MONROVIA-The National Elections Commission placed under corruption investigation weeks after reportedly renting several pieces of thermometers worth over hundred thousand United States dollars.
The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission has subjected the entire leadership of the commission to a full scale corruption investigation for the reported action of hiring several pieces of thermometers amounting to one hundred- eighty thousand United States Dollars.
The corruption investigation of the seven commissioners of the NEC commences on Friday, November 19, 2021.
The release added that LACC was deeply concerned about the reports and it is determined to have an understanding of all elements of the transaction.
Earlier this week, it was widely reported that the National Elections Commission spent a whopping one hundred and eighty thousand United States Dollars to rent several pieces of thermometer for the conduct of By-Elections in four counties.
The equipment was specifically rented for the conduct of the November 16, 2021 representative by-elections conducted in Bomi, Bong, Nimba, and Grand Gedeh counties respectively.
Prior to the probe by the Liberia Anti-graph institution, several public figure have taken to their official Facebook page to condemn the action of the commission to have used such huge sum of money on thermometers rental.
Some of them stressed the need to have the commission through its chairperson investigated. One of such person is Kimmie Weeks.
Weeks took to his Facebook page on November 15, 2021 and wrote “Liberia’s election commission has allegedly spent $180.000 to rent 20 thermometers that would cost $1,500 to purchase.” He continues; “In a country that has so many urgent needs, governed by a party that should have the people at heat, this is something that needs to urgently be looked into and reversed.”
Weeks further mentioned that “though the technology cost not more than US$1,500 on Amazon.com, NEC opted not to procure its own, but instead spend US$9,166 to rent a single facial recognition system from the tuman enterprise. That means NEC paid Tuma Enterprise a total of US4183,320 for 20 units of the equipment.
He claimed to be hinted by his source within the NEC who revealed that although the general intended purpose of the equipment remains good, its price tag is alarming, and could have been less if an open competitive bidding process had taken place.
They accused NEC of secretly outsourcing the contract to Tuma Enterprise, a company with an alleged link to Floyd Sayor, a commissioner at NEC without a bidding process.
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