EFFL Indicts Gov’t

-Over Alleged Missing LRD16 Billion

The Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia (EFFL) said it is deeply concerned about the status of the alleged missing LRD16 billion dollars saga in the country.

In a statement issued in Monrovia over the weekend, the EFFL said the processes leading to the investigation of the missing LRD16 billion dollars banknotes is a complete farce and a scheme cleverly being designed by President George Weah and those they called ‘unpatriotic officials’ to evade the actual issues surrounding the money.

The EFFL alleged that the government wants to sweep the issues surrounding the missing billion dollars under the carpet with the intent of the perpetrators of ‘broad daylight thievery’ being left off the hook with impunity.

“The EFFL is of the ardent belief that the Government of Liberia is cleverly dealing in mischief and deceit and is stealthily hiding something away from the public, as far as this LRD16 billion saga is concerned. A glaring evident is the government’s deliberate attempt to employ the continual gimmick of focusing more on the legality surrounding the printing of the money than dwelling on the substantives of how the money in its totality can be accounted for, as it is not the printing of the money that is in dispute, rather, its whereabouts.

“Even more glaring, are the boldface lies and shameless contradictory statements that keep coming out of the bellies of officials of this government that has proven to be nothing less than unfit to rule right from the start of its tenure. One minute, it’s “no money got missing.” another minute, it’s “all the monies are in the vaults of the Central Bank of Liberia,” and another minute, yes indeed monies got missing.” The EFFL wonders what kind of government that annoyingly deals in so much contradictions and shamelessly toys with feeding its citizens with untruths, lies, and misinformation,” the statement signed by the Commander-In-chief, Emmanuel Gonquoi said.

Gonquoi also said “on top of the stolen missing billions, the government continues to add insult to injury, by its mishandling and/or mismanagement of some US$25 million intended to mop out excess Liberian dollars in a bid to stabilize the fast-declining value of the local currency against the U.S. dollars.”

“The EFFL believes that this whole charade of infusing US$25 million in this ailing economy that the CDC-led government will soon place in the grave was basically intended to exchange the stolen 16 billion Liberian dollars with the US dollars for government officials and state criminals,” the statement added.

Recently Finance Minister Samuel Tweah and members of the Economic Management Team (EMT) struggled to convinced members of the Liberian Senate to explain how the US$25million dollar was infused into the Liberian economy as part of effort to rejuvenate the struggling economy.

But the EFFL said “our people are starving and feeling the excruciating pain of hardship across the country, while President Weah and his officials are dangling wealth; building fabulous houses and acquiring properties on a daily basis, and at the same time they are peddling lies to the Liberian people.”

“Our information is that the Weah administration is bent on watering down the probe, and the EFFL has all reasons to believe that the entire investigation regarding this stolen money, has become unaggressive and unarguably, President Weah now lacks the political will to push harder because he and his cronies in the government know exactly what happened to our country’s money.

“We want to let the Liberian people know that the president and his bunch of untruthful officials will refrain from pushing this investigation to its logical conclusion for fear of ex-president Sirleaf’s presence on the IMF board, with the thinking that anything to implicate her in the stolen money saga, could potentially undermine the current president’s administration, as far as that international body’s policy towards his regime would be tilted in the future,” the EFFL noted.

Meanwhile, the EFFL said it trusts that Liberia international partners will do all in upholding the confidence in them based on the longstanding traditional friendship with the US Government and the American people.

“We look forward to seeing the US investigators reaching nothing, but a credible conclusion of these investigations as Liberians hope of having a credible conclusion of this money saga is dying by the day. You can be assured, that the EFFL and the Liberian people will certainly remember organizations and individuals that will help us in recovering our stolen 16 billion dollars,” the group concluded.