-- Also refutes reports of his alleged involvement in Boulevard Palace MD's Death
Bong County Senator Senator Prince Moye has denied his involvement in reported manipulations of the national budget by a gang of influential past and current members of the House of Representatives for selfish reasons.
Moye, in an interview in Monrovia on Thursday, January 2, vowed to resign as member of the Senate if evidence is provided to prove that he has been involved in distributing monies to public officials during past and current budget periods.
The Bong County Lawaker's comments were in reaction to a critical inquiry made by the Daily Observer Newspaper in its December 31 online edition.
The paper, based on information obtained from reliable sources, asked whether the recent death of Boulevard Palace Hotel General Manager, Anwar Futloo, had any link to top government officials--who the deceased reportedly had very damaging information on.
Sources indicated that prior to Futloo's demise, he had in his possession a leaked video containing evidence of high-level corruption among key government officials.
The footage allegedly captured by CCTV in the infamous Room 1026 reportedly shows several senior government officials, including the Bong County Senator, distributing large sums of U.S. dollars to lawmakers and senior ministers.
In reaction to the report, Moye in an exclusive interview with FrontPage Africa described the report as half-baked propaganda orchestrated by political opponents at the House of Representatives.
He said these political opponents are bent on releasing false accusations against him to the public due to his political triumph and roles played to bring to power the Unity Party led-government of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai.
He disclosed that though he has reached out to the Publisher of the Daily Observer newspaper, he took the decision to go public with his response to the allegations due to the gullibility of the Liberian society.
Senator Moye said the failure of the newspaper to contact him for his side of the story was unethical. He blamed "some CDC propagandists" as ones behind the spreading of the false report on social media.
Senator Moye pointed out that at no time he held meetings or sessions to work on the national budget or distributed monies to his colleagues and other members of the executive branch at room 1026 at the Boulevard Palace.
"When news are written by one propagandist sitting in one corner sometimes you don't give it the kind of attention you have to give it because social media made it just so bad that anybody can sit in your little room, create an account and say or write anything about anybody and you will not know who is saying it. But when it is published in a paper like the Daily Observer then it calls for us to comment on it because this could reduce the credibility of the paper which Liberia has hope and credibility in."
However, the infamous Room #1026 came into the public space when embattled Speaker J. Fonati Koffa, while providing more reasons why some of his colleagues want him removed from the speakership, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, revealed that there is a cartel of lawmakers, and collaborators, who continue to milk the country to enrich themselves at the expense of the ordinary people.
Koffa revealed what he termed as systemic corruption and the misuse of state resources at the national legislature. Cartel members, he said, manipulate the budget every year to short-change the Liberian people.
"This same cartel will carry the budget to Boulevard Palace Hotel Room 1026 to adjust all the numbers," Koffa said, noting that the primary reason behind his colleagues' attempts to remove him is his "persistent refusal to allow lawmakers to steal from the government's coffers."
Expressing concerns about the budget formulation process, Koffa disclosed that veteran lawmakers from the Ways and Means Committee would convene at Boulevard Hotel Room 1026 to adjust budget figures.
"During these discussions, various government ministries and agencies would be invited to review the initial amounts allocated to them by the Ministry of Finance," he said, adding how some lawmakers would inform these officials that they intended to inflate the budget to secure kickbacks.
"This same cartel came to me when I requested off-budget spending," he alleged. "They said, 'Mr. Speaker, we saw in their computer that the off-budget is $15 million, but you can forget it if you ask them for $2 million. Are you crazy?" He stated.
However, Moye, during yesterday's interview, noted, "Since I resumed the Chairmanship of the Ways, Means, Finance and Development Committee within the Senate, I have never had any budget meeting of that magnitude to Boulevard Palace. There are conference rooms all over here (at the Capitol Building). If we want to meet, I have my conference room. I can choose to lock this door and meet with Ministers I want to meet with here on account of budget discussion."
Moye was a very influential member of the House of Representatives for many years prior to becoming a Senator. Before his short stint as Deputy Speaker, he served as Chairman of the House's Ways and Means Committee for many years.
Meanwhile, the Bong County Lawmaker has clarified that he never had any personal or closed relationship with the fallen Boulevard Palce Manager as he (Moye) has never been a hotel goer to socialize or hold budget discussions, except for the holding of other meetings.
"All my budget hearings since I became Chairman of the Senate Ways, Means and Finance and Development Planning Committee are conducted right here at the Capitol Building," he said. "We have all the rooms available to us here and I don't go to hotels with ministers. I go there on different things, maybe county development or other meetings."
Senator Moye added that happenings which characterized the passage of national budgets under the former Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led-government of former President George Manneh Weah would not be entertained or carried out under the current administration of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and Vice President Jeremiah Koung.
According to him, the allocation of US$1.5 million for the office of the former Deputy Speaker, and the outturn show of over US$4 million in expenditure will not be adhered to under his watch as head of the Senate Committee on Ways, Means, Finance and Development Planning.
"Under this regime, what for the Vice President will be for the Vice President; it's not going to increase or go and sit in one little Boulevard Palace hotel room. I challenge anyone to publish the video footage that had us sitting there in Boulevard Palace distributing money to ministers, I will resign the next day. That's my commitment to the citizens of Liberia. Those saying this are confused and don't even know propaganda."
Senator Moye attributed the negative media report against him to the ongoing impasses at the House of Representatives. He called those involved and "facing their serious political crisis" to "deal with your issues" and leave him alone. He denied claims being made that the leadership crisis at the House was intended for the executive to have full control over the national budget.
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"I am saying to the whole world and the public that since I became Chairman of Ways and Means, there is no way a Vice President is part of a budget discussion; absolutely no. In the Senate, the Vice President only signs the budget that Plenaries from both Houses approve after the Speaker has signed."
"The Deputy Speaker, by our rules, is an ex-officio on all the committees, but it doesn't give you that right to sit with budget people to discuss anything anywhere."
"It's almost months ago when the revelation was made by Fonati Koffa about room 1026 when their crisis started. So if somebody has footage of someone, why didn't they expose me? They can go and pay for the video footage of those perceived individuals they feel want to oust you from your position. If the General Manager had this video footage ever since I know Koffa could have sold everything that he has to just purchase it instead of allowing himself to be removed."
Senator Moye used this medium to call on owners of media institutions not to allow their radio stations, newspapers and other outlets to be used to spread propagandas just to please their selfish motive of others.
He added that the ethics of good journalism must be followed to avoid propagandists spreading misinformation to the detriment of the character of others.
"My only regret is for a paper like the Daily Observer to get carried away by a propaganda story that will reduce the credibility of the paper without even coming to contact me or those other names that were mentioned. This propaganda against me is coming because we know that when you are progressing in politics in our country, you become the dump site of all the bad news. And that's just what is happening; they will not just call anybody's name because they know what we stand for and what we believe in."
