CHANGSHA, CHINA – Vice President Jeremiah Koung was as soon as credited with salvaging the controversial Yellow Machines deal, a multimillion-dollar tools procurement that had drawn widespread criticism for its lack of transparency and inflated worth. Right this moment, nevertheless, the person as soon as hailed because the deal’s fixer is beneath rising scrutiny, as recent developments recommend he might have undermined the very credibility he was tasked to revive.
By Selma Lomax [email protected]
Vice President Koung has led a high-powered authorities delegation in China. The aim is to examine the factories which can be supposedly supplying 285 items of development equipment to Liberia. However what was billed as a last and accomplished deal is now being known as into query, sparking criticism that Vice President Koung has shifted from problem-solver to a central determine in what some are calling an institutional bypass.
The origins of the Yellow Machines saga hint again to Could 2024, when a $79 million proposal for the tools acquisition was quietly launched by Minister of State With out Portfolio, Mamaka Bility. The proposal was closely criticized by lawmakers, civil society, and anti-corruption advocates, who cited an absence of legislative approval, transparency, and obvious inflation of prices.
The backlash was swift. Critics slammed the transfer as unauthorized and fiscally reckless. In response, President Boakai moved to defuse the rising controversy by appointing Vice President Koung to renegotiate the deal.
Vice President Koung’s intervention was, on the time, broadly applauded. He introduced that the federal government had restructured the deal at a drastically decreased price — $22 million payable over three years — and emphasised that it will now be “clear and fiscally accountable.”
“This can be a vital discount in the price of buying these machines,” Koung informed Liberians at a city corridor assembly in the US lately. “We’re dedicated to transparency, fiscal duty, and making certain that each county advantages.”
However Vice President Koung’s present go to to China is shaking that confidence. He’s touring the Sany Heavy Equipment Manufacturing unit in Changsha and the Shantui Development Equipment Firm in Jining — two services reportedly concerned within the manufacturing of the tools for Liberia.
In line with authorities sources, the go to is a part of a “technical inspection” to confirm the standard of the tools and assess the producers’ capabilities. Nonetheless, this has triggered a wave of criticism and confusion, particularly for the reason that authorities had already declared the deal finalized.
Critics argue that if the deal was actually concluded, such an inspection would have been pointless or carried out previous to the announcement. Now, the optics recommend that the method is both nonetheless ongoing or being unexpectedly legitimized after the actual fact — casting doubt on whether or not Vice President Koung’s “repair” was ever accomplished to start with.
Extra troubling, say observers, is the function — or lack thereof — of Liberia’s procurement establishments. In line with the Public Procurement and Concessions Act (PPCA), all main authorities contracts should move by a number of oversight businesses, together with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, and the Public Procurement and Concessions Fee (PPCC).
Regardless of these authorized safeguards, Vice President Koung — a political actor with no official procurement mandate — has been on the forefront of each the renegotiation and the manufacturing unit inspections. The PPCC, which ought to play a lead function in reviewing and approving such offers, has remained conspicuously silent all through the method.
Though the PPCC Government Director, Bodger Scott Johnson, is reportedly a part of the China delegation, the Fee has not issued any public assertion clarifying its function or whether or not it signed off on the renegotiated phrases. That silence has fueled rising suspicions that correct procurement channels have been bypassed in favor of political expediency.
The inconsistencies haven’t gone unnoticed. “The Senate, as an alternative of being a test, is now a cheerleader,” mentioned former authorities official Patrick M’bayo. He described the revised $22 million settlement as “malfeasance repackaged” and known as Koung’s function within the deal “a betrayal of procurement requirements.”
Even Gbarpolu County Senator Amara Konneh — as soon as a pointy critic of the unique proposal — has tempered his stance, although he stays cautious.
“The $22 million determine might characterize progress — however provided that due course of was adopted,” Konneh mentioned. “Those that inflated the unique prices and bypassed our procurement legal guidelines should be held accountable. We hope President Boakai addresses procurement and public monetary administration points, as our nation deserves high quality roads free from corruption and politicization.”
Regardless of the celebratory announcement in April 2025, lots of the deal’s key particulars stay opaque. The renegotiated contract has not been made public. There isn’t a readability on how the value was slashed by over 70% — was tools eliminated, companies altered, or the provider modified fully? If that’s the case, who’s the ultimate provider?
There’s additionally no confirmed cost schedule. Although the federal government claims it’s in discussions with Ecobank to pre-finance the transaction, these negotiations stay behind closed doorways.
Martin Okay. N. Kollie, a widely known anti-corruption activist, expressed each cautious optimism and continued frustration. “We resisted fearlessly for over six months, and our efforts have paid off,” he mentioned. “However we nonetheless demand full accountability for individuals who tried to deceive the Liberian folks.”
Finally, the China journey has reopened questions that many thought have been settled. If the machines are solely now being inspected, was the April announcement untimely? Was the deal ever legally concluded, or was it political messaging geared toward calming public outrage?
Liberia’s procurement framework was constructed to forestall precisely this type of ambiguity. Its legal guidelines are designed to make sure that no single political determine can override institutional checks in executing main contracts.
However that framework seems to have been sidelined. And in doing so, what was as soon as a promising instance of swift reform is now being recast as a troubling case of government overreach and institutional erosion.
