Monrovia – Former Managing Director of the National Port Authority (NPA) and current Senator of Rivercess County, Bill Twehway, has refuted statements made by the current NPA Managing Director, Sekou Dukuly, regarding the port’s financial contributions under former President George Weah’s administration. Dukuly claimed that during Weah’s six-year tenure, the port only contributed US$4 million to the national budget.
By J.H. Webster Clayeh and Jaheim T. Tumu
Speaking at the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism’s (MICAT) regular press briefing on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, Dukuly presented a cheque of US$2 million to the government as part of the port’s contribution to the national budget. He stated that under his leadership, the NPA has collected over US$13 million from service fees in just five months.
“I want to talk about the progress we’ve made over the last five months and also be frank about the challenges we’re facing. Today, June 25, 2024, the National Port Authority will contribute US$2 million to the government of Liberia’s general revenue account,” Dukuly said. “To put that in context, in six years of our former President’s administration, they made a total contribution of US$4 million. In five months, we’ve been able to pay half of that.”
Dukuly also alleged that during the previous administration, employee income taxes and social security funds amounting to over US$9 million were not remitted to the national coffers, claiming that the funds were misappropriated by the then management team.
Responding to Dukuly’s assertions, Senator Twehway called on the current NPA Managing Director to focus on his job rather than attacking his predecessors. He labeled Dukuly’s claim of US$4 million in six years as politically motivated and incorrect.
“Let him perform. It is not time for him to say, ‘I am going to damage the former Managing Directors, I am going to spoil their names.’ You have not achieved anything,” Senator Twehway said. “I am surprised that some press is calling his performance unprecedented. What is unprecedented? To get US$2 million in five months, when Bill Twehway gave US$3.5 million in three months to the budget. You have not surpassed any record.”
Twehway emphasized that during his tenure, the NPA contributed significantly more to the national budget. “In six years, we did not give US$4 million. Just in one year, I gave US$5.5 million. The records are at the Finance Ministry,” he said.
Twehway, who served as Managing Director of the NPA from September 2018 to September 2022, stressed that the current NPA leadership needs to meet or exceed the contributions made during his tenure. He recalled that in the 2018-2019 fiscal year alone, the NPA contributed US$5.5 million to the national budget.
Addressing the issue of social security funding, Twehway explained that when he assumed office, the NPA owed US$300,000 to Social Security, a debt that he inherited and worked to pay off gradually. “We said we would pay it in bits and pieces, and that was from years I inherited, not from when we started working,” he said.
Twehway concluded by advising Dukuly to concentrate on his current responsibilities, acknowledging that managing the NPA is no small task.