-Big Blow to Weah Administration

-“Weah Didn’t Speak to What Washington Wants to Hear – War Crimes Court,” A Washington Insider 

IPNEWS: It is now official that Liberia didn’t get a break into the final listing of the United States Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) selection. The only countries selected from Africa are neighboring Sierra Leone and Côte d’Ivoire. Others are Mozambique, Zambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Togo, and Mauritania. Had Liberia been selected, it would have gotten more millions of United States dollars.

The Board of the MCC met on December 8, 2022 and selected those countries that passed the scorecards of the MCC. This would have given those nations that had scored good “grades” compact grants (free money). Though Liberia had initially passed 12 out of the 20 indicators, it was left out of the final selection by the Board. The Board didn’t give reason why Liberia was not selected in the final listing.

However, below is what the MCC said of its final selection.

Criteria

“The criteria and methodology used to assess countries, including the methodology for the annual scorecards, are outlined in the “Report on the Criteria and Methodology for Determining the Eligibility of Candidate Countries for Millennium Challenge Account Assistance for Fiscal Year 2023” Scorecards reflecting each country’s performance on the indicators are available on MCC’s website at https://www.mcc.gov/who-we-select/scorecards.

The Board also considered whether any adjustments should be made for data gaps, data lags, or recent events since the indicators were published, as well as strengths or weaknesses in particular indicators. Where appropriate, the Board took into account additional quantitative and qualitative information, such as evidence of a country’s commitment to fighting corruption, investments in human development outcomes, or poverty rates. MCC published a Guide to Supplemental Information to increase transparency about the type of supplemental information the Board uses to assess a country’s policy performance. MCC also published webpages ³ regarding how MCC assesses performance on the new Employment Opportunity and revised Natural Resource Protection scorecard indicators. In keeping with legislative directives, the Board also considered the opportunity to reduce poverty and promote economic growth in a country, in light of the overall information available, as well as the availability of appropriated funds.

The Board sees the selection decision as an annual opportunity to determine where MCC funds can be most effectively used to support poverty reduction through economic growth in relatively well-governed, poor countries. The Board carefully considers the appropriate nature of each country partnership—on a case-by-case basis—based on factors related to poverty reduction through economic growth, the sustainability of MCC’s investments, and the country’s ability to attract and leverage public and private resources in support of development.”

Liberia’s Struggle for MCC Approval

For several years, Liberia had struggled to qualify for the United States’ Millennium Compact Challenge (MCC). This latest decision from the US Government comes as a blow to the George Weah-led Administration, which had blown out of proportion the news that it had scored fairly good “grades” in 12 out 20 of the indicators that qualify candidate nation for the US Government’s grant money.

The regime stooges began running with the news that because of that initial news, Liberia was now set to get the millions of dollars from the US Government because it has now passed 12 of the 20 indicators.

The decision also comes at a time when supporters of President Weah and the regime felt that relations with the US have now become smooth and cooled as evidence by recent selfies of Presidents Weah and Biden at the US-Africa Summit.

Why Liberia Failed

Even though it is not very clear why the MCC Board didn’t select Liberia, however, an insider within Washington, the US capital, told IPNEWS that President Weah was presented with a perfect opportunity to say what Washington wanted to hear but deliberately chose to say something completely different.

“Weah Didn’t Speak to What Washington Wants to Hear. The signals coming from Washington had been very clear with the many visits of senior Biden officials. All of those officials, including the US Ambassador on the ground in Liberia, have been speaking a certain language that only true diplomats can understand and decipher. Unfortunately, President Weah and those in his diplomatic circle, are yet to understand what Washington wants. The key thing that Washington wants to hear at this time is a true commitment to establishing a war crimes court!”