—After “Chopping” The Liberian People’s Money At Senate Retreat
After immense pressure from the public, the Senator of Gbarpolu County, Amara Konneh, has shamefully disclosed that he was returning L$318,000 to the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) from the money he received as domestic daily subsistence allowance (DDSA) at the Senate retreat in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
This embarrassing move was made after Martin K.N. Kollie wrote an open letter to him, requesting him to refund the money because he had violated the 2016/2017 Travel Ordinance, which allocated only US$52 per day as DDSA for senators, which is in contrast to the US$854 that Senator Konneh said senators received at the Senate sitting.
In his open letter to the senator, Kollie said, “Your recent write-up has even exposed the entire Senate. We will provide a more constructive, conclusive, and systematic response, but let’s begin to identify some of the legal inconsistencies/violations thereof. You said, ‘Each Senator received a domestic allowance of LRD328,000 which is US$1,708 at the exchange rate of US$1 = LRD192.’ What does the law say about Daily Domestic Substance Allowance (DDSA)? The GOL Revised Travel Ordinance of 2016/2017 is crystal clear.
“Let’s move to Annexure III, specifically #4: Domestic Allowance per day for a Senator is LRD10,000 which is US$52.08 per day. Fellow Liberians, please see the attachment.
“Senator Konneh, how come you and your colleagues spent only 2 days at a retreat and received US$1,708 as DSA? This means that you paid US$854 per day. So you illegally increased your domestic subsistence allowance by 93.91%. This is a gross violation of the 2016/2017 Approved Travel Ordinance,” Kollie’s open letter noted.
According to the letter, “Even if we consider 4 days for your retreat in Buchanan, each of you still receive US$427 per day, which is far above what the law stipulated for DDSA. At 4 days, you increased your daily domestic allowance by 87.81%. Anyhow you turn this, you have violated the law. The actual amount each of you, Senator, should have received for 2 days is US$104 and for 4 days is US$208. Instead, you received US$1,708. Wow.
“We, the Liberian people, are asking you, the Senators, to refund US$1,604 each just for daily domestic subsistence allowance. You owe the people this money. Pay it back.”
In response, Senator Konneh said, “I am glad my recent post gave you more facts than you knew. This should tell you that I will continue to push for transparency at all levels in our governance system.”
Senator Konneh added, “I am ahead of you on the reimbursement. I suggested it to colleagues and I have gone ahead quietly to do so. My Assistant is on his way to the CBL to refund LRD318,000 out of the LRD328,000 they gave us for Domestic Daily Subsistence Allowance (DDSA) into the GOL Revenue Account. I have many $1,704 I have earned over the years. Nevertheless, no law says it’s $54. If there is one, I suggest you post the specific section. Travel rates are not legislated.
“We have a Travel Ordinance that regulates all travel, domestic and foreign and was formulated while I was Finance Minister but adopted by cabinet when I resigned. The DDSA rate for Senators is LRD10,000 per day. See the attached for the rate in the Ordinance.
“Again, I am only engaging you here because we need solutions to push constructive reforms. Some friends have advised me that it’s pointless engaging you. I disagreed with them. I hope you find my recommendations in my post useful and join the few champions in the Senate to advance reform. We (the Senate) need to fix our finance office. Period! Reforms take time, but we must act, and we will.”
Political pundits have described Senator Konneh’s action as a national embarrassment, and a clever move to save face amidst rampant corruption at the Liberian Senate.
“What if Martin had not cited the law…would he have reimbursed the money? This is shameful. Like the way Senator Abe Darius Dillon presented himself to the public as an integrity icon, this is the same mess Senator Konneh has dragged himself into. But it is laughable that in less than six months he’s involving himself in all the financial squandering at the Senate,” the pundits observed.