Sources have hinted the Hot Pepper that the politics of power and the quest for showmanship among officials of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) government is causing President George M. Weah and his administration much harm and embarrassment and dampening their chances for re-election. The paper is told that the government’s main area of success for the past five years—road connectivity—has been hit by low politics, with a conspiracy to have the “engine” of road funds in the country booted out.
President George Manneh Weah was elected in 2017 and subsequently inaugurated in January 2018 as the 24th President of Liberia, relying his leadership agenda on four pillars: power to the people, the economy and job, sustaining the peace, and governance and transparency. The first pillar—power to the people—engenders reducing developmental inequalities so the people can prosper. This pillar, according to the framers of the document, incorporates the Weah administration’s development agenda, with road connectivity being the focal point.
It is noticeable that road connectivity is being activated in every part of the country, with the Ministry of Public Works exerting its might to implement the construction and rehabilitation while the National Road Fund (NRF) maneuvers to ensure that the necessary resources needed to fund the initiatives are secured. However, this collaboration is said to be fading away, with the brain behind the establishment of the NRF to allegedly become the victim of the circumstance.
According to authoritative sources within the road sector, there are ranking officials in the Weah government who are masterminding a plot to have the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NRF, Boniface Satu, booted out, and to have the President appoint a stooge of theirs to dance to their tune.
The sources disclosed that Satu has been firm in his position to have funds coming in for road projects directly used for the intended purpose, to the displeasure of some officials who feel entitled to the funds and demanding that part of the funds be diverted for self-aggrandizement.
They say because Satu is not giving in to their demands, they have made President Weah to believe that he is a hindrance to obtaining funding for roads and, at the same time, taking the glory for achievements he knows nothing about.
According to information, President Weah is so bitter with the Road Fund boss, to an extent that he is anticipating to dismiss him. This rumor is said to have been received with mixed reaction among road fund stakeholders and partners who have followed the successes of the National Road Fund since its establishment.
The National Road Fund of Liberia (NRF) was established in December 2016 by an Act of National Legislature to finance road infrastructures through maintenance, rehabilitation programs and management activities, with the objective of ensuring that road assets are sustained and sufficiently funded for both periodic and routine maintenance.
Upon passage of the NRF Act in 2016, the Ellen J. Sirleaf government in 2017, through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, began a recruitment process which was completed in May 2018 by the George M. Weah government to appoint its head. A rigorous recruitment and selection process involving the Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Transport, Liberia Revenue Authority, GIZ, World Bank, MCC, European Union, USAID and civil society organizations led to the hiring of Boniface D. Satu, who would become the first CEO of the National Road Fund Office, which was the first of its kind in Liberia.
In order to operationalize, the NRF CEO, Satu, would develop a strategy framework which gained the support from the international donor community, including the World Bank, African Development Bank, GIZ and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which led to technical and financial support.
Satu would bring international attraction to the office, and the office in turn would yield the results for which it was created—to source funding for the implementation of road projects around the country.
Road sector pundits have informed the Hot Pepper that international partners are observing the trend of activities in the road sector, and that if President Weah bows to the pressure of his officials to dismiss the Road Fund boss he might be destroying his own legacy of connective the fifteen political subdivisions of the country. They argued that even though the NRF is partly liquidated by funds generated from levies on petroleum products, the expertise to scout more sources of funding cannot be overemphasized, which they claimed Satu is striving towards.
They pointed fingers to some officials of the Ministry of Public Works with close proximity to the Presidency. “An official of the Ministry of Public Works always agitate that the Road Fund boss is receiving all the credits for road construction when they are the ones carrying out the real work on the field,” a source told this paper.
They warned the President not to think, in the slightest way, of replacing Satu at the NRF, stating that “sometimes we do not know the importance of what we have until it is gone”. To be continued.