Monrovia – With less than 21 days to elections, the National Elections Commission (NEC) recently unveiled a fleet of vehicles.
Report by Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, [email protected]
However, those vehicles remain unregistered, thereby depriving the government of US$25,800 in revenue.
A communication from the Ministry of Transport dated July 12, 2017 in possession of FrontPage Africa shows that the Ministry of Transport requested the NEC to pay US$25,880 for its recently purchased fleet.
The NEC had sought inquiry from MOT over the cost of vehicle registration.
NEC, according to the Ministry, is currently plying the streets with unregistered vehicles which the Ministry termed as risky.
“What if a ballot vehicle is attacked, how will we trace it?
It’s unbelievable that the NEC will forfeit on registering their vehicles,” Minister Samuel Wlue said in a chat with FrontPage Africa.
Chapter 3, Subchapter A, section 3.1 states that registration of vehicles is a requirement in Liberia, for the proceeding years.
The Ministry said the green plates on the NEC vehicles were decommissioned in June 2015.
Registration, according to the Ministry, enables them and the Police to collaborate in unforeseen circumstances that may affect the fleet of vehicles during operation.
The fees collected from registration supports the national budget.
“The Ministry of Transport is about to embark on a vigorous enforcement of unregistered vehicles within Monrovia and its environs.”
“If NEC is not in compliance, the Ministry in collaboration with the Liberia National Police will have no alternative but to impound your vehicles during the enforcement exercise,” the communication stated.
“It’s a Liberian issue and the NEC should have to take the lead, all those who want to lead should lead by examples,” Wlue said.
Every party has violated, we can’t have people who make the law and break the laws.
At the same time, the Ministry has expressed regret over the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) failure to register its vehicles.
MOT revealed that in July 2016, the party obtained a bill of 19 vehicles but none are registered—they are only recognized by the emblem.
For the Liberty Party, 4 of their vehicles are in the draft while some vehicles are registered in individual names.