Filed in by Olando Testimony Zeongar – 0776819983/0880-361116/life2short4some@yahoo.com

Monrovia – Following stern warning from Liberia’s development partners regarding the repercussions that the “greater scale of irregular withdrawals” of donors’ funds by the George Weah administration will have “potential negative impact” on the country, the Government of Liberia (GoL) has justified its action, declaring that it’s an age-old practice of successive administrations.

A communication seen by PUNCH online service and signed by nine of Liberia’s donor partners, including H.E. Helene Cave, Head of delegation – Ambassador EU Delegation to Liberia; H.E. Terence Wills, Ambassador, Embassy of France; Mr. Gunter Plambeck, Charge d’ Affaires, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany; H.E. Catherine Campbell, Ambassador, Embassy of Ireland; H.E. Tsutomu Himeno, Ambassador, Embassy of Japan; H.E. Gunnar Andreas Holm, Ambassador Royal Norwegian Embassy; H.E. Ingrid Wetterqvist, Ambassador, Embassy of Sweden; H.E. David Belgrove, Ambassador, Embassy of the Kingdom of Great Britain; and H.E. Christine Elder, Ambassador, Embassy of the United States of America, the development partners described the act of the GoL withdrawing monies from donor-funded project accounts as a “so-called borrowing initiative”, and declared that such act damages donors’ confidence in the Weah-led government’s use of donor resources and in its ability to serve as an effective partner on development program.

“We are apprehensive about the potential negative impact that such conduct may have on assistance levels to Liberia over all,” the donor partners’ strongly-worded communication added.

The donor partners are demanding that monies unrightfully withdrawn by the Weah administration from donor-funded project accounts and expended on purposes outside of projects agreed upon be restored without delay and that such unacceptable practices cease immediately.

But at a Ministry of Information Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) regular press conference Thursday, government spokesman, Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe, termed the donor partners’ concern as an “age-old debate.”

… “I challenge any of the partners to say that they’ve never raised this issue before. It’s an accounting administrative issue,” Nagbe said.

He acknowledged that GoL has received the donor partners’ communication, which he referred to as an “informal information note”, in which he said the issues raised by the donors are historical issues, meaning that from time to time, the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning removes monies from accounts under the supervision of the government to its consolidated account, to handle government’s expenditures.

Nagbe explained that in this present case where the donors have raised alarm, if the government has a duty to perform like making salary payments with its blotted wage bill which is very high, and once there is cash flow issues, the government accesses accounts of donor-funded projects, removes monies and transfers same to its consolidated account to handle government expenditures.

Contrary to what many Liberians mostly critics of the Weah-led government are terming as being illegal, Nagbe contends that by the GoL withdrawing donors’ funds unauthorized and expending same on projects not agreed upon, is not criminal in nature.

“There has been no criminal activity as a result of the movement of funds from one group of accounts to another – all documented properly,” Nagbe argues, stating that even the communication from the donors talks about such act being temporary and irregular.

“Even the very letter that the people quoting now to make it look like somebody stole money, they said temporary, irregular,” he said.

“Temporary and irregular doesn’t mean illicit. It doesn’t mean illegal. It doesn’t mean criminal,” he further argued.

“Not the first time”

Information Minister Nagbe averred that this is not the first time donors have raised such alarm, indicating that the former government headed by ex-president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is also guilty of the same act, stating that even during Sirleaf’s regime, the donors also raised the same matter.

“We remember when the EU sent 13 million dollars right after Ebola? The previous government used some of that money for some other purposes – they used it, and explained it,” disclosed Nagbe, who also worked in the Sirleaf administration in three positions at separate times, as Minister of Transport, Youth and Sports Minister and Minister of Information respectively.

Instead of criticizing President Weah and his administration for what the donor partners term irregular withdrawals from donor-funded project accounts, Information Minister Nagbe said the president rather deserves to be commended because according to Nagbe, since the donors have been raising this issue, this is the first time that actions were taken.

He explained that when Samuel Tweah took over as Minister of Finance, one of the first things he had to do was to replace some 2.2 million dollars of donors’ funding removed from donor-funded project accounts by the Sirleaf administration.

“So he (Tweah) became minister, there were monies in similar fashion withdrawn to service government’s activities by his predecessor Boimah Kamara, and the donors said put the money back – they wrote letter, but their letter did not leak, so it looked like nothing bad happened,” said Nagbe, who added that the first major expenditure that the Weah-led government undertook when it came to power was to refund 2.2 million dollars and placed such an amount back into the donor-funded account.

He noted that under the Weah administration monies were moved from donor-funded project accounts to the GoL consolidated accounts, with the anticipation that when government’s cash position improves because of improvement in revenue generation, government would then recapitalize the accounts from which it unrightfully withdrew funds.

Howbeit, Nagbe admitted that the donors have frowned on the act, and that government is engaging with the development partners in setting up the proper perimeters to deal with the anomalies comprehensively.

However, he insists that even though the donors have registered their dissatisfaction over government’s move to withdraw from donor-funded project accounts unauthorized, it does not mean somebody stole money.

“So what’s all this noise is about? They say it’s not a good practice – okay, so it’s not the first time,” he pointed out.

Nagbe admitted that the GoL’s unauthorized withdrawal of donors’ monies is not the right way to operate, but still justified that “normally, we collect government revenue, the donor-funded project funds are set aside, that’s normal – and this is why they themselves said [it’s] temporary, because they know that’s the exception, that’s not the rule.”

He continued: “It’s not something we do every month or every day. But when you have a crunch, a cash flow problem, particularly when you have to pay civil servants and execute other expenditures, and you make this move and they raise the issue, they are not raising because they are saying the government is corrupt, they are raising tactical issues, administrative issues, and we have been dealing with them.”

“Dig hole, cover hole”

Nagbe: “The people say we ain’t want your to touch our money at all – when we put it there it must remain there, even if people dying, no fuel in the hospital, let it remain there until your collect your own money. We say no, when we jam like that and we expecting money, you know, you dig hole, cover hole and then you put the money back – that’s all that has happened.”