It has been revealed in Monrovia that over US$200 million dollars domestic debt owed by the Government of Liberia is untraceable.
Finance Minister Amara Konneh made the astonishing revelation while addressing the Ministry of Information press briefing Thursday, January 24, 2013.
"Our domestic debt is around 200milllion. We didn't know that. And the majority of it is with the Central Bank; contracted when the Central Bank used to be called the National Bank. And, in most cases you can't even trace the money," Minister Konneh disclosed to news men Thursday.
He did not say how the debt was accumulated, neither did he say why the government is committed to paying the money when, in fact, the money is not traceable.
Minister Konneh's revelation was in response to a question on why the government was reneging on paying its huge domestic debt but has instead chosen to credit more money.
"I have conducted a review, and all I can say to you is that there's no trace," Minister Konneh said. "We took it up to the Central Bank, and you cannot trace it to any project. But they say we should pay."
Minister Konneh could not say who's compelling the government to pay the domestic debt when, in fact, there are no records to prove that the government is indeed owing such amount.
Minister Konneh did not disclose how the domestic liability was accumulated, but however insisted that by borrowing more money, the country was on its way to relieving itself from more financial burdens whose practical realities he promised will come in the next three years.
His revelation now leaves many wondering as to why the government should commit itself to paying a debt with no records traced.
"If the international community will look at Liberia, after we inflicted harm on ourselves, and put us in the position we are in today, to the point where our economy collapsed, why can't Liberians themselves forgive their own country?" Minister Konneh said while also revealing a new US$65Million loan agreement signed between the Government of Liberia and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
"I can tell you this ... the loan agreement we signed today will help us (the government of Liberia) in about three to five years to clear our domestic debts. So, we're investing now, through borrowing, so that tomorrow we can settle our domestic debts.
"So, we've given debt forgiveness to ourselves. We will continue to harass the government on the issue of domestic debt, and I can tell you that the government is committed to meeting its obligations because the contracts are on track.
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Untraceable, are you serious Mr. Konneh? What the hell is the President doing about this? Where are the operational controls to prevent these lapses? Please have mercy on Liberia and not strip the treasury of most of its resources before you leave office. Change is coming my fellow Liberians.
How can the government say they cannot trace the US 200 million debt, but she is committed to paying such debt? This is corruption at the highest level of government, perhaps involving the Executive Branch. If our so-called legislature was not so corrupt like the Executive, they could summon the Finance Minister to gave reasons why should Liberia pay a debt that they cannot tell who Liberia owes the money to and how we owe this money? a case in point was in 2006, the Ellen Administration compalint to the World Bank that the government didn't have money to undertake basic projects such as road, clinc, cleanup, etc. The World Bank then decided to audit the Central Bank of Liberia. The WB discovered US $ 40 million dollars that had been stacked away in the Bank Vault. When the WB asked why this money was stacked away, Ellen's Administration couldn't give any good explanation. However, Ellen claimed that the money was stacked away as reserved for the government. The WB said no, no way because based on the agreement that waved billions of dollars for Liberia's past debt by the international community, Liberia was not supposed to save any money for reserved for the first few years. The money was to go towards development in Liberia, but the Ellen's Administration decided to keep the money away from the Liberian people and the interantional community. They were caught with their hands in the peggy bank. This how corruption is destroying Liberia. How can the Finance Minister say he cannot trace the debt to anyone, but he is committed to paying the money. Mr. Finance Minister, who will receive this US $200 million dollars payment? You all are a disgrace to Liberia. If you had integrity, you could resign your post than to pay such money to ghost names whose origin nobody knows according to you, Konneh.
When the Central of Liberia was then National Bank of Liberia that was before the civil war. This is the time of Samuel Doe and the interim government of Amos Sawyer includng the period when the war began. Any commonsense analogy will tell you that as people ran out of the country, government officials and NBL executives may have fudged the numbers as they raked the covers of the bank assigning government the liability. Shameless. Now NBL is defunct, the CBL should underwrite this debt.
To all concerned Liberians reading or responding to various articles, our political institution is reaching out to you for your input regarding plans to bring needed relief to our people in 2017. Regardless of your current party affiliations, we feel, your voice is important. If you really want significant change to come to Liberia, and are not just interested in expressing your views through articles, join us. Please send comments to leadership2017@yahoo.com
Liberia is one of the oldest independent countries in black Africa and should be more advance than other African countries. Most of the leaders don't seem to have a vision on how to develop this country and Liberia is in chaos.
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