Monrovia – The General Auditing Commission (GAC) has further dented the credibility of the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) recent report dubbed “Who Chopped Chevron US$10.5 million?” by categorically distancing itself from the report.
“The GAC is not aware of the document referenced in the SDI Report and has not conducted audit of NOCAL during the 2015/2016 fiscal year as claimed by the SDI.”
The report which was released last Friday claim to have relied on audit documents reportedly obtained from the GAC, which alleged among other things points to gross misspending of Chevron social development funds by the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) and the Robert A. Sirleaf Foundation.
The report citing the GAC, notes that the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), US$10.5 million was allegedly injected into tax-deductible community development projects across Liberia between 2011-2014.
“The funds established through the Chevron-Liberia Economic Development Initiative (C-LED) were to deliver 80 projects focused on enterprise development, health and education across 15 counties for social and economic benefits for women, children, and youth.
Despite protocols, Chevron funding did not go through the Ministry of Finance and Development, but instead was handled through NOCAL (which the President’s son Robert chaired for at least part of the time), and the President’s son’s private foundation, the Robert A. Sirleaf Foundation.”
The SDI concluded: Though President Sirleaf has been outspoken about why the funding went through her son’s foundation, Robert Sirleaf served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at NOCAL and presided over lucrative blocks 13 and 14 at the time of the Chevron deal.
And given that Mr. Sirleaf also served as the President’s senior advisor despite Article 90 (a) of the constitution, many questioned his role at NOCAL; especially with respect to the Chevron deal.
The report noted that this is not the first-time gross misspending and bribery has clouded Chevron’s presence in Liberia.
“Documents released by the GAC in 2010 point to hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes paid to the legislators and their staff. Despite repeated documentation of back-door dealings in the oil and gas sector, Chevron was welcomed into Liberia with open arms.
The Production Sharing Contract (PSC) between the Liberian government and Chevron granted 70% interest and ownership to Chevron for the right to drill, granted tax exemptions to Chevron and reduced government equity and royalties to 5 and 10% respectively despite the 5% royalty fee and 30% yearly income tax required.
The SDI says its report is based on audit documents obtained from the GAC which sheds light on what these missteps have cost in terms of community development, and specifically on the types of projects that the general public missed out on because of misspending by NOCAL and the Robert A. Sirleaf Foundation.
Upon GAC’s request for an audit of C-LED funds, the SDI reports that NOCAL provided the commission with a list of 79 projects covering several counties.
GAC Distances Itself
Since its release, the SDI report continues to meet stiff resistance with named actors distancing themselves. First were the Robert A. Sirleaf Foundation and NOCAL.
Both claimed the report was fabricated.
Corroborating their claim, the GAC in a release issued on Tuesday wrote:
The General Auditing Commission (GAC) refutes recent newspaper reports referencing it as the source of an “audit document” released by the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI).
The newspapers attributed their reports to the Sustainable Development Institute, which claimed it had obtained the “audit documents” from the General Auditing Commission alleging gross misspending of Chevron Social Development Funds by the National Oil Company of Liberia and the Robert A. Sirleaf Foundation.
The GAC is not aware of the document referenced in the SDI Report and has not conducted audit of NOCAL during the 2015/2016 fiscal year as claimed by the SDI.
The Commission wishes to inform media institutions and the general public that anyone interested in obtaining information about its works should contact the Communication Unit as well as the website of the Commission when doubtful about any information on audit reports or the operations of the GAC.
SDI Stands By Report
But a firm SDI says its role over the years has and continues to be “providing information or facts in a reasonably fair context” as it is not our job to make the case – that is judicial and rests upon the state to act in accordance with the kind of information that we provide.
SDI: “The records and facts should be checked by the appropriate agencies and further probed by the government. Nocal has merely said they have no authority over how CSR is spent, not that they didn’t receive money.
These are not essential to the facts raised in the report.
Did NOCAL receive monies, in part or whole, whether or not they had the authority to determine how such monies would be used?
The material facts of the report as presented in the report are unchanged until further and official investigation. That Chevron’s monies were diverted to bodies outside of the GoL is documented.
NOCAL and the RSF should begin a process of addressing the facts raised in the report.”
