President Sirleaf Suspends Entire LIBTELCO Board
Mr. Editor,
Everyone is familiar with the saying: “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”(Hmmm..I smell smoke)! Basically, that’s what the President is dealing with here, regarding the suspension of the entire LIBTELCO board of directors, for receiving Christmas gifts in white envelopes, oops, I mean for “failure to adhere to the provisions of the Public Procurement Act in concluding a contract with Ketter Telecom (European Company).
By the way, the President already know that Europeans investors like to put “gifts” in white envelopes for government officials!..(Re “British Investor Offers White Envelope”..to Ellen, Inprofile Daily) That’s why she suspended the entire board pending a criminal probe of the Ketter Telecom contract by the Ministry of Justice.
But least we forget, (two years ago) the President dissolved the entire LPRC board and ordered Sam Jackson (Charles Taylor’s de facto Foreign Minister) and Cllr. David Jallah (yeah, that same Cllr. Jallah who said that “judges should take bribes when nobody’s looking”) to pay thousand of dollars in restitution! (Re ” Ellen Dissolves Entire LPRC Board: Jallah, Jackson Ordered to Restitute Thousands”, Frontpageafrica, July 6, 2011)
Like most legal monopolies (government corporations) in Liberia, this is what these crooks do when we the people (shareholders) are NOT allowed to see what they are doing behind our backs! They are powerful, corrupt and lacked accountability and transparency!
But look, didn’t the President say her government had “nothing to hide”? (Re ” Sirleaf: Leadership Has Nothing to Hide” Frontpageafrica, Dec 3, 2013).
1) If her government has nothing to hide, why won’t these government corporations (board of directors) open their meetings to the public and publish the minutes of meetings on their websites and in newspapers??
2) If her government has nothing to hide, why won’t they (board of directors) publish ALL concession agreements, domestic contracts, and copies of monthly bank statements on their website??
3) If her government has nothing to hide, why won’t they publish ALL expenditures, latest audited financial statements, and summary of significant policies (micro finance loans, loans to employees, compensation packages for highly paid executives, etc) on their websites??
4) If her government has nothing to hide, why did she (President) ignore the alarm in the media when the Liberian Maritime Board negotiated a compensation package for nepotism beneficiary (commissioner Binyah Kesselly) which was 10 times more than his predecessor???
5) If her government has nothing to hide, why won’t they publish directors’ fees for attending board of directors meetings?
You get my point, right?
But hey, truth fears no inquiry! If the President wants to promote transparency and fight corruption, she shouldn’t wait for our national symbol of incompetence (Minister of Justice) to conduct an investigation—she should make sure that ALL governmental board of directors open their books for public scrutiny!
After all, we as shareholders, do have a say in running these government corporations, don’t we? We’re a government of the people, for the people and by the people! So we the people do have the RIGHT to know what our government-owned corporation is doing behind our backs and behind closed doors in smoke filled rooms!
It’s time for us to get on these buggers (board of directors) like white on rice! Spread the word!
Martin Scott,
Atlanta, Georgia
