Monrovia — The Officer-In-Charge of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), Jacob Kabakole, has made it clear that reports implicating his entity in an alleged corruption scandal involving approximately $600,000 are false.
"If you don't have anything to say, shut up. I didn't steal any $600k, and at NOCAL, your 2 by 5 media platform should shut up," said the NOCAL boss on Monday, April 1, 2024.
Addressing journalists at the Ministry of Information during a Special Press Briefing, Mr. Kabakole stated that the information regarding alleged embezzlement is false and misleading.
"Setting the Record Straight: A Rebuttal to Recent Allegations - In light of recent reports published by certain media outlets, it has become necessary to address the misinformation and smear campaign directed at myself and the esteemed Office of the Officer in Charge (OIC) NOCAL," Kabakole said.
He added: "As I have unequivocally stated, and I am now emphatically restating, I have done nothing wrong. While all evidence exists that the media outlets responsible for spreading this misinformation are simply tabloids, and not one of our more reputable brick and mortar media houses, we deem it prudent, as is within my fiduciary responsibility, to get ahead of this mill and nip it in the bud."
According to him, at no point during his oversight of the national oil company has he signed off on any disbursement of such a sum to anybody, something he says is a deliberate attempt at tarnishing a reputation built on integrity and dedication to national progress.
"I am further convinced that the actors behind this ruse have a more immediate intention to discredit the President's appointment of officers in charge and to undermine the amount of consideration His Excellency gave to making this decision. With this realization, I am even more compelled to address the issues as I am now doing. Gratitude to Supporters: We extend our heartfelt thanks to the information minister and the leaders of civil society for their unwavering support during this time," he said.
"I really appreciate those institutions who exercised due diligence to uphold both the integrity and dignity of our fourth estate. The Facts: To set the record straight, he listed what he terms as factual details of the project's progression and financial transactions prior to my appointment as Officer-in-Charge:
Kabakole stated that on July 13, 2023, NOCAL entered into a contract with BMC Group Inc. for an office construction project valued initially at $2.9 million. This contract was duly processed and appears to have adhered to the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) guidelines.
The first payment to BMC, he said, totaled $1,456,928.84 million and was made on July 17, 2023, signifying the commencement of the contractual obligations. The payment, he added, was made in two separate checks of US$728,464.42 each.
He further states that the actual construction began in November 2023, followed by a contract amendment on November 23, 2023.
"This amendment, approved by the PPCC, increased the contract value to $4.5 million to accommodate necessary project adjustments. The new amount represented an increment of $1.5 million or 51.72%," he said.
Kabakole added: "NOCAL hired TSC Global as its Project Consultant with the primary responsibility of monitoring, evaluating, and certifying that BMC was carrying out the project according to the terms and specifications of the contract."
On December 15, 2023, he said an additional payment of $796,259.39 was made to BMC, bringing the total disbursement to $2.2 million, which accounted for 50% of the revised contract value.
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"It is crucial to note that these developments, including the financial transactions, occurred before my appointment. My official responsibilities commenced on January 29, 2024, by which time the project was well advanced, and the outlined payments had been completed," he said.
Kabakole added: "In continuation of the facts stated above, we have paid 6.7% of employees' educational benefits, which my predecessor did not see as a priority over a five-year period. The leadership of the company at the time claimed it was executing austerity measures, and educational benefits were not as critical for the operational expense of NOCAL."
He continues: "The Institution, upon my arrival, owed $132,750.00 USD to staff for educational benefits. The same leadership, unfortunately, during their departure, paid severance in the tune of close to half a million dollars, defeating their previous argument for refusing to pay employee benefits."
