— As Liberia Is Expected to Pay USD 80Million in 4yrs Amidst mounting calls for Rejection
IPNEWS: History remains the best teacher for tomorrow’s people, yet Liberia seems not to learn from the happenings of the past.
Upon the inception of former President George Manneh Weah government in May 2018, similar deal with Enterprise Bonkoungou Mahamadou & Fils, or EBOMAF for short, for an over US420 million loans to prefinance the designing and construction of roads in Monrovia and Southeastern Liberia. However, it fell short of being transparent. Not many details were provided, leaving many questions unanswered.
Again, the Joseph Boakai government now seemed to be repeating the same playbook with the lack of full disclosure on the 285 yellow machines why has begun arriving in Liberia.
The English dictionary described such deal as ‘Deal with the Devil’, or “Faustian bargain” which is also used metaphorically to condemn a person or persons perceived as having cooperated with an evil person or organization. An example of this is the Nazi-Jewish negotiations during The Holocaust, both positively and negatively.
Since the arrival and display of yellow machines brought to the country via the Freeport of Monrovia in an impressive and welcoming style, several speculations are now beginning to mount even though Liberians are yearning for paved roads across the country to enable easy access, but they seem to find themselves in a dilemma. The government parades a fleet of new yellow machines and trucks with little information about sources of funding and circumstances surrounding the entire deal.
While ordinary citizens are applauding the arrival of the machines, some critical minds are demanding details of the deal, especially when members of the 55th Legislature, who are direct representatives of people are left in oblivion with no knowledge of negotiations abroad that led to the arrival of an initial batch of 22 pieces of yellow machines out of a total of 285 pieces that the Executive Branch of Government has announced.
Liberian laws, including the Constitution, say the Legislature should ratify loans of the magnitude of the Boakai-acquired road equipment deal, and procurement standards and policies also require prior competitive bidding. But, so far, the Boakai administration reportedly went into a deal with a yet unknown supplier that shipped the equipment to Liberia even before the Executive Branch asked the Legislature to stamp the deal with ratification.
Article 34(d)(iii) – 1986 Constitution states that “ no loans shall be raised by the Government on behalf of the Republic or guarantees given for any public institutions or authority otherwise than by or under the authority of a legislative enactment”
Additionally, Part 5 Section 47 – Amended PPCC Law of 2010 (Open Competitive Bidding) states that:
- Open competitive bidding (or “open bidding”) may be nationally advertised or internationally advertised, and may include a prequalification procedure or the application of a post-qualification procedure.
- (2) Open bidding may be carried out in a single stage or, when permitted under subsection (3) of this Section, in two stages.
- (3) Open bidding may be held in two stages in the following cases: (a) When it is not feasible to define fully the technical or contractual aspects of the procurement to elicit competitive bids; and (b) When, because of the complex nature of the goods, works or services to be procured, the Procuring Entity wishes to consider various technical or contractual solutions, and to discuss with bidders the relative merits of those variants before deciding on the final technical or contractual specifications.
- (4) Open competitive bidding shall comply with Sections 57 through 66 of this Act. Two-stage bidding will be governed by Sections 57 through 66 of this Act, to the extent applicable, and by Section 67 of this Act.
Last week, Nimba County District No. 7 Representative Musa Bility declared that something is fundamentally wrong with deal despite its promising nature to solve an intractable national debacle.
“Esteemed members of the 55th Legislature (HoR), the current situation demands that we fulfill our elected duty to safeguard our democracy,” he wrote on his Facebook page in apparent reference of road equipment deal.
“With an impending decision on a questionable loan for the procurement of machines, we must carefully consider the impact on our nation’s best interests.”
The Nimba County District No. 7 lawmaker opined that while the need for infrastructure improvements is evident, “the terms of this particular deal do not align with our constitutional responsibilities”.
“It is essential that we reject this proposal in order to uphold the integrity of our constitution and act in the best interest of Liberia,” he continued. “This is our moment to demonstrate unwavering commitment to our country.”
Also, Gbarpolu County Senator Amara Konneh frowns on the government for its lack of transparency in the acquisition of the earth-moving machines.
Sen. Amara Konneh highlighted the need for addressing important issues surrounding the acquisition of “yellow machines” and other assets by the Liberian government.
The lack of a financing instrument at the Legislature for the recent unveiling of the “yellow machines” by the Executive Branch has raised concerns about transparency and accountability.
Konneh emphasized the importance of full transparency and oversight in the legislature regarding the acquisition of assets such as police cars and potentially NTA buses.
The absence of evidence of competitive procurement has further deepened these concerns, as it may have implications for the government’s reputation and adherence to the rule of law.
Now, researcher and activist Martin K.N. Kollie, has now given a striking revelation that Liberia is expected to pay a whopping US$80 million over 4 years for this devil deal. That’s why they are tight-lipped.
“This is a WASTE and abuse of power. South African businessman, Robert Gumede along with his accomplices Mamaka Bility and Sylvester Grigsby, is about to milk tens of millions of USD from our national treasury through dubious deal and kickbacks. Let’s make this crystal clear. We are not against development because we know that development will improve our people’s lives. So, we want development but not at the expense of LAWS on accountability, transparency, and compliance.” Martin K.N. Kollie clarified.
Information available points to South African businessman, Robert Matana Gumede of Guma Group, negotiated the 285 yellow machines with a Kawiti company known as Official deals and contracts of Sany Group.
Specifications of the different equipment that is expected to arrive and some of which were imported and displayed last week includes
1) Sany Tipper Truck (SYZ320C0-8Y) – 12
2) Sany Water Tanker (SYM525IGS) – 10
3) Sany Front Loaders (SW955K) – 6
4) Sany Motor Grader (SMG200C-8) – 6
5) Sany Excavator (SY335C) – 4
Others are: Sany Front Loader SW955K1 | Wheel loader | Wheel Loader | SANY Group (sanyglobal.com), Sany Medium Excavator SY335C (Stage3) and Sany Dump Truck SYZ320C-8Y(V)
Now the roaming questions about the deal are:
- Which country are those equipment coming from and under what arrangement/agreement are they being supplied to Liberia and by whom?
2) Who is funding this project? Are Liberian taxpayers going to pay for this through budgetary appropriation or it’s a gift? Who’s paying for this?
3) The total cost of this yellow machine deal in dollars and cents is what and for how many years will such money be paid?
4) If GOL is procuring these machines, were PPCC regulations (e.g. competitive bidding) followed as required by Part 5 Section 47 of The 2005 Amended PPCC Law?
5) If GOL has entered into a pre-financing loan agreement with a third party or with Sany Group itself, did such an agreement go through legislative enactment as required by Article 34(d) of The 1986 Liberian Constitution?
6) Did the Executive branch of government conduct any need-based study before rolling out this 285-yellow-machine project?
7) What research outcomes/analyses in the short-run or the long-run informed the government’s decision to invest in this yellow-machine project? Was there any cost-benefit analysis? If yes, where are the findings? If not, why?
8)How will the machines be maintained, fueled, etc.? Who pays for this and what’s the wear and tear cost?
9) Does the government have trained operators for these 285 machines? If yes, are they Liberian operators and road engineers? What and how will they be paid?
10) How did the government arrive at 19 machines for each county when county sizes, populations, and development (road) needs are varied?
11) Why aren’t MPW, NIC, NBC, etc. directly involved with these negotiations and engagements? Courtesy of Activist Martin K. N. Kollie
