Minister of Finance is receiving $30,000 salary and $18,000 worth of gas slip and scratch cards monthly. US$126 Thousands Dollars To Renovate His Offi

Amara Konneh: Minister of Finance
US$126 Thousands Dollars To Renovate Office

I take this time to inform you about an ugly act at the Ministry of Finance which can break our entire country down. It has become disturbing to the extent that, if we all do not step inside, we must get ready to be blamed for supporting the hardship of the Liberian people.


On February 10, 2012, when Hon. Amara M. Konneh took over as Minister of Finance, he promised the Liberian people that he had the power find enough money from anywhere to fix the Hydro. He also said that our salary with our gas and scratch cards was going to be cut to support the Hydro. What we are seeing today is different. Now, Ministry of Finance employees scratch cards and others benefits are being cut to furnish the Office of the Finance Minister that did not even need renovation.


Members of the Press, let me inform you quick that Minister Konneh has spent over US$126,000 (One Hundred and Twenty Six Thousand United States Dollars) from government money on himself and he say that he is renovating his office, the place that you all have visited on a number of occasions and did not see need for spending this kind of plenty money to fix it. Two days after the man took office, he single handedly give the contract to one Miatta Jones Design Lab for the renovation. Minister Konneh left all the construction companies in this country and gave the contract to this woman who knows more about decoration. He went to work and fooled the PPCC people to give him no objection to give the contract to Miatta Jones Design Lab because he said that the place was damaged.


The PPCC too never came to check the office of the finance minister to know whether or not the place was truly damaged and needed to be fixed, and they just give him the go ahead based on the story he told Madam Peggy. According to some of our colleagues, it was the fastest no objection Madam Peggy ever give to Finance Ministry. Before Minister Konneh could take over, the ministry had a contract with G. B. Dennis Group of Companies for minor renovation but Minister Konneh said that he needed a special office. Then Minister Konneh also told Ministry of Finance comptroller to give US$8,000 (Eight Thousand United States Dollars) to G. B. Dennis Group of Companies for spoiling their work. G. B. Dennis Group was the people that was doing minor fixing on the Finance Minister’s office before Minister Konneh was appointed.


Minister Konneh Surprise all of us when he told the people to throw away very decent and new furniture including chairs, desks and conference tables from the Office of the Minister and the Conference Room for new ones at the cost of US$21,000 (Twenty One Thousand United States Dollars). The internet service that was put in the Office of the Minister by the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) people with huge World Bank money was destroyed during Minister Konneh’s renovation exercise and a new vendor has been hired by Minister Amara Konneh for US$42,000 (Forty Two Thousand United States Dollars) to bring the service back. See below for the breakdown of money that Minister Konneh has spent just for fixing his office.

Transfer from Ministry of Finance Employees’ Scratch Cards---------
5,518.85

G. B. Dennis Group of Companies
8,000.00

Sub-total for Renovation
US$63,373.00

Office Furniture
21,000.00

Internet Service Outside of IFMIS
42,000.00

Transfer from Water and Sewage
$5518.85

Total Renovation Cost
US$126,373.85


Members of the Press, we are all confused about this kind of spending. Using huge sum of money to renovate office is Minister Konneh’s key priority. You can now see that Minister Konneh’s first project is himself. Now, all the people in his new team including his deputies, his assistants and the comptroller general are following his footsteps. They too are ready to fix their offices with the same government money and we all are afraid that by the time they all can finish renovating their offices, they will be spending more than half a million united states dollars from government money. It seems that renovation of offices by Minister Konneh and his new team is the new way of chopping government money. Is this how we are going to empower the young people that Minister Konneh had always given lip service to? Is this how we are going to create the 20,000 jobs every year when our first project is wasting money on the Minister? Why has Minister Konneh got so selfish so soon?

As an employee of the Ministry of Finance who is concerned about transparency and accountability; I see this kind of spending to be heartless, a mockery of our suffering in that Ministry and the suffering of the Liberian people. Worst of all, when teachers, security personnel, judges and public defenders, doctors and nurses are crying a ‘pay cry’, it is very bad for someone like the Minister of Finance to be wasting money on things that are not needed or required. You remain the best medium through which the Liberian people can get a clear understanding about this waste of government money and the abuse of the office of the Minister of Finance that should be very concerned about empowering us. For the sake of the Liberian people and the love for country, please do not hesitate to widely publish this information. Some of you should not mind your relationship or contact with Minister Amara Konneh and suppress this story. Our people need to know. We beg you press people.



Thanks.

Whistle Blower


Editor’s Note: This anonymous letter was received in the newsroom of the PAA a few days ago. The PAA editorial staff has determined that based on the Whistle Blower law passed by the Liberian legislature and President Sirleaf’s call to citizens’ to report on practices of corruption and waste in government, we made the decision to publish this letter. We leave it to our readers’ informed judgment regarding its veracity.


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MINISTRY OF FINANCE SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON RENOVATION

Date: March 19, 2012

When Minister Amara Konneh assumed his duties as Minister of Finance on February 10, 2012, the ceilings on the 9th floor that houses the Minister’s office and the 10th floor that houses the Ministry’s conference room and the Macro Fiscal Unit were waterlogged, brittle and decaying. (10th floor conference room would leak during the rainy season while meetings were in session). The large multi-use office space that accommodates the minister’s staff had exposed electrical wires that posed a danger to staff, peeling wall coverings, and built-in cabinets that were loosely and dangerously dangling in some parts. Walls in other offices were pock marked and had chipped paint. The bathrooms were dingy, lacked running water, had dysfunctional toilets and had a permanent, foul odor. The bathrooms were also a storage facility for water to be used not only for toilet use but also kitchen use. The kitchen, like the rest of the office, was roach infested, dirty and unsanitary. The Minister’s office had broken cabinet doors, crumbling floor tiles, watermarked ceilings and a termite-infested ceiling that dropped particles on the ground. The tenth floor had many of the same problems of the ninth floor, where the Minister’s office is located, and also needed repairs. The ceiling had rot and rain seeped inside. It was infested with cockroaches and rats. These statements can be backed up with photo evidence, which is attached.

Beyond the physical disrepair of the 9th and 10th floors, there was also a need to renovate office space to accommodate the Minister’s office staff. It was decided that the pre-existing Chief of Staff’s office and an adjacent office would be redesigned into for 12ft x 6.5ft cubicles in order to accommodate the staff. The hallway was also renovated to accommodate a new work space and the Chief of Staff’s office was relocated to a smaller space that had direct access to the Minister’s office.

During this inspection period and while considering the prospects for renovating, it came to our attention that the firm G.B. Dennis Group of Companies had been contracted about a year (signed March 15, 2011) to renovate the 9th floor office. Eleven months later, G.B.Dennis had only carried out minimum work on the kitchen, bathroom and other select areas. They had completed only 40% of work and had been duly paid by the Ministry prior to Mr. Minister Konneh. MoF and G. B. Dennis Group of Companies amicably terminated the contract. The Ministry of Finance’s Legal Department was involved in drafting the termination contract in order to ensure it was done within the bounds of the law.

Instead, the decision was made to seek the services of another firm (Miatta Jones Design Lab) with an excellent performance record to expeditiously renovate the 9th and 10th floors within a period of approximately two weeks in order to ensure the office was ready for the Minister to assume his responsibilities as soon as possible. In large part, the decision to utilize a different firm was predicated on the fact that the Dennis Group had only completed 40% of its scope of work on a contract that had been signed 11 months earlier. Furthermore, the unsanitary conditions found in the bathroom and kitchen areas were an outcome of the Dennis Group’s renovation work.

To complete the job in a timely manner, sole sourcing was requested and approved by the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) and the Miata Jones Design Lab was subsequently contracted by the Ministry of Finance to completely renovate the 9th and 10th floor (excluding the office of the Macro Fiscal Analysis Unit) for the sum of US$55,518.85. To pay for the renovation, the Department of Administration used transferred budget line items for water and sewage (US$5,510.85) and telecommunications, internet postage and courier (US$50,000) that was available and would not affect other functions of the Ministry, consistent with PFM Regulations on budgetary reallocations (section E8).

In order to ensure it complied with PPCC regulations as well as all other relevant laws, Miatta Design Lab contract was drafted and approved by MOF’s Legal Department prior to signing. Major elements of the contract included plumbing, electrical, masonry and painting, carpentry, and tiling. These elements were used to replace most of the ceiling, completely overhaul the kitchen and bathrooms so that water for kitchen use was not stored in the bathroom, and reconfigure the staff office to make it conducive for work and to fix other problems discussed previously.

The contract with Design Lab did not include furniture and office equipment, which was procured using the Ministry of Finance’s (MOF) existing processes and contractors that were in place prior to Minister Konneh assuming office. Working with the Procurement and Budget and Finance offices, new desks, chairs, and lounge furniture was obtained. In keeping with the procurement agreement that existed between MoF and the vendors (Mattar Trading Company and Beever Communications), totaling US$33,134.00 (based on the invoices). The old furniture from the 9th and 10th floors was redistributed to other offices within the Ministry. While some pre-existing furniture was maintained, new furniture was obtained in order to meet the needs of the Minister’s office and ministry’s conference room. .

To set the record straight, MoF spent $88, 652.85 to renovate the 9th and 10th floors. The new administration at the Ministry is committed to not only reforming the Ministry’s controls and systems, but also to its physical outlook so it represents Liberia and become a place that is conducive for conducting the nation’s fiscal business. In the coming weeks, more renovation works will be carried out beginning with the ground floor to control access to the building to only those who have legitimate business with the Ministry. Minister Konneh has further directed the Department of Administration to repair all office areas, bathrooms, and install a functioning water system including the installation of water coolers for employees on every floor in the Ministry of Finance.

Also no employee has lost any scratch card benefits or gas allowance as a result of the renovation exercise as reported by the so-called whistle blower. According to records, However, Minister Konneh has instructed with immediate effect the Department of Administration to carry out a thorough review of gas slips and scratch which is sparingly out of control. Today the Minister of Finance is receiving $30,000 and $18,000 worth of gas slip and scratch cards monthly respectively. In a senior staff meeting last week, it was agreed by the new management team that these benefits be reduced and the money allocated to renovate the bathrooms and install functioning water system and drinking coolers for employees. He has instructed the Department Administration to complete that project by end of June 2012 to coincide with the new team’s 100-day action plan.