Senator Johnny Kpehe of Bong County has said that the Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA) is proceeding wrongly in dealing with the contract with the Telecom International Alliance (TIA). The best way out, he said, is to carry out an amendment.
"I think they need to be told about what they are trying to do," he told reporters last week.
It can be recalled that the Liberian government through the LTA signed an Agreement with TIA for all telephone call Traffic Monitoring Services.
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However, the government suspended the agreement for alleged irregularities.
However, a Joint Committee of the National Legislature, at the close of weeks of public hearings involving government officials and civil society actors, proffered that the contract should be re-negotiated instead of de-ratification.
The committee disagreed with the decision of the government.
Besides, TIA denied the claims and its subsequent request to the Legislature to de-ratify the Contract, while the Committee said such action amounts to dispute.
For example, the TIA agreement with LTA contains a Dispute Settlement Clause at 21.2 that binds all parties to the contract, along with the provision for a remedy for matters arising from public procurement processes by the public procurement laws of Liberia.
Despite, the government seems determined to terminate the Contract outside of all legal requirements, and is reportedly mulling signing an agreement with NUM TEL LIBERIA, INC., a company registered and incorporated by one James Sackie.
Record in possession of this paper shows that NUM TEL LIBERIA, INC. was registered and incorporated in June 2024 to engage in education and consultancy, innovation, ICT services, software development, maintenance and construction, general telecommunication services and related activities.
It is to engage in telecommunication and information communication technology (ICT) service activities, to collaborate with academic institutions for the purpose of establishing terms and conditions under which Vision Dream Tech will provide computer education to schools, among many other programs and activities.
Legal experts say such a move will be counter-productive to terms, provisions and conditions of the TIA/LTA Agreement which is still valid by law.
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One legal luminary told this paper that "Under international arbitration, the state does not get to use domestic political considerations as a defense."
"Tribunals look at the text of the agreement. If exclusivity was granted, awarding a parallel deal is a material breach," he opined.
He said Liberia stands to lose because arbitration panels can award "expectation damages" meant to put the company in the position it would have been in if the contract had been honored.
He also indicated that such a move will cost Liberia credibility problems, stressing "Liberia has worked to rebuild investor confidence since the end of the civil conflict."
"A loss in arbitration signals contract risk, raising the cost of capital for future projects. Lenders and insurers price that in," another expert propounded.
The expert buttressed Senator Kpehe's statement that arbitration can freeze operations for years, or neither the old nor the new company may invest while ownership is contested, even if Liberia wins.
He also argued that a ruling against the government weakens its negotiating position in all other active concessions.
Not only that, but NUMTEL is also gambling.
It is also argued that Liberia's contracts are written under international law precisely to prevent unilateral government action. "That protects investors, but it also binds the state," said another legal expert. "Attempting to award a duplicate contract without first terminating the existing one through the agreed legal process exposes the country to arbitration, damages, and reputational harm."
