-With Know Your Customer’s Norm Side-swept; Mop-up Exercise Raises More Shady Questions
The political shielding of the head of the Presidential Economic Management Team (PEMT), Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah, Jr., from assuming responsibility of the flaws highlighted in the reports about the unprofessional way the US$25 million mop-up exercise was handled, wherein reckless discrepancies were exposed, is encroaching on the tents of transparency and accountability which are pillars for the survivability of the nation’s democracy has become not only a sticky frustration, but moreover deeply worrisome.
According to the Presidential Investigation Team Technical Committee, the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) and the team carried out the sale of US dollars directly to foreign exchange bureaus and businesses in terms of their legitimacy; meaning duly registered and tax compliance, or due diligence associated with the direct sale in the marketplace
At the same time, the norm of Know Your Customer was grossly neglected throughout the entire saga thereby making it even much difficult in the absence of proper and honest documentations to credibly confront the chain of discrepancies that attended he process and so the actual or total amount of the mop-up money that was given out to some of the unregistered money exchangers did not only turn out to be quizzical but fashioned in denial of alleged apportioned amount provided some of the named exchangers; and now resulting into a serious debate in the court of public opinion.
flashback of US dollar banknotes and liberian dollar banknotes
On the other hand, and still on discrepancies of the Liberian dollars new banknotes the reports pointed out that again, the actual amount of the new Liberian dollars banknotes printed, shipped and received by the CBL also created doubt regarding the total amount of Liberian dollars banknotes in circulation; coupled with the negative impact the discrepancies have lumbered on the sick and struggling economy; as the investigating team calls for the demonetization of the current currency (Liberian dollar banknotes).
It can be recalled that the current Chairman of the four parties told Dr, Weah to desist from playing game with the turning over of Tweah and Patray or ordered their arrest for the US$25 million mop-up exercise since he (Tweah) is the head of the financial management team and the report flags the US$25m under the discrepancies portion.
Based on the seriousness of the urgent need for the US$25m not to be forced in disappearing in thin air, Urey noted that it would be foolhardy and unthinkable for anyone sober and levelheaded to shy away from what is presently obtaining on the ground portraying selective arrest; when from discrepancies highlighted in the two released reports of which the US$25m mop-up scheme is mentioned is not implemented; and we insist that it cannot be swept aside while others under similar act of discrepancies concerning the printing of the L$16 billion are now languishing in South Beach prison based on the same reports.
For Weah to believe that the selective justice method as being perceivably applied in the L$16 billion saga to the exclusion of the US$25 million mop-up plan wherein while some Central Bank of Liberia’s (CBL’s) officials-Charles Sirleaf, Milton Weeks and others are behind bars at the Monrovia Central Prison (MCP) for the L$16 billion; troubled-Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah, Jr., is being politically shielded on partisan line is unacceptable, pundits lashed out.
Moreover, Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor in a Voice of America’s (VOA’s) interview last week also called for holistic action to be meted out to all reportedly signaled out in the two released reports and not doing selective approach let alone pick and choose. TNR
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