Gbarpolu County Senator Gbotoe Kanneh’s assigned license plate has been spotted on a commercial truck in the county.
By Obediah Johnson
The reported placement of her assigned vehicle plate on a commercial truck in the county is said to be defrauding the Government of Liberia (GOL) of revenue generation.
Senator Kanneh, who is the Chair of the Senate Committee on Gender, Children and Social Protection, is assigned the official plate of SEN 29 as a member of the 55th National Legislature.
The official license plate spotted on a commercial truck went viral on social media over the weekend.
FrontPage Africa(FPA) has reliably gathered that Senator Kanneh instructed her official plate to be placed on the hired commercial truck to transport a few cows and other materials to be used for her fallen father’s feast in the county this year.
The commercial truck was transporting the cows and other materials belonging to Senator Kanneh from neighboring Sierra Leone.
Though it is not clear whether or not the commercial truck hired by Senator Kanneh is registered with the Ministry of Transport, the use of a license plate belonging to any individual or lawmaker on another vehicle violates Section 3.93 of the New Vehicle and Traffic Law of Liberia.
Section 3.93 of the New Vehicle and Traffic Law of Liberia states that:
“No person shall lend to another any certificate or registration, registration plate or special plate issued to him/her if the person borrowing the same would not be entitled to the use thereof, nor shall any person knowingly permit the use of any of the same by one not entitled thereto, nor shall any person display for or upon any vehicle any certificate of registration or registration plate not issued for such vehicle or not otherwise lawfully used thereon under this chapter.”
The law prescribes a fine of not more than US$1000 or imprisonment for not more than one year or both for violators of this section of the New Vehicle and Traffic Law of Liberia.
A source from the Ministry of Transport has confided that the Senate, through the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules, Order and Administration Gbleh-bo Brown requested for two separate license plates for Senators in keeping with a new regulation.
“Some lawmakers are abusing this request by usually putting only a single plate at the front of their vehicles and giving the other one to be placed on other vehicles maybe owned by them or other family members or relatives,” the source stated.
The source maintained that no lawmaker should use their official license plate on unassigned vehicles, apart from their official vehicles.
The motive behind the Senate’s request for two separate sets of plates for members remains unknown and contradicts the new law.
However, Section 3.6 of the Law, amongst other things, states that: “The Minister, upon registering a vehicle, shall issue to the owner one registration plate for a motorcycle, bicycle or trailer and two registration plates for every other registered vehicle.”
It calls for two license plates to be displayed at the front and back of every registered vehicle.
However, it is not clear whether or not the vehicle hired by Senator Kanneh to transport cows and other materials was registered in the Cargo-Two category of vehicle registration at the Ministry of Transport.
Registration fee for vehicles in this category is about US$350.
If the vehicle used by Senator Kanneh is unregistered, the Liberian Government has been denied revenue generation by the lawmaker.
When contacted via telephone, Senator Kanneh declined to clearly state her role played in the transfer of her official license plate to a commercial vehicle.
“I don’t have anything to say for now. You say allege and so, until we can get the driver, I don’t have anything to say now.”
Her response ran contrary to comments posted on social media by her Communication Officer Joshua Mendscole.
Mendccole claimed that the photo of the commercial truck bearing the official license plate of Senator Kanneh was Artificial Intelligence (AI).
“Recently, I came across some misleading posts suggesting that Senator Kanneh’s official license plate was allegedly placed on a truck for commercial purposes. Frankly, this claim is laughable at best and deceptive at worst.
Let’s set the record straight. The truck in question is right here in Bopolu, still bearing its official license plate and that plate remains valid. It defies logic to suggest that the Senator would remove a valid license plate from her vehicle only to reassign it elsewhere.”
He noted that the truck bearing the Senate plate is clearly a newer model, while the other truck shown with its original plate is entirely different.
“We live in an age where technology, especially AI, can manipulate photos and create false impressions. This makes it even more important for people to think critically instead of falling for petty propaganda designed to mislead the public,”
Mendscole added.
He termed the accusation as a ‘‘cheap propaganda.”
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