Monrovia — An alleged bribery scandal, which could smear the National Legislature, may take a new turn as the Senate investigates allegations by Montserrado County Representative Ketehkumeh Murray and Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) Managing Director Harry Greaves that bribery in the Senate thwarted the reality of the current national budget.
A few hours following a pronouncement by the Senate that the LPRC, the National Port Authority (NPA) and the Roberts International Airport (RIA) could not make contributions to the current budget owing to poor financial standing, as the Lower House of Parliament had envisaged, Representative Murray was quoted by local media as saying that the Senate was bribed to drop the three public corporations from the budget.
The Lower House of Parliament had included the three public corporations in the budget to make contributions to support allocation of resources earlier spelled out in the draft budget.
In spite of the gravity of this allegation, the Senate, however, neither confirmed nor denied the allegation leveled by the Montserrado County lawmaker, but remained quiet on the matter until yesterday, when Bomi County Senator Samuel Richard Devine was confronted by newsmen to comment on the matter.
Subsequently, Mr. Greaves, head of one of the two corporations at the center of the bribery allegation, has also alleged that a member of the Legislature did engage him to commit the alleged crime of bribery for his outfit to be excluded from making contribution to the national budget.
Although Mr. Greaves is again quoted by the local media as saying that he did not refer to the Senate but rather to a member of the Lower House of Parliament, yet the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, however, summoned him to appear before the body yesterday to explain the bribery scam involving him and the Senate.
But Mr. Greaves reportedly wrote the Senate Ways and Means Committee requesting for deferment of the hearing until he returned from his foreign travel some time next week.
In spite of the request, the chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Senator Samuel Devine of Bomi County, has disclosed that the matter will be taken up with the Plenary today.
"We will make our report to Plenary and attach a copy of Mr. Greaves' letter to it for that body to take the necessary action as it may deem fit," Senator Devine asserted.
When asked to comment on the same bribery allegation as leveled earlier by Representative Murray, Senator Devine said, "As for Honorable Murray, Plenary might conduct in-house investigation into his allegation."
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When further asked whether an open investigation into Mr. Greaves' allegation and an in-house investigation into that of Representative Murray could mean a cover-up for Representative Murray, Senator Devine replied, "That is my view that Plenary would conduct in-house investigation into Murray's allegation and open investigation for Mr. Greaves."
Meanwhile, fears are being expressed in the corridors of Capitol Building that Mr. Harry Greaves' revelation might smear the entire Legislature as fingers are being pointed at lawmakers for unfair play in the allocation of public funds in the national budget, recently passed by the Legislature into law.
The current budget gives a meager US$30 to civil servants as monthly salary, to cover every need of government worker, including transportation, tuition for their children, rentals and other exigencies that a civil servant may face.
