Filed in by Olando Testimony Zeongar – 0776819983/0880-361116/life2short4some@yahoo.com
Monrovia – A senior opposition figure, Liberty Party (LP) vice chairman for political affairs, Mr. Abraham Darius Dillon has called on all 72 other members of the 73-member House of Representatives to distance themselves from their Speaker, for his recent utterances that legislators will not be subjected to the international forensic investigative panel in the ongoing probe regarding some ‘missing’ 16 billion Liberian dollar banknotes.
Punch online service recalls that recently, as the search intensifies for the ‘missing billions’, which is approximately 4.75 percent of Liberia’s GDP, the US Government through its embassy near Monrovia, in a bid to assist Liberia get to the bottom of the saga, announced that through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), it “has reached out to independent, internationally recognized firms with specialization in forensic investigations to conduct a scoping mission that could ascertain the basic facts of the alleged missing currency and determine to what extent a broader mission would be needed.”
In a statement, the US Embassy near Monrovia said it is of the belief that with its forensic investigative team, any report coming out of the probe into the ‘missing billions’ of Liberian currency would be credible and effective.
“It is the assessment of the U.S. Embassy in Liberia that such a report would be the most credible and effective means to quickly determine the scale of the problem, and would be an appropriate means for the United States to support the Liberian government and citizens’ desire to understand the allegations and facts,” the U.S. Embassy statement said.
But on Thursday, while addressing a press conference, Speaker Bhofal Chambers said the US-hired team of forensic investigators probing the ‘missing’ 16 billion Liberian dollar banknotes saga will not succeed should the investigators make any attempt to include members of the House of Representatives in their investigation.
He emphatically stated that the House of Representatives will not honor any invitation from the international investigative panel, saying that lawmakers in the Lower House of the National Legislature are exempted from the ‘missing money’ probe.
Chambers said the reliance for his assertions was a provision enshrined in the laws of Liberia, even though he fell short of definitively stating the exact portion of the law that says so.
“The people from the FBI know contemporary Democracy; they know contemporary constitution. They will never think of inviting the House of Representative for an investigation doing so will be a failure on their part,” Speaker Chambers told the press conference.
He continued: “There was some speculations that the chief clerk was invited and if that is true it was an oversight and people involved have settled that, but this body cannot be invited for investigation.”
Howbeit, the opposition LP Darius Dillon wants Chambers’ colleagues to distance themselves from the Speaker over his anti-investigation utterances, calling on the Reps to publicly do so.
“I am challenging conscious-minded Members of the House of Representatives to publicly distance themselves from the statement made by Speaker Bhofal Chambers against the ongoing probe into the reported “missing” billions of Liberian Dollars,” Dillon wrote on Social media Friday.
Dillon described Speaker Chambers’ statement as not only being irresponsible and reckless, but maintained that it is a one that seeks to undermine the ‘missing billions’ probe and dampen the desire and right of the public to know the facts and truth of what he calls “this grave matter.”
He noted that “Chambers’ statement, if effected, can also constitute obstruction of justice for which he should be arrested and prosecuted.”
