-But what does the National Code of Conduct Act say about bribery?
In the wake of last weekend’s revelation of the leaked tape recording by a leading Liberian media outlet, FrontpageAfrica containing alleged bribe solicitation by top officials of the National Housing Authority, the Criminal Court in Monrovia has placed travel restrictions on two NHA executives and a Liberian representative of a Burkinabae construction company.
The men are ordered not to leave Liberia during the course of ongoing investigations relating to their alleged involvement in the crime of bribery, which is a felony. Bribery is a violation of Section 1.3.2 of the National Code of Conduct Act
The travel restrictions on NHA’s Managing Director, Duannah Siryon and his Deputy, Tugbeh Tugbeh are likely to be formally charged and tried, amidst interrogation by state security forces after the FPA story and the leaked tape were published last Friday, November 23, 2018.
According to 1.3.2 of the Code of Conduct Act: “Bribery: means any reward or inducement paid to a Public Official or Employee of Government for doing or forbearing to do anything in respect of any matter or transaction within the scope of their official duties. It is anything promised, offered, given, accepted or received by a Public Official and Employee of Government for or on account of favor given or to be given in the exercise of his or her official duties, and includes what is known widely in local terminology as “cold water” or “eating” .
A person has committed bribery if: (a) he or she directly or indirectly promises, offers, or gives a benefit or reward to a public official or one who occupies any position of trust in any public or private entity in order that the official, person or entity acts or refrains from acting in the exercise of his or her official duties in violation of the trust reposed in him or her; or (b) he or she directly or indirectly solicits or accepts any undue advantage for himself or herself or for another person or entity, in order that he or she or the other person or entity acts or refrains from acting in the exercise of his or her official duties, in violation of the trust reposed in him or her by virtue of his or her office.”
Gelpaz Liberia Construction, represented by Augustus Weah who complained of be pressured by the NHA officials to give bribe in a contract to up to 5,000 affordable houses for needy Liberians, is owned by a Burkinabé magnate.
This company has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build 100 affordable homes as a pilot project to be followed by additional 400 and then the rest will follow.
Reports said over the weekend that the NHA MD’s working and communication equipment, notably his computer and mobile phone was extensively examined by the state security officers before he was taken away.
FPA last Friday gave details of what it heard on the tape in question:
“In the recording, the representative of GELPAZ in Liberia, Augustus Weah who is alsothe vice president of the company, alleged that NHA Managing Director Mr.Duanah Siryon had requested kickback in the tone of US$160,000 for NHA,US$100,000 for Justice Minister, US$100,000 for Nathaniel McGill and US$100,000for Finance Minister before the contract can be consummated.
According to Weah, he negotiated with Siryon that they (GELPAZ) did not have that amount of money on hand but had made some transfer via LBDI Bank and could produce US$80,000 to be split between Minister McGill, his team and the NHA.
“After that the US$80,000 was presented to Duanah Siryon, and he told me ‘I’ll give you US$20,000 to keep and I’ll take the US$60,000 to McGill to disburse.’,” Weah is heard saying the leaked audio.
Weah further alleged that the NHA Managing Director requested and was offered a percentage in the construction, but pleaded that such would be kept secret from his principal deputies.
Weah was explaining to some employees of NHA after he received information that Siryon had accused him of receiving US$400,000 for President Weah (his cousin) and other members of the Executive branch for the consummation of the MOU in order for GELPAZ to start construction works. Weah had said he was confronted about the money by the President via a WhatsApp message when he was in Paris, France in September.
However, in another recording, Siryon is heard denying ever accusing Augustus Weah of receiving money for the President and challenged him to show proof of said accusation.
Siryon: “There has been no point in time that Gus (Augustus) gave me money to bring to y’all. Gus has the recordings, he has the videos if he brings it it’ll be good. There has been no point in time that I told the President that Gus received four hundred and some more thousand… There has been no point in time that Gus gave me money to give to y’all and I didn’t, besides the money that was given right here.”
However, Siryon is further heard in the recording saying he asked his source whether there was anything in the ‘excepted package’ for the “VIP”. “He said the package entails US$160,000 – so NHA, US$100,000; Justice, US$20,000 and two others, US$ 40,000. I said, did you send that amount? What about VIP?”
Siryonfurther said that he was informed by his source Augustus Weah had alleged thatMin. McGill gave him (Siryon) money for his team but he failed to do so.”
According to one Augustus (Gus) Weah, vice president of GELPAZ Liberia, he said during the negotiation with Siryon he told the NHA director that GELPAZ Liberia did not have that amount of money on hand. However, Gus said he made a transfer of US$80,000 via Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) to him, to be shared with Minister McGill, his team and the NHA.
“After that the US$80,000 was presented to Duannah Siryon, and he told me, ‘I’ll give you US$20,000 to keep and I’ll take the US$60,000 to McGill to disburse,’” Weah is heard saying in the leaked audio recording. Weah further alleged that the NHA Managing Director requested and was offered a percentage in the construction, but pleaded that such would be kept secret from his principal deputies.
The stealing was exposed when Augustus Weah (President Weah’s cousin) claimed Siryon had earlier accused him of receiving US$400,000 for President Weah and other members of the Executive branch for the consummation of the MOU in order for GELPAZ Liberia to start construction work. Gus had said he was confronted about the money by the President via a WhatsApp message when he was in Paris, France, in September.
However, many who had felt that top government officials taking or demanding bribes was a phenomenon of the past have to reconsider, as officials of the infant CDC administration have also started trending along a similar path.
The infamous “You eat, I eat” tape that involved former Montserrado District #16 representative Edward S. Forh, who in 2013 was recorded by then Montserrado County Superintendent Grace-Tee Kpan for his alleged request for a portion of the County Development Fund, shocked the nation.
Another leaked tape involved former Minister of Defense, Brownie Samukai, who was caught gossiping about his boss, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
In the case of Siryon, It appeared that the exercise was a sting operation since the audio recording was made from the beginning of the case, an insider said, adding that Siryon had no idea that he was being recorded.
“It was pure greediness,” another NHA worker said. “Why did he (Siryon) choose to consume so much of the money since it is reported that he gave two of his deputies US$5,000 each.”
Also on Friday afternoon, several NHA employees held an emergency meeting and concluded that the NHA Management should be able to pay their three months’ arrears. The employees threatened to make their demands on Monday, November 26.
Many of the workers told the Daily Observer that they are afraid that President Weah would see Mr. Siryon’s action as a disappointment and would replace him. “You know we have the L$16 billion case behind us and see what you have done at the NHA…” President Weah was reported to have commented in disappointment when he held a meeting with NHA top management at his Foreign Affairs office.
It may be recalled that Mr. Siryon, in a recent statement, called on Liberian government officials to leave positive legacies as they work to rebuild the country. But, an NHA worker said, by illegally consuming US$82K in a pro-poor economy, he has shown that he is a hypocrite who calls for transparency when his official behavior proved otherwise.
Another employee said Mr. Siryon has lost credibility among his employees and his deputies and, therefore, President George Weah should save the National Housing Authority from crumbling by re-assigning Mr. Siryon if he (the president) still believes that Mr. Siryon has something positive to offer his administration.
Since he resumed the position in March 2018, Siryon initiated a clean-up campaign of the Executive Mansion grounds and got all the Small & Medium Size Enterprises, of which the NHA is a part, to carry out a major clean-up.
President Weah participated in the exercise, brushing a large body of weeds in the process. He also initiated the painting of the NHA building, secured a couple of vehicles for the NHA and also introduced electronic time-keeping to ensure effectiveness and control of the workers. According to some of the workers, Siryon has promised to bring several computers and has negotiated with the STARZ Computer School to send some NHA employees there to improve their capacity.