-Tweah’s comment still has citizens spellbound
By Wremongar Blojay Joe, II
The shocking comment made by Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Samuel Tweah days ago that President George Manneh Weah “didn’t run for office to pay people on time” continue to shock citizens, whose welfare the CDC said it was out to promote.
Weah and his CDC government won the 2017 polls on the mantra, “change for hope” and claims to be “pro-poor”.
But just as the people are reeling from the shocking comment of the Finance Minister, Mr. Tweah got the blessing of President Weah on Friday, December 20, 2019 when the Liberian praised him for doing a good job presiding over that Ministry.
In fact, President Weah told a live special interview with the state radio, ELBC from his Rehab Road Paynesville private residence that that the Liberian economy was improving, something some economic analysts say doesn’t match the current reality of double digit inflation and a near economic meltdown.
Government provides the highest number of employment in the country and its current workshop is said to be more than 70,000.
But, speaking to an assembly of his kinsmen from Barrobo Satutory District, Maryland County last Saturday, Minister Tweh said “these are not things that when the president was running for office [he said]; he didn’t run for office to for example … pay people on time”.
The Minister of Finance told the gathering in Clara Town that the main economic problem in Liberia was “high prices, the inflation rate”, and “no money in the banks”, but noted the problem will soon be solved.
“These are not the problem he (President Weah) coming solve. That’s not the reason why he wants[ed] to be president. George Weah doesn’t want to be president so when you go to bank you can get money from there.”
“The man wants to be president to unite the county, develop it, build roads, this will be the first president that will connect the South East,” Minister Tweah told kinsmen of Barrobo People who replied with massive cheers.
He claimed that when he became Minister of Finance, the government had inherited a total of US$7 million despite the fact that the previous government was operating a budget of US$570 million.
“We working very hard, the hole that we met in government, I as Minister of Finance when I became Minister, the hole that the people dug, that’s a big whole”, said Minister Tweah, adding that the Weah Administration is not blaming anyone for the challenges confronting it “but the very people who “dug the big hole” cannot say they want to protest.
Tweah’s comments come less than a day after the Consortium of Civil Servants of Liberia announced that they are embarking on a nation-wide go-slow on Monday December 16. The Consortium is a composition of six public sector groupings including, the National Teachers Association of Liberia, National Health Workers Union of Liberia, Monrovia Consolidated Schools System Teachers’ Association, Supplementary Teachers’ Association of Liberia, Civil Servants Union of Liberia and the Liberia Labor .
They threatened not return to return to work until government settles months of salary and benefits owed more than 77,000 civil servants.
The pronouncement by the consortium was followed by the immediate closure of all public schools by Liberia’s Education Minister Professor D. Ansu Sonii, who told a news conference in Monrovia on Friday that, “All teachers in public schools across the Republic of Liberia are being requested by these associations, through their parent associations, and will be expected to stay away from schools and from teaching as of Monday, December 16, 2019.”
“President Weah under Legal Obligation to protect and dignify decent labor”- Moibah K. Johnson, Civil Servants Union reacts in anger
The Civil Service Union of Liberia did not take Tweah’s comments lightly, refuting it angrily, saying the President Weah was not elected for the “benefit of himself and those around him.”
Moibah k Johnson, who is the President of the civil Servants Union of Liberia, said the Finance Minister’s comment was “unfortunate and disheartening”.
“The Minister is contradicting himself; this is the same oath of office taken by the president. If he says the president was not elected to dignify labor, I have a problem. President has the responsibility; he’s under moral obligation to ensure that when people work they get paid”, said Johnson.
“I wish to inform Mr. Minister (Samuel Tweah) that this is written in the Constitution of Liberia that the government must honor the terms and condition of contracts entered into with all parties, and so the president is under the legal obligation to honor the labor law and pay people on time”.
The administration of President Weah will clock two years in January 2020 and will be taking stock of its deliverables in terms of social services and fulfilling campaign promises to the people of Liberia and what to achieve for the remaining four years.
Weah’s chief financial expert and head of the Country’s Economic Management Team says the major problems affecting the country are inflation, high prices and lack of money in the banks.
What has accused such inflation and how Tweah and his team are working to mitigate the scourge remains largely unknown.
Data available from the World Bank 2019 Overview of the Liberian Economy shows nothing substantial being done by the current administration to address the country’s faltering economy.
For example, the overview of Liberia’s Economy for the year 2019 by the World Bank shows that the economy contracted significantly. The report says, economic activities “declined by 1.4% in 2019, following the modest growth of 1.2% in 2018. Inflation reached 31.3% by August 2019, up from 26.1% the previous year”.
That’s a record SIX percentage point inflation increase under Tweah as minister of Finance.
Not only has the country performed very poorly with curbing inflation under Tweh as minister of Finance, but also, the CDC Administration’s stewardship of the county has seen an overall fiscal deficit of the central government widened from 4.1% of GDP in FY2017 to 4.8% of GDP in FY2018 and further to an estimated 6.2% in FY2019, reflecting low domestic revenue mobilization and high public spending, according to the same World Bank and International Finance Corporation 2019 assessment.
The World Bank, an International financial institution that provides loans and grants to the government of poorer countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects, between January 22, 2018 and the middle part of 2019, the county’s fiscal economy saw a wage bill that increased to 10.1% of Gross Domestic Product of the entire country or over two-thirds of total expenditures in FY2019, crowding out other recurrent expenditures, particularly the provision of goods and services in the social sectors and infrastructure spending.
This clearly happened under Tweh’s Watch as Minister of Finance. But interestingly the unexplained jump in the country’s wage bill created a larger fiscal deficit which has led to a rapid increase in public debt from 40.2% of GDP in FY2018 to 54.5% of GDP in FY2019 (World Bank Economic Overview).
Mistrust and lack of confidence have engulfed the country’s banking system and some of Liberia’s traditional partners including the US Embassy, the Swedish Embassy, World Bank and others have raised issue with the government use of donor funding intended for other projects.
Minister Tweh and the Minister of Information Eugene Nagbe have admitted using donor’s money without approval and even withdrawing substantial amount of money from the Central Bank’s reserve.[CTQ1]
Acknowledging a letter from nine embassies near Monrovia, which took the internet by storm on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 the Minister of Information Eugene Nagbe stated, “We have just received a letter, an informal information note, signed by nine of our partners where they raise[d] issues – historical issues – where the Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, moved monies from accounts under the supervision of the government to our Consolidated Account to handle Government’s expenditures. We have been having age-old debate, na today oh the only thing the letter dem ain’t leak before but now this new government’s letters can leak, and I challenge any of the partner to say that they never raise[d] this issue before. It’s an accounting administrative issue.”
During his live talk show appearance on State Radio ELBC the Minister of Finance Samuel Tweh confirmed in an answer from Journalist Rodney Sieh that “the government of Liberia is institution corrective measures to ensure that we don’t use money approved for donors projects” and to even ‘stop borrowing from the Central Bank”
The movement of donors funds from consolidated accounts and constant borrowing from the CBL reserve has degraded confidence in the banking sector as community based saving clubs with small, medium and some large cash owners holding back money outside the banking sector.
Recently, the US Embassy announced in a statement that it was withdrawing a number of its Peace Corps Volunteers from leeward counties because it was finding it difficult for volunteers to cash out from banks in the counties.
These and many others are Tweh’s handling of an economy already by Ebola and falls in global price of runner and iron, Liberia’s historic chief export commodities.
[CTQ1]Can you find a quote from Tweah to substantiate this ?