Monrovia – President George Manneh Weah on Thursday, July 5, vetoed the ratified Concession Mineral Development Agreement between the government of Liberia and Hummingbird Liberia Incorporated. Following the President’s action, the bill was returned to the Senate with several recommendations.
Report by Henry Karmo, [email protected]
President Weah’s action is in keeping with Article 35 of the Liberian Constitution.
Article 35: Each bill or resolution which shall have passed both Houses of the Legislature shall, before it becomes law, be laid before the President for his approval. If he grants approval, it shall become law. If the President does not approve such bill or resolution, he shall return it, with his objections, to the House in which it originated. In so doing, the President may disapprove of the entire bill or resolution or any item or items thereof. This veto may be overridden by the re-passage of such bill, resolution or item thereof by a veto of two-thirds of the members in each House, in which case it shall become law. If the President does not return the bill or resolution within twenty days after the same shall have been laid before him it shall become law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature by adjournment prevents its return.”
Among several issues raised by the President, he cited conflict in dates, authority to negotiate land expansion, negotiation of office space and support to community development by proposed concessionaire.
Because of the lapses in the ratified version of the agreement, the President in his return to the lawmakers said, “The document warrants review to ensure that provisions in the agreement are responsive to current and future situations.”
President Weah further claimed that the document had dated error, which cannot be corrected by his office. “In the agreement instead of the year 2018, the bill bears 2017, which period this government cannot account for,” the President also stated.
President Weah said: “There are several omissions of dates which my Office is not authorized to correct and without such corrections, I cannot affix my signature to the bill, I refer you to pages 7, 102 and 107. We also observed that pages 14 and 15 are unsigned.”
The President also told the lawmakers that in the ratified agreement, expansion of land area is vested in the Land and Energy Minister to expand the land area for exploration.
He disagrees with them vesting authority of negotiating land expansion in an agent. According to the President doing so is a “window of the unlawful act and pursuit of personal gain.” He told them that it would be wise that expansion of land is authorized by appropriate authority.
Also in section 6.5 of the ratified Hummingbird Concession Agreement, securing office location in Sinoe County is the Liberian government’s burden to assist the company in finding an ideal location and if necessary facilitates negotiation with potential owners.
“This is not advisable as a government intervention may amount to undue influence in a matter between two private persons to the extent that the owner may not be able to reject the government of Liberia’s request,” President Weah suggested.
On the issue of the community development fund (CDF) in the ratified agreement, the company is required to contribute to the community development in contract years one to two, US$100,000. In contract years two to four, US$150,000 and in years five to 10, US$200,000. The company is also to pay US$250,000 to the community at the end of the agreement.
“These periodic payments are commendable but not appreciable as amount for such undertaking of this nature should be substantial to ensure that the communities are impacted as a support to the government’s pro-poor policy,” the President stated.
Assignment of Sale of Right
In the ratified agreement the proposed concessionaire is allowed to assign or sell its rights without government’s approval. Article 24 of the agreement contains the sessions which provide that each of the two provisions on sale of rights shall standalone thereby giving, in reality, the proposed concessionaire the right to sell without government of Liberia’s approval.
In the President’s recommendation, the standalone provision should be reversed to safeguard against assignment of seller rights without prior approval of the government of Liberia.
Social Responsibility Concern
As ratified by the legislature, the Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) obligates the proposed concessionaire to provide schools, medical and other assistance to the communities to be affected. But the President believes the provisions are not specific as a mining concession and is recommending that they dealt into the details of such responsibility.
“Mr. President Pro-Tempore as you know Article 35 of the Constitution gives the authority to the President to approve or not to approve bills that are lay down before the President. Now, therefore by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article 35 of the Constitution, I hereby disapprove, veto the act to ratify the Mineral Development Agreement between the government of Liberia and Hummingbird Resources Liberia Incorporated.
“In view of my disapproval of this act as provided for in Article 35, I herewith return to your honorable body the said act and I look forward to working with the Legislature to encapsulate the said issues. I trust we will collectively drive the pro-poor agenda for the benefit of our people.”