Liberia News: CDC WILL WIN UP ANYTIME

Liberia-Following his indictment along with other former Government officials from George Weah’s administration, Samuel D. Tweah, former Finance Minister has said in a face book post that the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) will win the ruling Unity Party (UP) at any time in the audit report.

He started it from this angle: “Let’s take the audit of the CBL and Consolidated Accounts.   UP verses CDC: CDC wins.

“The UP borrowed hundreds of millions from the CBL, and you know the worst , this borrowing was hidden from the public. Yes, it had to take the IMF to force us to include this borrowing in Liberia’s official debt statistics. More than US $300 million in borrowing with no financial record. As minister, I resisted this attempt but the IMF argued they do not make distinction between UP-Governed Liberia and a CDC-Governed Liberia, so we had to include the borrowing in the debt. In the end, we compromised with the IMF in the interest of Liberians and the IMF program but took about USD 100 million off the stock of hidden debt, which is still hanging at CBL. The IMF said we could audit this ‘hanging debt’ at some future date but the Program had to go on!  So we included more than USD 200 million (The official records are there and my witness is the IMF).”

In his post, he called on the National Legislature to open an enquiry. “In the interest of the country, I call on the National Legislature to open enquiry into these matters of recordless borrowing from the CBL by the UP.

“Under our IMF program, President WEAH ended borrowing to high praise from the international community for straight three years. We had to borrow to pay Government workers in an election year and there will never be a finance minister who will not borrow from CBL in an election year if revenue is being challenged!  So bring on the audit debates but do so factually and in an environment of law! “

He continued: “For audit of the Government Consolidated Accounts, or of the use of our revenue, CDC wins again. For most years under UP, GAC had to DISCLAIM! . Disclaiming means the GAC cannot even make sense of the audit: there is no financial information to base the audit on. This was UP-appointed GAC DISCLAIMING UP’s PUBLIC FINANCES.  This was the auditing mess we inherited from the UP in 2018.”

“We had to work to turn that  situation around. Imagine the auditor disclaiming against USD 500 million in revenue  under UP verses questioning USD50 million that may lead to an adverse opinion under the CDC?  How can u even compare the two scenarios? No audit under the CDC was ever DISCLAIMED!

We said all these facts in 2023, but they  were drowned out and buried under the intensity and brouhaha of the election.” 

“President Boakai and the UP have engendered the best atmosphere now  in which to discuss audits in Liberia and the general question of public accountability.

“Let Liberians advise the Government to stop threatening judges about signing constitutionally mandated bails! I am coming to Liberia to gladly take on this fight but will do so only under an  ambiance of the rule of law not under a regime of lawlessness where showmanship trumps the substance of the real change Liberians are clamoring for!

“All Audit reports under UP will come outside. The fact we did not go after them Is not the issue. The issue is wrongs were perpetrated and the public has the right to know about those wrongs and we will and should expose these wrongs!

“The UP’s imagined battle for optics on audit will be fought on those grounds and the Liberians in the INDEPENDENT MOVABLE  Middle will decide the verdict! This decision is being made under conditions of economic hardship as prices continue to skyrocket in Liberia under UP.

“Health workers are planning a major protest and they are right because the UP   took from the budget about USD  7 million the CDC inserted to increase the pay for health workers as promised by President WEAH under a new Health pay grade..

“They have also not ‘reversed harmonization,’ whatever that clause means, since their is no economic or financial meaning to it!”

He added: “To reverse harmonization is to collapse the country the same day.

Government payroll Pre harmonization was an IMMORAL MESS of  inequality with security personnel and teachers making as low as USD 45 per month while others made as high as USD 15,000 a month, with thousands of teachers and health workers not even on payroll. It was the CDC that  brought them on payroll! Pay under UP  was based on ‘who know you’ where a minster, managing a general allowance,  can pay his driver US  $2000 a month while doctors made US$700 a month. It was the CDC that took doctors pay to $US 2000.

So we await the so-called   return to Pre Harmonization era under the UP!

On procurement governance, the UP accused the  DC of passing ETON and EBOMAF in violation of procurement tenets. Well, now in power, the UP  has delivered a yellow machine disaster which makes both ETON and EBOMAF  look like a kind of ‘GOLD STANDARD’ IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT. At least the Legislature was involved in ETON and EBOMAF. For the yellow machines, few individuals decided for the country with reckless disregard of laws only because “UP had to be seen by Liberians as doing something in the same way President Weah’s first six months presented countless deliverables!

They illegally brought machines that President’s letter to lawmakers acknowledged. But here the Wicht hunter is pleading for legislative mercy! Oh I see! When he and his people commit wrongs President Boakai begs for mercy . When he PERCEIVES others may have committed wrong he witch hunt!

The country is split down the middle Diehard CIDICIANS, diehard UPISTS , other parties and Liberian voters who reside in what I call the ‘INDEPENDENT MOVABLE  MIDDLE,’ where we aim to stage the ensuing political battles! 

When we are done  talking about the President’s breach of CBL laws and the economic impact of that violation, the Oldman may be looking for someone to fire! But the President can fire himself?

Using Liberia’s reserve money CDC accumulated through its  reforms under the IMF program, President Boakai forced the CBL to illegally pay USD 8 million without the involvement of the IMF to a bank that took depositors money to finance the UP Campaign. This is what the IMF and World Bank are now horrified by.  They are now asking whether the so called fight against corruption is about the  optics of seeing people in handcuffs or jails or about ending substantive wrongdoing in public finance in Liberia! Charade under which the UP continues to paillage our resources but use the accident of its political ascendancy to witch-hunt and pretend as if it is serious about fighting corruption?

Do you want to understand how to credibly save a financial institution? Ask the CDC and the IMF how this was transparently and credibly done under President WEAH!

And without the Public knowing a thing about it!!

All these UP shenanigans are visible to the international community who by now understand Liberia and Liberians more than is being imagined. Making louder noise about accountability does not do the trick because it is just that: NOISE.

When we return, we will join the mass of our people in turning up the HEAT on the UP and its failures to date!

While we are doing all this, we will be telling Liberians the UP is way off track and the macro fundamentals have weakened since we left power! As if we even need to remind Liberians of this!

No finance minister and a new one who has no clue what the development plan is or will be about. Disaster. This is at best a transitional Government with no strategic vision.

Liberia wallows in a state of leaderless crisis as the fundamental challenges hurting the country go unattended, worsening by the day. Placing political optics and politics over the quality of real law-abiding governance is never a good strategy for a ruling party with responsibility for 5 million Liberians.

We CDC no longer have that responsibility and ours now is to hold your feet to the fire.

That moment is now and we are coming for that!!

“To the Unity Party,  I must conclude by saying that although your audits are worse than audits under the CDC,  your attempt to use power to distort this reality for electoral purposes has fallen flat and will be fiercely RESISTED!!

YOUR WITCH-HUNTS against my person I see as a  CATAPULT so bring it on! “

Samuel D Tweah, Jr