Monrovia – The House of Representatives is preparing to hold a special session in the coming days to weigh-in on the alarming situation of the missing L$16 billion, according to a release from the office of House Speaker Bhofal Chambers.
Report by Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, [email protected]
The lawmakers are also contemplating holding other discussions that border on several other national challenges, the release adds.
The money was noticed to have been missing between November 2017 and August 2018, Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe announced earlier this week.
According to a press release, the special session in the coming days will act on the “pertinent national issues which have attracted Legislative concern for the forward match of the workings of government in the best interest of the state and its people”.
“The Justice Ministry’s recent response to the ongoing investigation about the L$16 billion Liberian dollars banknotes in question will also be high on the agenda of the House’s leadership for a swift and decisive action.”
The impending special session is expected less than a week after the Legislature embarked on its annual constituency break as provided by the Liberian Constitution.
However, intensifying concerns from the public and opposition political parties is increasing amid calls for the government to speedily investigate the disappearance of containers and bags of Liberian dollars.
On Thursday 19 September, FrontPage Africa reported that several lawmakers were calling for the resumption of session for the legislature to further probe the missing money saga.
Representative Vicent Willie of District #4, Grand Bassa County urged Speaker Bhofal Chambers and Senator Albert Chie, Pro-Tempore of the Liberian Senate to “urgently recall all members of the legislature to resume active duties for a month so as to launch a speedy investigation into this matter as it is of high national interest.”
“In my mind, our people will like to know what happened to the ‘missing billions’ if we go to brief our various town halls meetings in our respective districts,” he said. “We might not have any answers to their question as it is the most urgent concern of our people.”
Citing Article 32 (B) of the Liberian Constitution, the release from the office of the Speaker stressed that special session can be convened to address issues of national concern, as in the case of the mission billions.
“The leadership of the House of Representatives believes that this development should be the concern of all Liberians and from all persuasions and will do everything within the scope of the law to reach a realistic solution and correspondingly, appropriate actions will be taken with respect to due process of law,” the release concluded.
At the same time, reports are surfacing that the Liberian Senate is also considering the resumption of session to investigate the missing billions, which has attracted concerns from Liberians and the international community.
According to FPA Legislative reporter, the Senate Banking and Currency Committee canceled a public hearing on Thursday, after earlier announcing that the session was intended to further investigate the saga at the level of the Senate and forward recommendations to the Executive for subsequent action
The hearing was expected to summoned authorities of the Central Bank of Liberia.
Senate Pro-Tempore Albert Chie, who refused to comment further on the issue, confirmed that the Senate had planned to hold a special hearing on the matter with relevant institutions.