IPNews-Monrovia, Liberia-8 June 2018:The Chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Bomi County District #1 Representative Edwin M. Snowe, Jr., has frowned on and explicitly disassociated himself from the ratification of the US$420.8 million Financing Agreement/Loan by neither voting for, against or abstaining.
Rep. Snowe, by virtue of his disassociation, was not included in any of the three tallies announced by Senior Stenographer Commick Chea, which showed the full passage of the US$420.8 million on Thursday, June 7, at the 35th day sitting.
At a press conference after the votes was taken, Rep. Snowe said his decision to refrain from the vote followed the deliberate refusal of Speaker Bhofal Chambers, to allow his participation in deliberations on the report from the Joint Committee on Ways, Means, Finance and Development Planning and the Judiciary on the report of the passage of the Loan.
“I was neither allowed to participate in the discussions nor speak to the moment to amend the motion which led to the passage of the US$420.8 million Loan. However, being that it was voted upon unanimously and being a member, I will say, we approved the loan,” Rep. Snowe said.
Speaking on what he had desire during the deliberations of the US$420.8 million Loan consultation, he declined to comment and said, “The loan has already passed, so I have nothing to say.”
Even though Rep. Snowe, refused to speak to the issues when quizzed, but there had been in recent weeks concerns by the public on what constitute the “Sovereign Guarantee” for the US$420.8 million loan.
Now with the passage of the loan agreement into law, in the absent of full disclosure, the results are just anyone’s guess.
In an apparent show of discontent, Rep. Snowe neither attended the public hearing nor participated in the vote concerning the US$536.4 million loan agreement. He had however just returned from attending the opening of the first ordinary session of the fourth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament, which ran from May 10 thru 30.
According to terms of both loan agreements, the first tranche of the loan will be sent to the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) after the confirmation dates of Sovereign Guarantees.
The Loan, which seeks to construct 256.2km of roads, was signed between the EBOMAF SA Company (Entrepreside Bonkoungou Mahamadou and Fils), headquartered in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and Government of Liberia.
The passage of the two Loans bring to total amount to US$957.2 million and was ratified within 72 hours — Tuesday and Thursday respectively.
ECOWAS Parliament Delocalized in Monrovia
The House’s Foreign Affairs Chairman has disclosed that the ECOWAS Parliament will hold a Delocalized Meeting of its Joint Committee on Communications and Information Technology; Education, Science and technology; Labor, Employment, Youth, Sports and Culture in Monrovia from August 28 to September 1.
Rep. Snowe also told journalists that he has been nominated by the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Moustapha Cisse Lo, to head an ECOWAS Parliamentary Mediation Follow-up Mission from June 11-15, 2018, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and also to attend another Delocalized Meeting in Bissau, Guinea Bissau from June 19-23, 2018.
