Many surveys conducted between 2010 and 2020 pointed to the National Legislature as the prime factor for bad governance, corruption and, by extension, the suffering of the Liberian people. This is because, according to those spoken to, power is inherent in the people and the lawmakers are the direct representation of the people; as such, they are with the power to checkmate the Executive and its works, as well as with the power to mandate the Judiciary to work for the people or be impeached.
However, this has been the flipside of the works at the Capitol, as lawmakers initiate matters that put money in their pockets and boast of decisions that bring suffering on their people, evident by the report that the National Legislature signed sixty-six concession agreements during the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf administration, with over sixty of them being bogus.
Members of the 52nd, 53rd and 54th Legislatures are said to have one thing in common: corrupt attitude, and this has kept the vast majority of Liberians in abject poverty while they grow richer than the country itself.
ArcelorMittal Liberia’s third amendment of its mineral development agreement (MDA) is gradually exposing how corrupt and self-seeking the folks at Capitol Hill are, without the least conscience that they were elected to serve the people.
The agreement, which was amended two times during the Sirleaf administration, is being sidelined by the Weah administration for allegedly refusing to bribe those with the power to pass the bill.
The agreement was recently returned to the Executive for renegotiation after the lower and upper houses passed it with different recommendations. The lower House claimed that they had to do so because it is not in their purview to negotiate on behalf of government, and so they returned the deal, but without the inclusion of the recommendations made by the Liberian Senate.
According to information, the House of Representatives’ action was prompted by ArcelorMittal’s stubborn behavior to not “water” the grounds for the smooth passage of the bill.
According to sources from the Capitol, the near passage of the bill with additional recommendation was intended to give AML a breathing space to comply with the Executive and legislative demands, but it appeared like the AML would not buy into the corruption.
It is being rumored that the Executive requested that ArcelorMittal provides US$30 million apparently for their 2023 campaign purposes, but AML refused; as such, the Executive allegedly communicated with the House not to pass the amendment. Not to be seen as the hindrance, the House would immediately return the agreement to the desk of the President for renegotiation.
It is also being rumored that some members of the Senate and House of Representatives are requesting that ArcelorMittal liquefy the plenary in order for the amendment to have a smooth passage, but again the AML is said to have refused to do so.
Amidst AML’s refusal to adhere to the demands, the bill is being politicized—that it is against the interest of the people—when both houses sent teams to AML sites to ascertain the facts and they all returned with positive news.
The ArcelorMittal deal could be the largest foreign direct investment under the Weah administration, with a prospect of US$800 million and the employment of additional 2,000 Liberians. However, greed and politics have stalled everything.
Information reaching the Hot Pepper is that ArcelorMittal is intending to report the Weah administration’s lackadaisical behavior towards the agreement—gambling the jobs of over 3,000 Liberians for the aggrandizement of less than 50 individuals.