What George Weah and others did in the name of “covert operations” is fraud and theft on the grandest scale. No one should be able to misuse and abuse US$178m of GOL funds and walk away with impunity. If truly no one is above the law, then Mr. Weah and his accomplices at the NSA, MOS, EPS & FIA must be charged and prosecuted in keeping with law. This is not asking for much. This is simply asking for the due process of law to take its logical course.
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The national budgets in Liberia have consistently failed to benefit the people, instead primarily benefiting a small group of political elites. For example, both former Presidents Sirleaf (Unity Party) and Weah (Coalition for Democratic Change) touted their budgets as significant achievements for the nation, highlighting initiatives like the Poverty Reduction Strategy and the Pro-Poor agendas.
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Using “covert operations” as the pretext, Mr. Weah put at least USD 122m at the disposal of his NSA Director and agents, without regards to the Annual Budget law or the NSA Act[1]. And between the periods of 23-Februry-2018 and 11-December-2023, Mr. Henric Pearson II, working in collaboration with and under the direction of Mr. George Weah, then President of Liberia, made at least 227 individual transactions in which they took bags to the CBL, stuffed it with cash and simply walked out the Bank’s door. Not one cent of that money was ever accounted for
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Many of the activities observed in the audit constitute grave violations of our financial laws and, in other instances, amount to felonies when proven. For example, violation of the procurement law, failing to remit tax deductions, and making payments without a contract… are all acts that could amount to felonies. …The Senate leaders cannot just say: “Oh, it’s just a glitch; let’s move on.”
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Mamaka Bility, notwithstanding these laws and the Constitution of Liberia, in collusion with others, and with the apparent acquiescence and approbation of the President of Liberia, Mr. Joseph N. Boakai Sr., illegally negotiated the dubious USD 80m deal and caused the machines to be brought to Liberia in contravention of the all the listed statutes and the Constitution. In her attempt to get as big a kickback as she could get, it did matter to her the land mass of each county or the estimated population; each county was entitled to nineteen machines
Find related articles hereThere are many reasons why Liberia is poor. Let’s start with the salary of GOL officials. The average VIP salary, as seen from Table B above, is about US $200k per annum. A lawmaker in China’s Congress will need to work for at least ten years to make one year’s salary of the average top GOL official. But it is the GOL officials that go to beg the Chinese for alms, for grants, and loans.
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