Monrovia – The opposition Liberty Party (LP) has refuted claims made by Mulbah Morlu, Chairman of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), that Liberty Party should be a party of interest in the ongoing investigation surrounding the alleged missing L$16 billion.
Henry Karmo [email protected]
Morlu is said to have opined in a recent interviewed that investigation into the ongoing alleged missing money should include LP to establish where the LP obtained money to purchase the fleets of vehicles purchased by the party for campaigning purposes it had during the 2017.
“Well, Mr. Morlu, we have never exercised any control over the vault of the Central Bank before. We do not have any authority to order the printing of banknotes. We don’t control the ports of entry — Roberts International Airport and the Freeport of Monrovia. How then could we have taken portion of your more than L$15 billion to buy pick-ups?
“Are you looking for culprits, Mr. Morlu? Turn yourself over to the expected team of international investigators and give them the information you have regarding the pickups that you saw conveying money to different locations. Don’t end there.
“Call the inner circles of your ruling CDC government and explain the misery of how money was conveyed from the Freeport to the Central Bank and within minutes taken to undisclosed locations. You can even go further, as Chairman of the ruling party; take a visit around the city and its suburbs, you probably would also want to visit the Sub region to see the fabulous homes that are being bought by some of your partisans who just less than one year ago were living like indigents. From whence did they get the money to become rich over night? This is a good case for investigation,” Senator Steve Zargo stated.
Presiding of the Sunday, October 14, press conference, Sen. Zargo, who is LP Chairman, stated that while investigation is ongoing, his intelligence has revealed that efforts are underway to backdate records relating to assets owned by some officials of government.
“By the way, have you forgotten about the U$25m that was said to have been infused in the money market to deal with the case of excess Liberian banknotes? Which commercial banks did your government deal with in buying the excess from the market? These are the areas your attention must go, Mr. Chairman and not on Liberty Party that has got nothing to do with the operation of your government. We know you and your institution very well,” Zargo said.
The Senator for Lofa County, which the ruling party failed to win in 2017, claimed that the nation is in an unusually sickening situation. “Our national challenge is not about a giant, who yells and everyone bows in blind submission, neither is it about a giant, who may have the strength to lift one container filled with state money and drops it to a place of his choice. Our real problem is the uncontrollable new-found culture of loyalty that causes the loyalists not to be able to see any wrong in the life of the one to whom loyalty is paid.
“If the reported disappearance of close to L$16 billion of public funds that could radically change the lives of thousands of our people is not such an issue to galvanize our national spirit, then we do not see what else in Liberia will do.”
Speaking furthered, he equated Liberia’s current problem to one that is near neglect by its citizens. In his words, the ratio of students in schools and those still out of school due to lack of support almost stands at 1:1.
He also claimed that the prices of drugs are skyrocketing in the Southeast where roads are terribly bad, the price of a 25kg bag of the nation’s staple, rice, is now three times what it costs in Monrovia about L$6,000.
“Even in the capital city here, prices of basic commodities are very high. Our citizens can hardly find the bare minimum to survive.
A government that professes to be for the people must firstly address these hurting conditions rather than tread the path of self-enrichment,” he emphasized.
The LP chairman called on the government of President Weah to move swiftly and make some interventions in the “difficult situations” the Liberian people are facing.
He recommended that there should be short terms efforts aimed at job creation to put money into the pockets of young people; that the government should consider a micro-credit initiative so that mainly mothers would have an opportunity to earn money to send their children to school.
LP also recommended that Government should meet with the commercial transport unions in an effort to come up with realistic transport fares within and around the city.
“And that Government should step up its monitoring mechanism of hospitals, pharmacies and clinics in an effort to intervene in the high costs of drugs and other health-related services.”