Monrovia, Liberia – Members of the Liberian Senate unanimously agreed with their counterparts from the House of Representatives’ “Minority Bloc” to approve the National Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, which totals US$880.07 million, despite the continuing leadership crisis at the 55th National Legislature.
Senator Numene Bartekwa of Grand Kru County made the motion, and it was decided late on Friday, December 20, 2024, at the Monrovia City Hall, the House of Representatives’ Majority Bloc had already approved the budget. Nineteen of the thirty senators in attendance supported the budget.
Over US$878 million had been set aside in the draft budget, according to the Senate Committee on Ways, Means, Finance, and Budget. This includes US$1.8 million to renovate the Capitol Building’s Joint Chamber, which suffered significant damage from a fire on December 18, 2024.
There is a difference of little over US$2 million between the approved budget and a draft that Senator Prince Moye offered. In order to compare the data from both legislative bodies before presenting the final budget, a conference committee was established as a result.
The final version of the budget, according to Senator Moye, included an extra US$28 million after much discussion and revision. The committee stressed that in order to prevent previous difficulties around budget changes without parliamentary permission, reallocations in public administration and municipal budgets would be restricted to US$6 million.
The adoption of this budget came after a turbulent time during which House Speaker Fonati Koffa was accused of nepotism, corruption, and conflicts of interest. Notwithstanding these accusations, Koffa has denied any misconduct.
The executive branch recognized the leadership shift and delivered the draft budget to Koon’s bloc for approval after the Majority Bloc chose Representative Richard Koon as their new Speaker. Citing the leadership chaos, the Senate had first declined to work with the House on the budget. However, the Senate acknowledged Koon’s leadership for legislative proceedings.
Senators continue to have serious concerns about the budget’s administration and timely distribution, especially for Dabah Varpilah of Grand Cape Mount County.
Amid the ongoing leadership problems in the House of Representatives, experts are closely monitoring whether President Boakai would sign the budget into law as the political environment changes. The stakes in this political dilemma are further raised by the fact that a possible lawsuit from Koffa and his allies against the adoption of the budget cannot be rejected.
