-SG tells House: possible lawsuit awaits Ecobank over Mansion Renovation
By Mark N. Mengonfia –mmenginfia@gmail.com
Since the Executive Mansion, official seat of the Liberian Presidency, was gutted by fire in July 2006, the government of Liberia since Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s era has been allotting millions of US dollars in the national budget for its renovation to date.
Between FY-2008/09 and FY-2018/19 a total of US$ 33,492,101 was budgeted by the government of Liberia for renovation process, says the House of Representatives Specialized Committee set up to probe this controversial project.
Yet up till now, the renovation is still not completed, something that has left many ordinary Liberian spelled bound. One frustrated citizen remarked in Liberian parlance recently, “aye-yah Lib…we can act too bad to this country…we’re our own problem…we don’t love our country.”
“Going forward,” the GAC recommended that, “the managements of the MOS and MFDP should ensure that all payments made from the escrow account are made for the project activities.” https://www.gac.gov.lr/auditDoc/AGs%20Report%20on%20the%20Renovation%20of%20the%20Executive%20Mansion%20By%20the%20MOS.pdf
Since the fire outbreak on one floor at the Executive Mansion, China has since started from scratch a range of huge building construction complexes and completed in and outside Monrovia. They include the huge University of Liberia Fendall complex, the two annexes at the Capitol Building, the Jackson F. Doe memorial hospital in Tappita, Nimba County, the huge Ministerial complex in Congo Town, etc.
An Audit report from the General Auditing Commission (GAC) of 2015 warned of risk discovered in the execution of the Mansion renovation, regarding the way payments were being made. “Payments made outside of the project’s scope could lead to non-achievement of the project’s objectives,” the GAC report said.
Recently, Liberia’s Solicitor General, Cllr. Sayma Syreninus Cephus disclosed that plans are ongoing to file a lawsuit against the management of Ecobank Liberia to recover the US$4,378,245.49 performance bond, according to the House of Representatives Specialized committee.
Making a report to the plenary of the House of representatives after their investigation at the Capitol in the US$4,378,245.49 Executive Mansion renovation case, the specialized committee indicated that since the indemnity bond by the bank, no one has been held accountable for his/her conduct in misapplication of national resources expended.
The specialized committee indicated that to date, nothing has been done to ensure the completion of the 13-year-long Mansion renovation project.
Ecobank, according to the information from Liberia Solicitor General, issued the performance bond as required on behalf of the CNQC, a Chinese state-owned Company.
The Specialized Committee of the House of Representatives, Headed by Grand Gedeh County Representative Dr. George E. Saigbe Boley Sr, said in their preliminary report that it was informed that the renovation process is a complex web of apparent collusion by individual actors at practically all levels of governance.
The Boley led committee reported that several companies, contractors and individual associated with the ongoing renovation are yet to be identified.
Since the fourth floor of the Liberian executive mansion gutted fire on July26, 2006 during the celebration of Liberia’s 159 Independence Day, members of the Liberian Legislature began placing money in the budget to ensure that the Mansion is renovated.
Between FY-2008/09 and FY-2018/19 a total of US$ 33,492,101 was budgeted by the government of Liberia for renovation process.
The committee indicated that fourteen years after the fire incident the mansion remains unusable and tje renovation is incomplete.
“National treasures and artifacts of historic significance, preserved at the Executive Mansion before and after the armed civil conflict have not been found and are uncounted for,” the committee said.
The House Specialized Committee recommended that it be granted an extended period of three months to continue its probe of the contractors performing the ongoing renovation and that adequate resources in the tone of 30, 000 to continue its work.
When President Weah took over in 2018, US$16 million was put in the 2018/2019 national budget for the conduct of Population Census and again the Renovation of the Executive Mansion.