Finance Minister Discloses Wasteful Spending In Government

The Liberian Senate is citing the Minister of Finance, Development and Planning for statement on the missed used of government revenue in which Minister Amara Konneh said Liberia has raised $3.1 billion in revenue with 60% of such money being used on administrative government purposes which just account for only forty thousand people about 10 percent of the country’s population.

The Senate, in its Tuesday’s Session read a communication from the Office of Senator Sando Johnson of Bomi County, the letter seeks the plenary approval for the minister to appear and give reasons for his comments on the misappropriation of public resources. The minister during his recent visit to Philadelphia, USA told a Town Hall Meeting that if nothing is done about the situation Liberia could revert to another April 14 Rice riot.

Minister Konneh’s alleged comment about reverting to another April 14 has been described by some senators as having a very serious security implication, especially when UNMIL is scaling down its operations and expected to leave security in the care of the government.

The communication was seriously debated among senators with some senators claiming that the issue was insignificant because according to Senator Varney Sherman the issue was insignificant and should not be given any credence by the Senate because according to him the finance Minister is from another branch of government. Still tied up in his legal profession where he has spent almost 30 years, Senator Sherman reminded his colleagues that every Liberian has the right to speak their mind on issues regardless of their position referencing the constitution.

He also said, as a lawyer, he has observed that for too long the legislature has placed itself in what he called the activities of the executive branch of government. Senator Sherman told his colleagues that in some instances, Liberian officials speak out of stupidity and as such their comments do not deserve attention. Said Senator Sherman: “I want to urge my fellow colleagues let us not pick up everything that a Minister says sometimes it can be said out of stupidity and we come here and enlighten that stupidity please let us not put ourselves at a risk of being ridiculed”.

He cautioned his colleagues to avoid meddling in the affairs of the Executive Branch of government. “Too often, the legislature has meddled into the activities of the executive and later sits back and say we should not have done that”, Senator Sherman observed. Senator Morris Saytumah (UP-Bomi County) supported the statement from Cllr. Sherman and said it is unnecessary for a honorable body like the senate to get involved into what he described as an irrelevant issue.

“I am disappointed in my colleague from Bomi County to have written such communication issue we have absolutely no jurisdiction over,” Senator Saytumah said. During the discussion only Senators Sherman and Saytumah were on the same side as the bulk of the other senators supported the communication specifically comments regarding April 14.

Contrary to the comments by Senators Saytumah and Sherman, Senator Steve Zargo (LP-Lofa County) Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defense and National Security called on his colleagues to look at the communication from Senator Johnson from a different perspective in pointing the security implication especially when UNMIL is drawing down.