IPNEWS: A pro-democracy group, Publish What You Pay Liberia Coalition is deeply concerned about the ongoing Western Cluster Memorandum of Understanding discussion that is trending. The Institution’s attention has been drawn to the gross violation of the 2000 Mining and Minerals Laws of Liberia Section 6.5 and 6.6, which requires a Mineral Development Agreement for a Class A License holder to carry out operations or extraction of resources in Liberia.
PWYP Liberia believes that the current MOU signed between some Officials of the Liberian Government and the Western Cluster Liberia Limited dated April 12, 2022, is petrifying and undermines the principles of transparency and accountability in the extractive sector and is a calculated attempt to deny the people of Liberia and especially the citizens of Bomi, Grand Cape Mount and Gbarpolu Counties their fair share of benefits of their resources.
Given the above, PWYP Liberia calls on the LEITI Secretariat to conduct a comprehensive post-award investigation of the processes leading to the MOU issuance. PWYP Liberia requests the LEITI Secretariat to analyze the MOU’s content against the company’s original MDA to ensure that all the legal requirements placed in the original MDA are not compromised in the MOU by the few hands full of “Negotiators.” Where observed, the report should point out any significant deviations. The report should also seek to determine the legal basis of the MOU and its subsequent implementation.
PWYP Liberia views the current confusion between citizens on one hand and the Government and concessionaire on the other as critical, thus, undermining the doctrines of Contract Transparency, a core value of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
PWYP Liberia believes the fight against the mismanagement of the country’s natural resources should be holistic and sincere. PWYP Liberia unconditionally calls on the Government to lead the effort to calm the situation by taking the necessary actions to address the public outcry in the affected counties and manage the concessionaire’s optimum interest for the country’s greater good.
Finally, PWYP Liberia calls on citizens in the affected counties to remain peaceful, engaged, and constructive and avoid conflict as we discuss the situation. As a civil society institution working to ensure greater transparency and accountability over the governance of the country’s natural resources and ensuring that citizens benefit from the extraction and exploration/ exploitation of their natural resources, we remain firm in ensuring its objectives are achieved.
