[allAfrica.com] [Africa_2005] NTGL Leaves Behind Huge Debt The Analyst (Monrovia) ANALYSIS November 17, 2005 Posted to the web November 17, 2005 The National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) was constituted in Accra in August 2003 and inaugurated in Monrovia on October 14 the same year primarily to pave the way for civil rule on January 16, 2006. The unspoken expectation of the Liberian people and international facilitators before and after the inauguration is that this government, born of crises to solve crises and restore sanity through a set of security and political programmes, will leave behind a legacy of good governance which would hopefully be emulated by succeeding administrations. But it needs no proof that it didn't even though its administrators were drawn from a cross-section of Liberian interest groups that collectively referred to themselves as "stakeholders". Added to the allegations of mismanagement of meager state funds, unbridled corruption, and extra-budgetary expenditure that ran throughout its tenure, the NTGL is again facing allegations that besides questioning its creditworthiness, is likely to have a far-reaching negative impact on donors' and investors' impression about Liberia and its post-war democracy. Liberia will need massive infusion of foreign capital for reconstruction. Concomitantly, it will be building its image for debt forgiveness, but how much the current picture will advise this process remains a troubling question that the next government will begin pondering as the clock ticks toward January 16. The Analyst's Staff Writer, reports. The NTGL is allegedly withholding more than US $2m in debt to the Alliance Motor Corporation (AMC) and the Prestige Motor Corporation (PMC) while its operatives attempt to sell properties it does not own, The Analyst has learned. According to information garnered by The Analyst from preliminary investigations it conducted recently, the debt accumulated from vehicles requested by the government and supplied by the two automobile trading corporations between 2003 and 2005. Corporation sources that preferred to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal for making unauthorized disclosures said the government made some payments but seemed set not to make further payments. "This frightens us because their terms in office will soon be over. Suppose the next government refuses to pay? What will happen to our businesses; how will our suppliers view us and how will investors see the creditworthiness of the Liberian government?" wondered an AMC executive that also preferred not to be named. According to the investigation, the Executive Mansion is indebted to the same corporations in the tune of US $49,000 for car repairs and maintenance for the same period while the NTLA owes US $1.189 m for vehicles supplied. The investigation was not able to ascertain whether or not the NTLA was billed apart from the NTGL, but our AMC and PMC sources said their greatest fear is that the vehicles may be disposed of as government property. They said while the government promised to pare down its indebtedness through payment by installment, some of its functionaries was planning to sell or take possession of the vehicles. They did not name the functionaries neither did they say whether or not the alleged decision to sell the vehicles was individual or policy-driven. Observers recalled a now dead and dismissed resolution passed recently by the NTLA endowing each of its members with the right to take away and own vehicles assigned them by the government. Reports say Chairman Bryant vetoed the NTLA resolution that would have consigned government assigned vehicles to the lawmakers as compensation for performing legislative during the transitional period. When the managements of AMC and PMC were contacted for comment on the alleged indebtedness by government, the Public Relations Officer of the Corporations referred our investigator to the public service announcement they placed in the local media this week, adding, "the announcement speaks for itself and that it was left with the press to help rescue the name of the government by urging it to settle its indebtedness. "It is your government; we are business people who commit ourselves to helping this country grow and progress, but it is unfortunate that things have to go this way," he said. For the passed few days, AMC and PMC placed two similarly worded advertisements in the local newspapers that indicated that a number of government plated vehicles being used by the NTGL were still its properties not yet transferred through sale or otherwise. "[Prestige Motor Corporation/Alliance Motor Corporation] wishes to inform the public that according to the terms and conditions of sale, the following vehicles remain the property of [Alliance Motor Corporation/Prestige Motor Corporation] until full payments are made on them," the announcement stated. It revealed that the vehicles in question were supplied to the General Services Agency, which is the procurement arm of government, the City Corporation of Monrovia, and the Ministry of Information, Culture Affairs, and Tourism by the two corporations but that full payments have not been made. Unless that was done, the corporations believe, the vehicles remain their property even though they fell short of saying what would happen if payments were not made up to the expiration of the NTGL's mandate in January next year. Amongst the brand said to be in question, according to the announcement, are two Neon Se 2.0L, two Neon LX 2.0L and 8 Cherokee Laredo. It is not known whether or not these vehicles are jeeps, pickups, or sedans. Other vehicles included in the list are 4 DC and 6 SC Mitsubishi pickups, according to the AMC/PMC public service announcements. It is not clear why the corporations took the decision to publish the list of vehicles yet to be fully paid for by the government, but observers suggest that the apparent break from the normal business protocol testifies to the fact that confidence in the NTGL may be slowly eroding. This, they say, is a bad ending for a transitional process that was slated to give substance and berth to governance in fiscal management terms in Liberia and a bad omen for the incoming administration that will rely heavily on donor funds and investors for its much-expected reconstruction program. Coming out of more than two decades of crippling conflicts that left most of the country's economy and infrastructure in states of disrepair, analysts say, it is only when Liberians restore abiding confidence in the donor and investment communities that all else will go according to expectation. By this, they say, NTGL and the incoming administration must put checks on corruption and guarantee favorable investment climate free of extortionist overtone. Many say it is too late for NTGL to put any checks on corruption, having basked in its trappings over the last 24 months, but they insist that it was not too late for the Gyude Bryant transitional arrangement to ensure that it did not leave behind huge debts burdens upon which the incoming administration may stumble and even fall to the despair of desperately anxious Liberians. The 2000 World Bank statistical data show Liberia's external in the 122nd place worldwide at US 2.1 billion. The tune of the domestic debt, to which our investigation shows some US $2 million has been added, is not known; but if reports that Liberia's total debt stands at more than U.S. $3.1 billion is anything to go by, then it may be said that the domestic debt is as much as the external debt. While this remains the wild conjecture it is, observers say, the fact remains that unless Liberia shows that it is committed to servicing these debts while keeping its fiscal management agenda on international par, it is unlikely to benefit from any foreign assistance in spite of its appalling economy and infrastructures. In their view, the alleged commandeering or attempt to commandeer vehicles not fully paid for by government is amongst indicators that Liberia has a long way to go in convincing donors and investors that indeed it is ready for business. Other indicators, they say, include the current Capitol Building investigation regarding the alleged misapplication by the transitional government of the Maritime funds and rice donated by the Chinese Government. Observers say it is a "double jeopardy" for the Liberian people for a government saddled by allegations of corruption that is leaving behind huge civil servants' salary arrears, to also be piling up debt for succeeding administrations. What to do about the so-called double jeopardy, they could not say, but perhaps it is something about which the transitional coordination team of the incoming government will have a lot to do and do with all purpose between now and inauguration in January 2006.   =============================================================================   Copyright © 2005 The Analyst. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). =============================================================================