Amos Tweh, [email protected], Contributing Writer
It has been gathered from the grapevine that President Weah submitted the draft Recast Budget, as required by the Resolution approving the State of the Emergency, to the National Legislature on Sunday, May 17, 2020. The process has proceeded surreptitiously because contrary to the requirements of transparency set out in the Public Financial Management (PFM) Law and public policy formulation, the public was never informed about the submission of the Recast Budget. To date, not a single press release on the submission of the Recast Budget was issued by the Executive Mansion, MICAT, the MFDP, or the Legislature itself through its press bureaus.
We demand that the Executive and the Legislature immediately make public the draft Recast Budget for public scrutiny as required by law. Any attempt by the two branches to proceed with the process to the exclusion of the public amounts to a brazen act of criminality against the people of Liberia, whose resources are likely being apportioned in ways and manners that serve the selfish interest of the Executive and the 103 legislators.
As further evidence of the secrecy and possible conspiracy against the Liberian people, the House of Representatives on Monday, May 18, 2020 passed the Recast Budget and submitted same to the Senate for concurrence, barely a day after the submission of the instrument by the President. The Senate is expected to concur today. There is no evidence that the House hosted any hearing with the Minister of Finance and his team, either physically or virtually, on the Recast Budget before passage. (It should be noted that the Senate has hosted two in-person briefing sessions at the Capitol Building with Minister of Commerce Wilson Tarpeh on progress being made on food distribution). The calculated secrecy that has attended the submission and consideration of the Recast Budget does not only reveal the sinister motive of the Executive aided by the Legislature to conspire against the Liberian people, but is also in clear contravention of the PFM Law (Section 14 & 18), which state:
Section 14. Public Access to the Budget
1. The Proposed Budget will be made available to the public immediately following its submission to the Legislature.
2. The Approved Budget will also be available to the public immediately following its publication into handbill.
Section 18. Supplementary Budgets and Mid-Year Review
1. During the fiscal year, the Approved Budget may be amended through supplementary budgets to be approved by the Legislature.
2. The preparation, approval and execution of a supplementary budget is governed by the same rules applicable to the approval and execution of the National Budget as specified in this Act.
We demand that the Executive and the Legislature immediately make public the draft Recast Budget for public scrutiny as required by law. Any attempt by the two branches to proceed with the process to the exclusion of the public amounts to a brazen act of criminality against the people of Liberia, whose resources are likely being apportioned in ways and manners that serve the selfish interest of the Executive and the 103 legislators.
What is concerning is that some legislative sources have hinted about some troubling appropriations in the Recast Budget – that the budget of the Ministry of Health has been significantly sliced, which will affect health care delivery at all hospitals and clinics across the country receiving grants from government; that budget of the Ministry of Public Works have been increased by almost US$10 million; and that budgets of many educational institutions and colleges have suffered big cuts.
The secret submission of the recast budget to the Legislature in the absence of a detailed budget performance report clearly speaks to the incompetence and gross violation of the PFM law.
We therefore call on the legislature to halt the secret review of the recast budget in contravention of the law and ensure that it is made public as required by law.
Amos Tweh is former youth lLeader of Unity Party and briefly served as Deputy Minister for Urban Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs. He is a political activist and a Development practitioner. He holds MSc in Planning and Project Management from Birmingham City University.