Source: EITI Wants Nyenkan Out as Liberia Risks Being Delisted

Monrovia – Mr. Gabriel Nyenkan, the head of the secretariat of Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI), is expected to face more pressure as a team of experts from EITI international concludes a two-day visit to the country on Wednesday, September 4.

---

Report by Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, [email protected]

---

The delegation, headed by M.Baby Balde – Africa Director of EITI International secretariat, arrived in Monrovia Monday, September 2 and has been holding meetings with the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) and the Liberia Secretariat to access the current state of EITI in the country. 

Mr. Balde and his team’s recommendations to IEITI will obviously put Liberia in further bad book with the international transparency organization.   

According to a source closed to the discussions, the EITI international team has expressed concern about the conduct of activities at the Liberia secretariat and is keen on recommending the removal of Mr. Nyenkan.

“They don’t want him there – many partners are not speaking favorable of Nyenkan due to the way he took over the agency and the way Liberia has abandoned the standards,” our source said.

President George Weah faced massive backlashes after he allegedly breached the law to appoint Mr. Nyenkan back in March 2018. 

The President’s decision drew ire from many local and international stakeholders, who condemned Nyenkan’s appointment and hostile takeover.

Since then, the agency and Liberia have struggled to comply with the international standards set by EITI International.

Liberia remains suspended since September 2018 “for not publishing the EITI Report for the Fiscal Period ending June 2016 within the first of July, 2018 deadline.”

But LEITI argued at the time that “missing out on its 2015/2016 fiscal period deadline should not be used as a ground to suspend a country whose government has just spent seven month in power” and that it was a decision that did not give positive reflection of Liberia’s performance.

Liberia Still Performing Poorly

Now, as the EITI International team concludes its visit to Liberia, our source disclosed that they are “not impressed” with the Weah-led government’s handling of the anti-graft institution – an agency responsible to set the standard for the country’s extractive sector.    

“Poor funding from government to the EITI is due lack of political support from the government and our international partner which is EITI international is very unhappy with the way our country is proceeding,” the source added.

Our source added that EITI international is also very concerned about the civil society organizations involvement with the EITI process and procedural.

The team has also stressed the ineffectiveness of the MSG – the most important arm of the EITI. The MSG is lagging because it lacks the support and its functions were reportedly being usurped by political actors appointed by the President.

All of the MSG committees were only recently constituted after several months of delays created by upheavals at the secretariat following the takeover of the secretariat by Mr. Nyenkan.

Sources at the LEITI say the absence of the MSG’s committees has impacted the performance of the agency.

Nyenkan, who already faces criticism for his handling of the secretariat, will come under more pressure as the IEITI plans to give an ultimatum to the Liberian government to make changes at the agency.

“The IEITI is prepared to give an ultimatum to the government up to December this year to make changes and if the government fails Liberia will be delisted by early 2020,” our source said. 

What Liberia Stands to Lose?

Liberia was one of the first countries to implement the EITI and the country’s progress achieved over the years was instrumental in the development of the EITI Standard in 2013, said the EITI on its website.

Based on its compliance with the standards, Liberia increased its revenue with the number growing from US$29.5 million in 2007 to over US$100 million in 2009.

In 2017, the country made “meaningful progress in implementing the EITI Standard” as part of its first validations in Africa.  

With the current dismal performance coupled with the current suspension and lingering risk of being delisted, experts say Liberia would struggle to attract investors to its extractive sector since many multilateral firms are obligated to comply with the basic EITI standards.

The EITI presents indicators to investors and international financial institutions about a country’s commitment to transparency; and at the same time mitigates “political and reputational risks” and “creates a level playing field” for investors in countries where they operate. 

Therefore, observers say the government’s current struggles to attract investors would worsen if the country is delisted.

“If the country is delisted it will affect our chances of attracting investors to the extractive sector and this will add to our bad investment portfolio, and this will show that the country is non-compliance and it will give us a bad profile,” a source with the LEITI MSG told FrontPageAfrica on Tuesday.