Gbarpolu County senator, Amara Konneh has expressed deep concern over the acquisitions of yellow machines, NTA buses and police cars.
In his face book post, senator Konneh, a staunch member of the Unity Party(UP) said he was concerned about these items.
"Good morning friends. Just a quick reminder of the important issues we need to address in the "yellow machines" debate. There's currently no financing instrument in place at the Legislature for the recent acquisition of the "yellow machines" that the Executive Branch unveiled over the weekend. I will speak to this matter on the Senate floor for the record when we receive the loan agreement," he said.
Recently, the government announced thorugh the minister of state without portfolio, Mamaka Bilia that about 285 pieces of yellow machines were arriving in the country for onward distribution to the 15 counties in Liberia for farming purpose.
But most of the machines seen, some citizens said are excavator, mainly for mining purpose and not for farming business.
"If you are talking about farming business, we should have graders, tractors, soil tailing machines. But this is not the case," Sylvester S. Roberts, a businessman.
Senator said "it is crucial that we (the Legislature) have full transparency and oversight on this, as well as on the acquisition of other assets like police cars and potentially NTA buses. The lack of evidence of competitive procurement is causing some serious concerns, and if we don't address this, it could bring some major problems for our government's reputation and adherence to the rule of law, and could potentially lead to new sanctions of public officials if it is laden with graft and we do the usual Liberian thing of "but the other people and so what..." We can't afford to ignore these issues."
He continued: "Whether you are a "Rescue" or "Coalition" or an "independent" lawmaker like myself, it's clear that there's a lack of desire for internal accountability within our government, and we need to be able to ask tough questions and demand transparent answers. It's concerning that there's a reluctance to do so, and we can't let this slide."
He said, there's an ethical storm brewing between the Executive Mansion and the Capitol Building, and it may end up in the Supreme Court. Let's remember that we're a country of laws, not individuals."
