WHEN THE scandal surrounding the controversial yellow machines deal exploded onto the nationwide stage, it was Vice President Jeremiah Koung who was solid within the function of fixer — a gentle hand charged with rescuing what many had come to view as an overpriced, opaque, and doubtlessly unlawful procurement settlement.
NOW, simply two months after the federal government introduced a renegotiated $22 million deal and declared the matter resolved, Vice President Koung is again within the highlight — however not for the explanations one may anticipate.
HIS TRIP to China, the place he’s inspecting the very factories stated to be supplying the equipment beneath the revised settlement, has raised questions. And within the court docket of public opinion, Vice President Koung is quick shifting from the person who saved the deal to the official now spoiling its credibility.
AT THE middle of this reversal is a obtrusive contradiction. The federal government had beforehand advised Liberians the deal was finished. Vice President Koung himself boasted that the associated fee had been dramatically lowered from $79 million to $22 million, and that Liberia would now purchase 285 items of professional quality building gear on improved phrases, payable over three years. “It is a important discount in the price of buying these machines,” Vice President Koung declared throughout a city corridor in america not too long ago. “We’re dedicated to transparency, fiscal accountability, and making certain that each county advantages.”
BUT VICE PRESIDENT Koung’s journey to China, the place he’s main a delegation to go to Sany Heavy Equipment in Changsha and Shantui Building Equipment in Jining — two factories supposedly concerned in manufacturing the gear — suggests one thing else. Authorities insiders have tried to elucidate the journey as an “inspection and high quality verification” train. But this clarification solely deepens the confusion.
IF THE deal was concluded months in the past, why are machines being inspected now? Why is a ultimate high quality verify going down after the federal government celebrated the settlement as a fiscal victory?
THE TRIP has uncovered what seems to be a serious inconsistency within the administration’s dealing with of the yellow machines deal. Critics argue that this undermines the sooner claims of finality and transparency.
SOME ARE now asking whether or not the unique announcement was extra political theatre than coverage motion, and an try and quiet a rising storm with out totally addressing the authorized and procedural flaws of the procurement course of.
AT THE coronary heart of the matter lies an uncomfortable fact. The nation’s Public Procurement and Concessions Act (PPCA) clearly defines how main public contracts should be structured and executed. These procedures should not non-compulsory. They require the enter and oversight of technical establishments, notably the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, and most significantly, the Public Procurement and Concessions Fee (PPCC).
THESE AGENCIES exist to make sure that procurement choices are lawful, fiscally accountable, and in the most effective curiosity of the general public. But within the yellow machines saga, these establishments have been overshadowed by the singular function of 1 political determine: Vice President Koung.
DESPITE HAVING no formal procurement authority beneath the regulation, Vice President Koung has led the renegotiation, took possession of the revised pricing, and is now overseeing worldwide inspections. The PPCC, which must be on the middle of such a course of, has been noticeably absent from public discourse.
ITS EXECUTIVE Director, Bodger Scott Johnson, is accompanying the Vice President on the China journey, however the Fee itself has issued no formal assertion on whether or not it reviewed or authorized the renegotiated contract. That silence has fueled rising suspicion that the PPCC was sidelined altogether.
OBSERVERS WARN that Vice President Koung’s unorthodox management function units a harmful priority. “The Senate, as a substitute of being a verify, is now a cheerleader,” stated former authorities official Patrick M’bayo, who labeled the revised settlement “malfeasance repackaged.” M’bayo’s assertion underscores a wider concern — that the deal could have merely been politically rebranded with out fixing the underlying points that first drew public ire.
EVEN SOME lawmakers who as soon as criticized the unique $79 million proposal have softened their tone in mild of the associated fee discount, although not with out warning. Gbarpolu County Senator Amara Konneh, an early critic, has acknowledged that the $22 million determine could symbolize progress. However he was clear in drawing a line: “Those that inflated the unique prices and bypassed our procurement legal guidelines should be held accountable,” he stated. “We hope [President Boakai] addresses procurement and public monetary administration points, as our nation deserves high quality roads free from corruption and politicization.”
BUT THAT hope appears more and more dim within the face of continued opacity. Up to now, the federal government has not launched a replica of the revised contract. There was no clarification of how such an enormous discount — from $79 million to $22 million — was achieved. Was the gear scaled down? Had been help companies eliminated? Was the provider modified? And in that case, to whom?
EVEN MORE baffling, Liberians haven’t been knowledgeable of the cost schedule, nor the precise phrases of pre-financing the cope with Ecobank, which authorities sources declare remains to be beneath negotiation. These gaps in transparency are greater than technical oversights. They erode public belief, particularly in a authorities that campaigned on a platform of reform, institutional independence, and anti-corruption.
MARTIN Ok. N. Kollie, a outstanding anti-corruption advocate, welcomed the associated fee discount however echoed a broader demand for transparency. “We resisted fearlessly for over six months, and our efforts have paid off,” he stated. “However we nonetheless demand full accountability for individuals who tried to deceive the Liberian folks.” Kollie’s feedback replicate the place of many in civil society who imagine that with out full disclosure and unbiased oversight, the deal stays deeply compromised.
WHAT’S AT stake is not only 285 items of apparatus. The yellow machines deal has grow to be a litmus take a look at for a way severely the Boakai administration takes its guarantees of excellent governance.
THE PROCESS has to this point revealed a sample of contradictions, a sidelining of authorized establishments, and an alarming overreliance on political intervention. Liberia’s procurement framework exists exactly to forestall this type of improvization. When ignored, it opens the door to abuse, mismanagement, and eventual scandal.
VICE PRESIDENT Koung could have stepped in with good intentions. He could have genuinely sought to right an overpriced and politically poisonous settlement. However intentions are not any substitute for due course of. And with out clear adherence to the regulation and public transparency, the end result is similar {that a} deal shrouded in secrecy, formed by politics, and executed outdoors the boundaries of Liberia’s procurement norms.
WHAT BEGAN as a heroic rescue operation is now being recast as a cautionary story. From fixer to spoiler, Vice President Koung’s transformation within the yellow machines saga displays not simply the fragility of reform guarantees but additionally the bounds of personality-driven governance.
AS THE administration doubles down on its protection and the PPCC stays tight-lipped, Liberians are left to wonder if the “new day” promised by the Boakai authorities is already slipping into acquainted shadows.
UNTIL THE full particulars are revealed, till the PPCC steps ahead, and till procurement legal guidelines are visibly and strictly upheld, the stain of doubt will linger. In a democracy, belief isn’t earned by means of slogans or journey pictures. It’s earned by means of transparency, legality, and accountability — three issues the yellow machines deal continues to lack.
AND IN that absence, the legacy of this deal, and of Vice President Koung’s function in it, dangers being sealed not as a triumph of reform, however as a symptom of all that reform was supposed to switch.
