Senate Says ‘At No Time’ US$30k Was Paid Members
MONROVIA, July 15 – The Liberian Senate has clarified that “at no point in time” did members of the Senate receive US$30,000.00 each for Legislative Engagement in the 2022 budget. The clarification comes amidst rife speculations in the public that each member of the Legislature has received US$30,000.00 to facilitate what speculators call Legislative Engagements in their various constituencies.
The clarification was made Thursday in the Plenary by the Chairman and Co-Chairman of the Senate Statutory Committee on Ways, Means Finance and Budget, Bomi and Bong County Senators Morris Saytumah and Prince Moye respectively.
According to the technicians of the budget, there was a strict mandate from the Senate Plenary not to have any budget line for a said amount in the current budget, and as such it was never allotted in the Senate’s budget for any legislative engagement.
Meanwhile, the Senate has cited the authorities of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning as well as the Liberia Revenue Authority to appear before a committee next Monday for Public Hearing on the draft recast budget currently before the Senate for concurrence.
They will appear to give clarification on several unanswered questions raised by Senators in the current recast budget.
