Liberia: Enjoining Issues With Grand Bassa Senator Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence

Senator Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence raises questions about suspected criminal behavior by legislators for which they could likely face prosecution in the future. 

 

Grand Bassa Senator Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence’s stinging criticisms of her colleagues who acquiesced to an illegal proposition to divert revenue intended for the National Road Fund without the explicit approval of the National Legislature expressed through a “Joint Resolution”, is in effect a call for accountability.

And this should not be taken lightly because it raises questions about suspected criminal behavior by legislators for which they could likely face prosecution in the future. 

Hers comes the backdrop of widely held public perceptions that the Finance Minister did not tell the nation the whole truth about the diversion of revenue from the National Road Fund. Was this because the Minister had misrepresented facts about the movement of revenue into the accounts of the National Road Fund as alleged?

Minister Tweah among other things had informed the public that revenue generated by the Liberia Revenue Authority from every gallon of Petroleum sold is deposited into Government of Liberia (GoL) Consolidated Accounts and then later transferred to the accounts of the National Road Fund.

But Section 5.3 of the National Road Fund Act provides otherwise and it reads:

5.3 TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO THE ROAD FUND ACCOUNT 

1. All transfers to the Road Fund shall be made into the Road Fund Account designated by the Minister of Finance and Development Planning and established in this Act. 

2. Where funds are to be transferred from or through the MFDP, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning shall agree on a schedule of transfers with the National Road Fund Manager prior to the commencement of each fiscal year,

As can be seen, there is nowhere in the Acts that provides that funds should first be transferred into GoL Consolidated Account at the Central Bank before onward transfer to the Road Fund Account.

Additionally, it is stated clearly in Section 6.4 of the Act under the caption, “BANK ACCOUNT OF THE FUND AND WITHDRAWAL PROCEDURES” that the Central Bank is the depository of monies for the exclusive use of the Fund.

1. A Fund Account for the exclusive use of the Fund shall be opened at the Central Bank from which all disbursements are made and revenues deposited.

More to that, Section 6.1 of the Road Fund Act on the use of funds states in clear and unambiguous language the following: 

6.1 USE OF FUNDS 

1. Monies collected for the Road Fund shall be used for: 

a. Routine and periodic maintenance of roads, bridges and directly associated facilities 

b. Emergency works (to a maximum of 7% of annual expenditure on road maintenance by the Fund)

 c. Costs directly associated with the running of the Office of the Road Fund (to a maximum of 1.5% of annual expenditure on road maintenance by the Fund in pursuit of its responsibilities identified in this Act).

2. The Office of the Road Fund shall not expend monies from the Fund, except in accordance with the Annual Road Maintenance Expenditure Program approved by the IMSC.

 Further to this, on the disbursement of funds, this is what the Act says in Section 6.3:

1. Disbursements from the Fund Account shall only be made in accordance with the approved Annual Road Maintenance Expenditure Program. 

Once again, the language on the expenditure of funds is clear and unambiguous. 

There is no provision in the Act for the expenditure of funds outside the framework of the approved Annual Road Maintenance Expenditure Program as stated below:

Section 6.3:

1. Disbursements from the Fund Account shall only be made in accordance with the approved Annual Road Maintenance Expenditure Program. 

2. Payments of interim accounts and stage payments shall be conditional upon adequate evidence being presented by the implementing agency to demonstrate that progress on the works has been made in line with expectations.”

As regards banking(deposit) and withdrawal procedures, Section 6.4 of the Act provides the following:

1. A Fund Account for the exclusive use of the Fund shall be opened at the Central Bank from which all disbursements are made and revenues deposited. 

2. There may be one or more accounts maintained at commercial banks on behalf of the Fund for the Fund administration, opened by the National Road Fund Manager, as approved by the Minister responsible for Finance and Development Planning. 

3. All revenues or other monies for the benefit of the Fund shall be paid into the Fund Account. 

4. Monies may be withdrawn from the Fund Account upon presentatio1a11n to the bank of the withdrawal instrument, approved by the Minister responsible for Finance and Development Planning, bearing signatures as stipulated below. 

5. In the case of financial transactions, these shall be authenticated by the signatures as follows: a. National Road Fund Manager and one of the following:

 i. Comptroller and Accountant General

 ii. Head of PFMU or 

iii. Chief Accountant of PFMU 

Considering all the above it becomes clear that the Act was violated not only by Finance Minister Tweah but by a select group of Representatives and Senators as well.

Not excluded the Management Team of the Road Fund who most likely acted in collusion to facilitate the illegal diversion of revenue intended for the Road Fund.

The Act clearly states that withdrawal and disbursement of funds should be strictly for the purposes spelt out under the Act.

But, this is how Senator Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence reacted to claims by the Finance Minister that he secured verbal approval from the Legislature.

“It is clear that approving such a transaction after the fact is wrong and may make legislators who approved such an illegal act criminally liable tomorrow…

“First of all, the Legislature does not give verbal authorization, neither does the President Pro-tempore of the Senate, nor the Speaker have such authority to do so, as such action when legal, must be taken by majority votes in plenary supported by a resolution signed by the majority. 

“Therefore, authorization for the redirection of funds was never given because 'verbal authorization' as claimed by the Minister of Finance does not qualify as legal authorization.”