Capitol Hil — It is nearly two years since Margibi County Senator Nathaniel McGill was sanctioned by the United States government for the alleged commission of multiple acts of corruption and malpractices during the administration of ex-Liberian President George Manneh Weah of the former ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), but the aftermath and scars of the action still remain visible.
Senator McGill was considered as the "de facto prime minister" and a closed ally of Mr. Weah due to his potential to influence major decisions within the government while serving as Minister of State for Presidential Affairs.
He was accused and sanctioned by the United States government, through its State Department for using "his position to undermine the integrity and independence of Liberia's democratic institutions and subvert government priorities for personal gain."
He was accused of bribing business owners, receiving bribes from potential investors, and accepting kickbacks for steering contracts to companies in which he has an interest.
"McGill has manipulated public procurement processes in order to award multi-million-dollar contracts to companies in which he has ownership, including by abusing emergency procurement processes to rig contract bids. McGill is credibly accused of involvement in a wide range of other corrupt schemes including soliciting bribes from government office seekers and misappropriating government assets for his personal gain. He has used government funds allocated to other Liberian government institutions to run his own projects, made off-the-books payments in cash to senior government leaders, and organized warlords to threaten political rivals."
The US government maintained: "McGill has received an unjustified stipend from various Liberian government institutions and used his position to prevent his misappropriation from being discovered. McGill regularly distributes thousands of dollars in undocumented cash to other government officials for government and non-government activities."
The action taken by the US government against Senator McGill, which cost him his job, remains unforgettable. The scars are also visible as evidenced by the non-compliance posture from the American-owned company Firestone to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, and the latest complaint filed against the company by the Margibi County lawmaker.
Firestone is operating one of the largest rubber plantations in the world in Harbel, Margibi County. It signed a concession agreement with the Liberian government to lease over one million acres of land in 1926 for 6 cents per acre for a period of 99 years. However, several amendments have been made to its concession agreement.
In a communication dated June 20, 2024 and addressed to the Plenary of the Liberian Senate, Senator McGill claimed that workers at Firestone Company, many of whom are under contract, are complaining because the company has outsourced most of its farms to contractual management agreements. Plenary is the highest decision-making body of the Senate.
He furthered that employees have consistently complained of unjust labor, working odd hours without pay, and lack of benefits such as school and medicals for their families, and themselves.
He further claimed that the employees have also complained of unsafe working conditions, and the "K Factor" concept which deny them (employees) of their just earnings, but give contractual management more earnings.
"In view of the foregoing, I request the indulgence of the Liberian Senate to invite Firestone management to bring before this Senate, the management of all contractual service providers under whose management these employees are working, to provide explanation and context on our citizens' complaints."
The communication from Senator McGill has been sent to the Senate committees on Labor and Judiciary to launch an investigation.
Firestone's non-compliance
The United States government has consistently warned individuals and institutions from doing business with sanctioned former and current officials of the Liberian government.
During a recent hearing called by the Senate Committee on Agriculture on the extension of the ban on the exportation of unprocessed rubber by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, the management of Firestone Liberia failed to cooperate with the agriculture committee of the Senate.
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Representatives of Firestone walked out of a called hearing on the matter on grounds that they could not hold conversation with the committee in the presence of Senator McGill, who has been sanctioned by the US government.
Investigation into the communication from Senator McGill would suffer setback if lawmakers who have been sanctioned by the US are part of the probe. About four members of the Liberian Senate, including Senators McGill, Prince Johnson, Bill Twehway, and Emmanuel Nuquay of Margibi, Nimba, and Rivercess counties respectively, have been sanctioned by the US government.
They would be constrained to recuse themselves from the investigation if the communication from their colleague Senator McGill is not malice or a move to even score against the company for the action taken by the US government against him.
The investigation would be stalled if they insist to be a part of the investigation and the alleged bad labor practices of the workers at the company by the management of Firestone would not be addressed if they failed to do so.
