By Seltue Karrweaye
For over three weeks, Liberians have been watching in awe as their representatives in the House of Representatives have engaged in heated debates over the allegations surrounding the embattled Speaker of the House, J. Fonati Koffa. Koffa, who once served as Deputy Speaker of the 54th Legislature, recently revealed on Spoon Talk that some members of the 54th Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways, Means, and Finance would meet in Room 1026 at the Boulevard Palace Hotel to discuss the budget. He mentioned that during these discussions, various government ministries and agencies would be invited to review the initial budget allocations proposed by the Ministry of Finance. However, Koffa also noted that some lawmakers would inform these officials of their intentions to inflate the budget to secure kickbacks for themselves.
Budget padding highlights a significant challenge within our legislative process, where the practice of creating new budget estimates often strays from the original proposals put forth by the Executive. According to the Liberian Constitution, the Executive is empowered to propose budget estimates, which the Legislature then reviews and approves. Ideally, these estimates should be grounded in well-established national programs and plans, developed by government ministries, departments, and agencies that understand revenue sources and have meticulously planned and costed their projects.
However, there are instances where the National Legislature, feeling empowered by its authority to approve the budget, introduces additional elements that may not have been originally planned. This phenomenon, known as padding, involves adding projects that lack prior planning or cost estimation.
In the last 18 years, the National Legislature has sometimes responded to perceived imbalances in funding allocations by proposing new initiatives. While these adjustments may be well-intentioned, aiming to address inequalities, they can unintentionally lead to poorly conceived projects that do not serve the public interest effectively. We must find ways to channel this legislative creativity toward initiatives that are carefully evaluated and strongly aligned with national priorities.
As such, the budget allocated to the National Legislature has increased significantly, rising from USD 9.4 million in Fiscal Year 2006-2007 to USD 57.9 million in the recast budget for Fiscal Year 2024. This growth presents an opportunity for us to re-evaluate our budgetary processes and encourage transparency and accountability that better serve our constituents and strengthen governance overall. Fostering constructive dialogue and collaboration between the Executive and Legislature will help ensure that our budget reflects the actual needs and aspirations of the people we serve.
A critical area of concern within the legislative budgeting process is the inclusion of phantom projects, often created through collaborations among like-minded ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs). These projects can lead to fraudulent collection and distribution of allocated funds. Speaker Koffa recently brought attention to this issue during his appearance on Spoon Talk. It is vital to recognize that such padding harms governance, as it distorts the alignment between governmental programs and the budget, ultimately compromising its intended objectives.
The challenge of legislative padding has deep roots in Liberia, with notable budget increases illustrating this trend. For example, the budget for the Speaker’s office has grown from $605,412 in 2010 to $1.9 million in the 2024 budget. Similarly, the budget for the Deputy Speaker’s office rose from $334,088 in 2010 to $1.3 million in 2024, while the Office of the President Pro Tempore saw its budget grow from $334,088 to $1.5 million during the same period.
To address these challenges, current administrations must adopt a proactive approach. Over the past 18 years, no president has felt empowered to reject the budget passed by the National Legislature, despite concerns about significant additions to the budget line. Additionally, there has been limited progress in identifying inaccuracies stemming from MDAs. Moving forward, we must prioritize transparency and accountability in our budgeting processes, ensuring that every budget reflects genuine needs and supports effective governance. Through collaborative efforts, we can work towards restoring integrity in our financial practices and safeguarding public resources for the benefit of all citizens.
Oversight is an essential sector within our legislature that, unfortunately, has faced challenges due to instances of criminalization. The National Legislature holds the important responsibility of overseeing and reviewing the activities of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). To effectively fulfill this role, legislative committees are created alongside government structures, allowing them to monitor MDAs closely and ensure they operate under the principles of good governance while serving the needs of citizens.
Recently, there have been concerns raised by embattled Speaker Koffa regarding the conduct of some committees. It has been reported that a few committees have strayed from their intended purpose by pressuring MDAs to pay bribes. When MDAs have resisted these demands, threats to reduce their budget allocations have been issued, while some committees inflated their budgets to secure kickbacks.
These practices jeopardize the integrity of the oversight function and can undermine public trust. Rather than pursuing a path of accountability and transparency, these committees risk adopting tactics that parallel organized crime, shifting focus from exposing wrongdoing within MDAs to participating in the very criminality they should be combating.
In 2024, the 55th National Legislature cleverly maneuvered to persuade President Boakai into endorsing their controversial Legislative Support Projects and district development efforts, amounting to a staggering US$13.2 million. Through the Legislative Support Project, each of the 73 Representatives will receive US$100,000 for District Development Funds, while each Senator will be allocated US$150,000. The funding distribution across counties reveals alarming sums: Montserrado will receive $2 million, Nimba $1.2 million, Sinoe $600,000, Grand Bassa $800,000, and Maryland $600,000, among others. This strategy is designed to create the illusion for constituents that their representatives are delivering essential projects to their communities.
In these regions, influential legislators wield significant power in determining project allocations, often coordinating closely with their party and the executive branch. However, it deviates from the normal practice for each legislator to pursue their projects, as their primary roles should focus on lawmaking and legislative oversight, not project initiation.
The most alarming issue is that, while these projects are supposed to be managed by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), legislators have manipulated the process to demand that contracts for “their” projects be awarded to companies they endorse By personalizing the process, numerous projects remain unrealized, and substantial funds often end up misappropriated, highlighting an urgent need for accountability and reform in project management. This trend, evidenced by practices in the County Development Fund (CDF) and the Social Development Fund (SDF), severely undermines proper governance.
Maybe, the most serious element of padding in the National Legislature is the budgetary increment to their budget. Over the years, we have witnessed the emergence of a huge slush fund for the leadership of the National Legislature. The greatest secret in contemporary Liberia is the detailed budget of the National Legislature. They make their budgets and spend it without any element of transparency and accountability. It was during the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration that the National Legislature took a great leap forward. It went from 16 million in 2007 to US$ 47 million in the fiscal year 2016/2017. Since then, it has continued to grow.
In the 2023 budget, the National Legislature was allocated $51,614,330, but the outturn report amounted to $67,963,832. This was $16,349,503 higher than the actual amount allocated to the National Legislature in the 2023 approved budget, which included a $1,520,854 allocation to the Office of the Senate Pro Tempore. However, the outturn report for the Senate Pro Tempore amounted to $3,351,821, which was $1,217,231 higher than the actual amount allotted to the Senate Pro Tempore’s office. How and where did we get the additional $16,349,503, what did we spend it on?
We must save our legislature. The theory of representative democracy is constructed on the principle of the election of legislators by the people to represent them at the lawmaking level. It is this legitimacy derived from the electoral process that gives them the power to map and mold the views and concerns of citizens and constituents into public policy.
When, however, legislators put aside the public good and negotiate pecuniary benefits using their constitutional powers as a bargaining tool, they are abusing, rather than exercising, their powers of representation. Today, the Liberia National Legislature has developed a fairly bad reputation with the public due to criticisms of their perceived selfishness and focus on excessive benefits to themselves. The circle must be broken. The budget is neither for the executive nor for the legislature. The budget is an instrument for the pursuit of the PUBLIC GOOD Not for Conmen. I rest my pen.
