The chairperson of the multi-stake holder working group of Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) who is also the managing Director of the Forestry Development Authority FDA, Mr. C. Mike Doryen says the is a vacancy at LEITI since President George Weah withdrew the appoint of the head of secretariat the group will met shortly to find a inter head of Secretariat.
Speaking to reporters recently at the RIA Mr. Doryen said the board will later go by the 6.1 which state “ the MSG shall (1) establish a Secretariat to be responsible to carry out and/or co-ordinate the day-to-day operations of the LEITI; (2) have the powers to adopt any and all rules necessary for the internal governance of the LEITI; and (3) to adopt measures and take actions necessary for achieving the mandate and objectives of the LEITI, including, in particular: a. To prepare and/or approve the work plan of LEITI; b. To prepare and/or approve the Budget of LEITI.
Recently, Africa Director of EITI International secretariat arrived in Monrovia Monday, September 2 and has been holding meetings with the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) and the Liberia Secretariat to access the current state of EITI in the country.
Mr. Balde and his team’s recommendations to IEITI will obviously put Liberia in further bad book with the international transparency organization.
According to a source closed to the discussions, the EITI international team has expressed concern about the conduct of activities at the Liberia secretariat and is keen on recommending the removal of Mr. Nyenkan.
“They don’t want him there – many partners are not speaking favorable of Nyenkan due to the way he took over the agency and the way Liberia has abandoned the standards,” our source said.
President George Weah faced massive backlashes after he allegedly breached the law to appoint Mr. Nyenkan back in March 2018.
The President’s decision drew fire from many local and international stakeholders, who condemned Nyenkan’s appointment and hostile takeover.
Since then, the agency and Liberia have struggled to comply with the international standards set by EITI International.
Liberia remains suspended since September 2018 “for not publishing the EITI Report for the Fiscal Period ending June 2016 within the first of July, 2018 deadline.”
But LEITI argued at the time that “missing out on its 2015/2016 fiscal period deadline should not be used as a ground to suspend a country whose government has just spent seven month in power” and that it was a decision that did not give positive reflection of Liberia’s performance.
Liberia Still Performing Poorly
Now, as the EITI International team concludes its visit to Liberia, our source disclosed that they are “not impressed” with the Weah-led government’s handling of the anti-graft institution – an agency responsible to set the standard for the country’s extractive sector.
“Poor funding from government to the EITI is due lack of political support from the government and our international partner which is EITI international is very unhappy with the way our country is proceeding,” the source added.
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