Monrovia, Liberia – The 2024 budget drama continues as Senator McGill charges the Finance Ministry of changing the authorized document while Representative Bility insists the Liberian Senate modifies the budget without the House of Representatives’ approval. As reported, there are requests for an independent investigation into the allegedly revised approved 2024 fiscal budget, but members of the two Houses of the 55th Legislature are pointing fingers at each other.
However, Acting Finance Minister Anthony Myers disclosed on Spoon Talk, a local radio program in Montserrado that US$600,000 had been given to a global energy company called “Karpowership” or “Karpower.” Minister Myers stated that the two Houses should independently verify any claims of modification rather than the Executive or the Ministry.
During a joint press conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday, August 15, 2024, Senator McGill declared that the acts in question were criminal in nature and demanded an unbiased investigation by the same leadership of the 55th Legislature. He accused the Ministry of Finance of being the only entity capable of changing the already approved legislative instrument.
Representative Musa Hassan Bility of Nimba County Electoral District #7, however, stated that while he agreed with Senator McGill 70% of the time that an investigation should be conducted before discussing a recast of the budget, he disagreed with McGill 30% of the time that the Ministry of Finance changed the budget.
Insinuating that the Senate was the source of the alleged illegal act, he emphasized that the ministry is operating on the budget that was forwarded to the Executive, as stated by the acting minister. The representative also rejected McGill’s request that the legislature conduct an independent investigation into the issue, noting that the august body has the authority to do so. Rather, for the sake of openness and sound governance, the representative pleaded with the legislature to approve the investigations of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission and the General Auditing Commission.
