CAPITOL HILL, Monrovia – New allegations have surfaced regarding the alteration of Liberia’s 2024 National Budget, following claims that a secret meeting between President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and the leadership of the National Legislature led to a ‘blank’ concurrence on the budget’s passage.
By Obediah Johnson, [email protected]
During a Senate hearing investigating these claims, Acting Finance Minister Augustine Myers disclosed that the Ministry of Finance had initially sought President Boakai’s intervention to maintain a US$69 million allocation for domestic debt payments to commercial banks. The Legislature, however, wanted to reduce the amount to US$20 million.
Minister Myers revealed that President Boakai held a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, resulting in an agreement to negotiate the debt amount. Although the Ministry later agreed with the Legislature on a US$20 million payment, Myers said he was informed at the last minute that the President had submitted a request to increase the payment to US$40 million, reducing the initial US$69 million allocation.
Said Minister Myers: “The President convene a meeting with us (Ministry of Finance) and the leaders of both Houses, the Speaker and the Pro Temp. In that meeting we put all of our decision on the floor. And the House and Senate put theirs. What the president indicated to us was that he was inclined to know that there would be a reduction. So, he directed us to come and negotiate, but there was no specific figure agreed on in that meeting… We agreed on 20 million. But later on, we got call that the dynamics has changed. It is where now that we were informed about the President’s directive that Senator Moye has been displaying.”
Senator Moye’s confirmation
Tensions between the Executive and Legislature have escalated amid accusations that unknown individuals tampered with the budget after it was passed by the 55th National Legislature. A Senate Ad-Hoc Committee, chaired by Senator Dabah Varpilah of Grand Cape Mount County, has been tasked with investigating the matter.
However, a public hearing conducted by the committee on Tuesday, September 11, has unearthed that the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President Pro Tempore of the Liberian Senate Fonati Koffa and Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence attended a meeting at the residence of President Boakai in Rehab, outside Monrovia, two days prior to the passage of the National Budget by the Legislature to make additional allocations without the knowledge of other members of the Joint Committee and the National Legislature in particular.
It also established how both the House of Representatives and Senate secretariats surreptitiously transmitted and concurred respectively over the passage of the budget without stating the specific figure at which the budget was passed, and failing to submit the working plan and other relevant documents which normally accompany letters transmitting the draft budget
Speaking during the hearing, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways, Means and Finance, Prince Moye pointed out that a vigorous and thorough scrutiny of the draft National Budget for 2024 was carried out by the Joint Committee headed by Representative Dixon Seboe.
He disclosed that following the holding of public hearings, members of the Joint committee met with authorities of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning on April 28, 2024.
He pointed out that during this meeting, a team setup by the National Legislature to negotiate with the National Bankers Association on the rollover of domestic debts owed commercial banks provided a briefing on the matter.
Senator Moye added that during the meeting, the Lead Negotiator of the Legislature, Senator Amara Konneh, indicated that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bankers Association were inclined to rollover the domestic debt principal payment of US$40M to 2025 (next budget year).
However, he noted that authorities of the MFDP at the meeting were only “reasonable” to the payment of US$20M.
He stated that as a result of the contrary view from the MFDP, the Joint Committee requested that the Negotiation Team further engage the executive and the Bankers Association to finalize on the matter.
“Because the Legislature had only two days left for its break and given that the total budget envelope will remain at US$738.8M, any adjustment that will be made and the budget was amendment was going to be at US$738.8M. Whatever the debt deduction will be, the Joint Committee concluded that the House of Representatives should process with its pending final decision from the Negotiating Team. The budget the House submitted is the same US$738.8; nothing changed from the House.”
Senator Moye disclosed that the budget was passed by the House of Representatives with the inclusion of only US$20M for the payment of domestic debts.
Boakai’s intervention
Senator Moye confirmed that President Boakai held a closed-door meeting with House Speaker and Senate Pro Tempore Fonati Koffa and Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence “to consider moving US$40M from the domestic debts to other priorities.”
He said the Liberian leader’s request was made after considering the proposal from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning that it could have been “risky” to remove US$40M from the domestic debts.”
“There came the negotiation with the President that the proposal or movement for the US$40M that was agreed upon on the 28th Of April and on the 29th, the President sent us a proposal with his signature on it distributing US$40M from the debt. We concurred with the House of Representatives on the budget number of US$738.8M concerning that an additional fiscal space of US$97.02M was created.”
Senator Moye emphasized that US$46M was identified, something which prompted changes in allotments to the various sectors.
No secrecy
“When the President wrote to us through the Vice President and the Prom Temp, it means that the money that came under debts, US$40M, was now sent to the Legislature. The President’s decision now was not secret.”
He maintained that the Joint Committee went beyond by taking into consideration the allocation of monies to address other major national priorities following the submission of President Boakai’s request to that August Body.
Senator Moye named accommodation for soldiers and wives of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), an increment in the budget of the Judiciary, as some of the interventions made on the budget by the committee.
“On top of the President’s concerns, we as the people’s Senators had our concerns and we had to go beyond. We didn’t go by exactly what the President submitted. The Joint Committee took a decision to send US$3M to the Judiciary. Besides that, we gave the Disaster Management Agency a US$1M plus. So, nobody sat in the corner and decided to budget.”
Senator Moye recalled that following the finalization of the working plan of the Joint Committee and subsequent passage of the National Budget by the Liberian Senate, a letter was addressed to the House of Representatives, communicating the Senators’ action.
According to him, all 14 Senators of the Ways and Means Committee of the Liberian Senate affixed their signatures to the final working plan transmitting the final draft copy of the budget to the Senate Plenary for passage.
“When budget is passed at the sectoral level, there’s no risk of a budget working paper. Sectoral level is meant to classify a group of ministries and agencies under one sector. So if we went and adjusted each ministry or agency under a sector obviously, that sector may increase or it can be adjusted downward.”
Also speaking, the Acting Minister of Finance and Development Planning Anthony Myers observed that those making claims of the budget being altered have not been able to clearly name those who may have tampered with or shifted the National Budget.
He said these accusers have not been able to clearly identify the “doer(s)” of the alleged act.
“To the best of our knowledge and recollection-given all the data and information available to us, the concept or suggestions of budget tampering, alteration, shifting does not exist.”
Minister Myers pointed out that the executive, through the ministry carried out “realignments” of the National Budget in consistent with the manner and form in which the budget is executed.
He noted that the line ministries and agencies are grouped within the national budget to implement various assigned tasks and responsibilities.
The President convene a meeting with us (Ministry of Finance) and the leaders of both Houses, the Speaker and the Pro Temp. In that meeting we put all of our decision on the floor. And the House and Senate put theirs. What the president indicated to us was that he was inclined to know that there would be a reduction. So, he directed us to come and negotiate, but there was no specific figure agreed on in that meeting… We agreed on 20 million. But later on, we got call that the dynamics has changed. It is where now that we were informed about the President’s directive that Senator Moye has been displaying.
Anthony Myer, Acting Minister of Finance and Development Planning
“Budgets are executed by agencies, not by sector. There is no allotment, vouchers or checks issued to sectors. These financial transaction instruments are issued to individual ministries and agencies on the authorization of their respective authorities or line managers.”
Minister Myers clarified that the Ministry of Finance did not receive the budget until it was signed by President Boakai on May 8 this year.
According to him, the handbill of the budget which was passed into law and approved by the President was sent to the Ministry for the printing of a “budget book.”
He said the ministry commenced scrutiny of the country’s fiscal envelope to ensure that it was in line with the one approved by the National Legislature.
He disclosed that the ministry made specifications by realigning allocations to line ministries and agencies under the requisite sectors in the budget.
“When resources are allocated by the Legislature to a given spending entity, it would have an impact on the overall sector aggregate. But in this case, the allocations were made by sectors and not by agencies. In this case for example US$1M Water and Sewer and US50, 000 for renewable energy were placed in Infrastructure and Basic Services. If you look in the budget book, those two institutions are in energy and environment. So you will note that the US$1,050,000 was removed out of infrastructure and basic services in the budget book. They belong to energy and environment and not infrastructure and basic services.”
Minister Myers recalled that the National Bankers Association made a request for domestic payment of the over US$150M owed commercial banks.
He maintained the government renegotiated with the association on the payment of the money on interest which amounts to over US$69 with no principal payment.
“There were some conversations going on to reduce domestic debt by US$40M, we began to negotiate with the Senate and also discuss with the President and the President agreed to convene a meeting and myself, the Comptroller or Accountant-General, Assistant Minister for Budget from the Ministry of Finance, the Speaker and the Pro Temp (met him) on a Saturday morning. The conversation was that there will be some reductions but there was no precise amount stated.”
Minister Myers disclosed that following the climax of the meeting with the Liberian leader, another meeting was convened with the Joint Committee and other Senators in the office of the Pro-Temp at the time a proposal of US$20M to pay the Bankers was already proposed in the office of the Chair on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives.
“We settled on the US$20M and we thought it was okay until the following day when we were told that it had gone to over US$40M. We were briefed on the matter and so, we had to go to the bankers by telling them that instead of US$20M, it’s gone to US$40M. That was what was in the budget until it got reduced to over US$29M.”
For his part, Gbarpolu County Senator Amara Konneh recalled that Article 34 (d) of the 1986 Constitution Sections 20 and 23 of the Amended and Restated Public Financial Management (PFM) Act of 2009, which amongst other things give the National Legislature the authority to modify and approved allocations in the budget.
He stressed that any decision on budgetary appropriations must be endorsed by the both Plenaries of the Legislature.
