) the power for concessions to be awarded without bid.
One investigative source countered to FrontPageAfrica on condition of anonymity Sunday that the President’s letter never made the request.
“That the law was being changed is not in dispute. The issue here is the bribery of one or more officials to ensure that there is a no bid provision in the law so that sable mining could be awarded Wologhizi on a no bid contract over other companies who had far more capacity and financial means. Sable was going to obtain Wologhzi on the cheap. This was a crime of opportunity,” the source explained.
The source added: “The law that was passed did not include section 75. They claimed to have an embossed version. If this document exists, it is a fake and will not be able to stand up to evidentiary scrutiny in court.”
The source further contends that the scheme ultimately failed because, according to one of the defendants, ECB Jones “…almost all the official actors at the Ministry were replaced.”
If the President was involved in the scheme why would she have fired Saytumah, Tolbert and the top government officials named in the deal?
Would she not have known that it would spoil the deal?
The attempt to draw the President into this is to neutralize the investigation and wrest jurisdiction of the Task Force which is determined to see this matter to the end.
Recently Speaker Tyler presented the letter from the President to the House of Representatives and his lawyers also submitted the letter to the court in defense of the indicted Speaker.
Lawyers representing the Speaker appearing at the Criminal Court “C’ presented a letter in which the President asked the House of Representatives to amend the PPCC Act of 2005.
Speaker Tyler’s lawyers are using the letter to request for separate trial on grounds that his defenses are quite contrary to that of the rest of the defendants.