MONROVIA — Margibi County Senator Nathaniel McGill has raised an alarm over attempt by the Executive branch to expend the amount of US$21M without any authorization from the National Legislature.
By Obediah Johnson
Senator McGill recalled that in February this year, the National Legislature approved the amount of US$2M to support President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s agenda to improve road conditions across the country.
But surprisingly, he noted that Executive, through the Ministry of Public Works has already awarded contracts worth US$21M to various companies for the rehabilitation of roads across the country.
He made the claims when he spoke to Legislative Reporters at his Capitol Building office in Monrovia on Monday, March 18.
Senator McGill pointed out that the move is in total violation of the Liberian Constitution and the amended and restated Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC) Act.
He made specific reference to Article 34 (d) of the 1986 Liberian Constitution which among other things states that: “No loan shall be raised or guaranteed without the authority of legislative enactment.”
The PPCC, amongst other things, places emphasis on international and national competitive bidding processes for contract ceiling for procurement of goods, services and works
He said the executive must disclose to the public the source of funding for the US$21M.
“While we support the President’s agenda to address the issue of road connectivity in his 100 days deliverables, there are fundamental principles that the government has to observe when spending the country’s money. What has caught our attention is for the Ministry of Public Works to go ahead in total violation of the constitution and the PPCC Act to award US$21M to field contractors. The question we need to ask is that, what is the source of funding for that US$21M?”
Though Senator McGill did not name a particular contractor who has already been awarded a contract by the executive, he claimed that those contracts were awarded with letters to proceed issued, thereby giving those contractors the right to pre-finance and carry out the works.
Senator McGill said money being credited by these contractors without going through the PPCC process will become a liability to the country and its citizens.
“The Constitution is very clear, Article 34 section D and sub-section III. If you want to credit money on behalf of Liberia, you have to come to the Legislature. The Ministry of Public Works can only use US$2M that we approved.”
He wondered why the executive will award contracts and ask the contractors to proceed without the passage of a national budget by the Legislature to capture the extract US$19M.
“We don’t even have a budget and they are asking companies to go and credit US$21M. who’s going to pay for that? That’s a violation of the constitution and the PFM law which says before you contract a company for a service, the money should be available. There should be a source of the money. In this instance, there is no source because, there is no budget. Nobody knows where the money is coming from.”
He claimed that the alleged action of the executive also amounts to bad governance and as such, the public attention must be drawn to it.
He cautioned the contractors against proceeding with the contracts they have been awarded without the input of the Legislature.
Senator McGill recalled that similar action was also taken by the previous UP led-government, making the country to accumulate huge debts.
He stressed that expenditure on public infrastructure rehabilitation or construction must be captured in the national budget.
He said government should only award contracts following the approval of the country’s national budget.
“No money is available now and they are trying to commit the country (to a debt). So, what they are doing, they should stop it. We want to call on the contractors who are involved to not proceed.”
Meanwhile, Senator McGill has vowed to forward the matter to the Plenary of the Liberian Senate upon their return from break.
“We need transparency; good governance cannot start with bad governance. How sure are we that if we do not act now, the Ministry of Public Works will not commit the country to US$200M that is not in the budget from the way they are proceeding?”