The Liberian Senate has resumed session after its recess for the October 10 and November 14 elections, with information that the contentious Fouani Brothers Investment Incentive Bill will be deliberated in the Senate’s plenary today, Thursday, November 23, 2023.
On Monday, October 30, 2023, the Senate Committees on Concessions and Judiciary heard the Fouani Brothers Corporation Investment Incentive Agreement, with the Deputy Minister of Finance for Fiscal Affairs, Samora P.Z. Wolokollie, and the Chairman of the National Investment Commission (NIC), Molewuleh B. Gray, appearing in committee room to explain to the senators the sections of the bill and provide clarity where necessary. But after thorough scrutiny of the bill, several senators came to the conclusion that the bill was a bad deal for the Republic of Liberia and its citizens. Now, the bill is finally appearing before the Senate’s full plenary for final ruling.
Unfortunately, the Liberian Senate is only conducting lame duck sessions because it is at a transitional point, and not expected to make any major decision on critical national concerns. A lame duck session is a session held by the Senate or the House of Representatives after election day but before the next session convenes after inauguration in January. During this time, the Capitol largely conducts sessions for pro forma reasons, on a standby basis or to deal with a single specific matter. Many at times, major matters are deferred to the succeeding session, as there is no rush in doing what is right for the country and its people.
At this point, there are senators attending session who will not return and are out to grab any fruit as “German pay”, while the in-coming senators are yet to start attending session, which creates a dark cloud over the intent of hastily passing crucial bills at this time.
But a Senate source has hinted the Hot Pepper that the management of Fouani Brothers Corporation is enticing the senators with financial dividends, allegedly offering each senator a sum of US$5,000 to ensure that the bill is passed before the lame duck session comes to a close on December 15, 2023.
The source hinted the paper that, after spending hundreds of thousands to lure the Executive and the House of Representatives into signing and passing the bill, and subsequently forwarding it to the Senate for concurrence, the management of Fouani Brothers is doing everything in its powers to ensure that the effort is not wasted. Although conscious lawmakers have made frantic effort to ensure that Speaker Bhofal Chambers recall the bill from the Senate and carry out proper scrutiny to satisfy the interest of the citizenry, the bill keeps making its way toward final passage, allegedly due to the financial lumpsum that comes with the controversial deal.
Observers are saying that, in the interest of the country the senators should table the Fouani Brothers Investment Incentive and all other major bills during these lame duck sessions until the 55th Legislature can take over in January 2024, in order that both the old and new senators may have time to peruse the document and make a decisive stand on behalf of the people of Liberia. They say passing such bills without proper scrutiny could derail the development agenda of the new administration and put them under duress to honor the contract between the Government of Liberia (GOL) and such investor, even though it is not beneficiary to the state and the citizenry.
They renew the call to the senators to stand up for the people at a time when defeated politicians are trying to use these kinds of means to grab their “goodbye” envelopes.
It can be recalled that, during the hearing of the Senate Committees on Concessions and Judiciary on the Fouani Brothers Corporation Investment Incentive, several senators, including Abraham Darius Dillon, Emmanuel Nuquay, Edwin Melvin Snowe, Jonathan Boy-Charles Sogbie, described the deal as “bad”, and that it has the proclivity to instill hardship in the country by putting local farmers out of job and undermine the investment agreement between the state and other investors involved in palm business, including Golden Veroleum and Mano Palm.
Now that the instrument is before them, observers are saying it is time that members of the upper house either uphold their moral rectitude by uprightly refusing to pass the bill in its state or follow the will of their bellies by taking the little cash inducement and swiftly passing the bill without any modification.