Monrovia – The National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) is said to be clearing its name from reports that the Corporation invested US$1.5 million in the Cocopa Rubber Corporation now Nimba Rubber Incorporated.
Edwin G. Genoway, Jr – [email protected]
The clarification stems from a call for an investigation into the matter by members of the Senate.
Though the senators did not officially discuss or accuse NASSCORP of sponsoring opposition Liberty (LP) through Cocopa, in providing clarity to the allegation, NASSCORP Director General Dewitt Von Ballmoos at news conference Monday said the report that alleges that the Corporation gave a sum of US$1.5 million to the Liberty Party under the pretext of investment in Cocopa is false and misleading.
He said NASSCORP is a non-partisan corporation that has no direct and indirect link with any political party or institution.
NASSCORP was established to administer Liberia’s pension administration with the mandate to collect contribution, payout benefits and invest into institutions for the sustainability of financial solvency as enshrined in 89.63 of both the new NASSCORP Act and Decree 14.
Von Ballmoos said in fulfillment of the corporation’s mandate, the NASSCORP with the authorization of its board of directors in August 2016 approved an investment in the amount of US$1.5 million (one million five hundred thousand United States dollars) equivalent in Nimba Rubber Incorporation (NRI) for the rehabilitation of its Cocopa Plantation.
He said NASSCORP’s investment involved the purchase of convertible debentures of NRI with a maturity of five years which provides NASSCORP an annual interest yield of 12% on its investment.
“The debentures also gives NASSCORP the added advantage or option of converting the facility into common stocks of the corporation in the future , the facility was disbursed in November 2016 to NRI at a ratio 80:20 in Liberian Dollars respectively, the debentures are to redeemed in full at maturity in US dollars,” he explained.
The NASSCORP boss noted that NRI’s management had approached NASSCORP close to two years ago with a proposal for financing the rehabilitation of Cocopa Plantation.
“But NASSCORP had turned down the request given the lack of clarity of comprehensive plan for the revitalization of the rubber sector despite intervention of the government and a stimulus package for the sector provided by the Central Bank of Liberia.”
According to him, the need to see the rubber sector revived was critical from the standpoint of NASSCORP as workers’ contribution to the pension scheme has constituted a significant part of NASSCORP’s revenues.
The Liberian Senate recently mandated its Committees on Judiciary, Claims, Petitions, and Human Rights and Social Security, Pension & Insurance to inquire why the National Social Security &Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) decided to invest US$1.5 million in the Cocopa Rubber Corporation at a time when the price of rubber on the global market is at its lowest.
The Senators, at their 45th Day sitting, also wanted to gather from the NASSCORP authorities whether a risk analysis was done before the transaction, especially in the wake of recent workers unrests.
The lawmakers’ concern was prompted by a letter from the Senate chairman of the Committee on Concession & Investment, Bomi County Senator Sando Dazoe Johnson, in which he requested Senate Plenary to invite the NASSCORP leadership to provide a detailed explanation of the transaction.