IPNEWS-Monrovia: The Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Nathaniel McGill has come in defense of recent reports that he is amassing wealth uncontrollably despite the tough economic situations Liberians are faced with on a daily basis.

There have been media reports online that the palaver hut in question was built by Minister McGill for his wife, Vivian Innis McGill (VIM). According to the reports palaver hut was described as mansion, in fact, a resort overlooking the Farmington River in Marshall. The report further alleged that it was specifically built by McGill as his wife’s 36 birthday gift.

Excerpts of the report: “Despite the challenges the country is going through where “hospitals reporting no vaccines in the country for newborn babies when public hospitals are shutting down in the country due to lack of allotment”, Mr. McGill was insensitive to the condition and has gone to the extent to “surprise his wife with a gift of a state-of-the-art deck built in the middle of Farmington River in Marshall with a multi-million dollar estate named and styled “VIM ISLAND” at her 36th Birthday bash, claiming VIM to be an acronym for Vivian Innis McGill of building a private resort running into millions of dollars.”

McGill said the report claiming that he built a multimillion-dollar resort for his wife as her birthday gift was just not true. He argued that the property in question which is a palaver hut was constructed alone by his wife Vivian.

Mrs. Vivian Innis McGill and Minister Nat McGill

McGill put the cost of the property in question at US25, 000.00 which he said was purely funded by his wife and that he had no part to play in its construction.

He explained that what was so hypocritical about the allegation is that for someone to actually price the palaver hut as a multi-million dollar property speaks volume of how far people are prepared to go to malign others.

Justifying his wife’s financial status, the Minister of State for Presidential Affair disclosed that his wife, Vivian Innis McGill has been working with the UN System on a couple of projects as a development practitioner.

Her works and activities according to Minister McGill, have centered on lives of women, children, disadvantaged youth and the extremely poor.

Mrs. Vivian Innis McGill – a development practitioner in the UN system according her husband, Minister McGill

Minister McGill further states: “Her career path began at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection as the Supervisor of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR-1325) Secretariat at the Ministry. Upon completion of her graduate studies in 2016, she was seconded by the Ministry of Gender to serve as the Project Manager for the Girls Ebola Recovery Livelihood Support Project (GERLS) sponsored by the World Bank. 

She currently works as the Gender Justice Specialist for the Rule of Law Program and Gender Focal Person for UNDP Liberia Country Office.”

Concluding Minister McGill says, with the work his wife does, coupled with her experiences she is capable of erecting a US25, 000.00 property without a dime from his wallet.

It can be recalled on one his radio shows – The Simeon Freeman Show – the political leader of the opposition Movement for Progressive Change (MPC) disclosed that the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs along with the Office of the President are allotted a little over US$20 million dollars in the current fiscal 2021-2022 year budget.

Mr. Freeman said out of the US$20 million allotted the Office of the President gets US$5 million plus, while other institutions that falls under the Ministry of State, including the Presidential Advisory Board, the Press Secretary Office and Communications Department, etc. all get their share from the remaining funds contained in the US$20 million budget.

It can be recalled following the passing of the mother of Minister Nathaniel McGill, he was accused of constructing a house to bury his mother. Political pundits and Liberians in general frowned Minister McGill’s decision to construct a house to bury his mother when the country’s economy was shamble and the daily lives of the ordinary Liberians were tough.

Flashback: Minister McGill and family at his mother’s burial. Inset is the tomb that caused uproar in the country

McGill sought to clear the air over the criticisms of the state-of-the-art burial tomb constructed for his mother. The public perception has been it was built with state resources. While that is yet to be proven by any of his critics, the sticky question has been, “Could he have afforded such a burial prior to the CDC-led government coming into power?”

While many see the tomb, which was situated in a building that has electricity and a large fenced compound as a waste of resources, Minister McGill has stated that the much-talked-about burial is a fulfillment of the Bible’s Fifth Commandment which states: “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

In the interpretation of the Fifth Commandment is quite unique. In a Facebook post, the Minister rationalized that the latter part of the commandment seeks to say that in a society where children honor their parents, that society flourishes while urging building a society where honor is bestowed on parents.

In the end, Minister McGill said what he did was give his mother a befitting burial, but failed to comment on the financial aspect of such burial when indeed the country’s economy was struggling and the lives of the people were poor and not improving in keeping with their Pro-Poor agenda when they were seeking the leadership of Liberia.