–Wants Pres. Boakai To Distance Himself From It
The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL) has questioned the credibility of the 2025 National Budget, which was passed over the weekend by only members of the “majority bloc” of the House of Representatives and concurred with by the Liberian Senate.
CENTAL emphasized that it is deeply troubled by several missteps associated with the 2025 National Budget submission and review process, which undermine its transparency and credibility and may have further implications for allocations to critical sectors, institutions and programs.
CENTAL recalled that the Executive branch submitted the draft National Budget to the Legislature on November 18, 2024, violating Section 17.1 of the amended 2019 Public Financial Management Act, which requires submission of the draft budget no later than two months before the start of the fiscal year, January 1, 2025 in this instant case. “In short, the submission process did not meet the two-month timeline provided for by the Public Financial Management Law of Liberia, thus allowing little time for review, deliberations, and passage/approval by the Legislature,” CENTAL observed.
Additionally, the transparency group said, the 2025 National Budget did not undergo the required review and scrutiny, thus undermining its credibility and compliance with acceptable best practices and standards. “That the Legislature began public hearings on the draft budget on December 9, 2024 and approved it on December 20, 2024 means it did not thoroughly review and discuss the instrument. This contrasts with the Public Financial Management Laws that requires at least two months of intense review and discussions around the budget, whereby spending entities appear to present their plans and priorities as well as make convincing cases for increased funding. Besides, there is no publicly available information that the Legislature thoroughly reviewed performance reports of the various spending entities before approving their allocations in the current budget.
“This is a major check and balance, transparency and accountability gap, which undermines the oversight function of the Legislature and leaves the use of public resources to the whims and caprices of public officials,” CENTAL maintained.
Also, CENTAL pointed out that deliberations on the National Budget were not presided over by the Constitutionally-elected and sitting Speaker of the House of Representatives, but by a faction of representatives with no authority to do so. “Assuming that the said faction acted with lawful authority, we clearly see the lack of scrutiny as the budget was passed with lightning speed, with seemingly no objections to proposals from the Executive. It is our opinion that only an illegitimate faction of the House seeking favors and recognition from the Executive would proceed in such a manner that admits of no oversight,” the group added.
Meanwhile, CENTAL has urged the National Legislature to lead by example, as the direct representatives of the people. According to the group, this example should first be set by adherence to the rule of law, including through respect for laid down procedures on deliberating on bills or removal of a sitting Speaker, and that there can be no short-cut about this, as any will surely haunt the country in the not-too-distant future.
“The actions of a certain group of lawmakers to assume the authority to pass the budget is a dangerous precedent as, going forward, any group of 38 lawmakers can gather together to make laws outside of established channels in so far they have the backing of the Executive.
“We, therefore, call on President Joseph N. Boakai to distance himself from this illegal act by refusing to recognize same as a product of proper legislative enactment. We believe that this would not only allay concerns that the Presidency has been actively involved in undermining the sitting Speaker, but that it would also serve to safeguard the integrity of our budget process,” CENTAL underscored in a press release.