By: Domingo Dargbeh
Capitol Hill, Liberia — The majority members of the Liberian Senate has passed the recast National Budget for Fiscal Year 2024 on Monday evening, disregarding numerous issues raised by dissenting colleagues and failing to address the illegal budget shifts and realignments previously made by the Executive through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
The budget, totaling US$738.8 million, was approved during a night session on September 23, following a report from a Conference Committee tasked with reviewing the budget after disagreements with the version passed by the House of Representatives. The Senate accepted most of the realignments proposed by the Executive, despite the unilateral nature of those changes.
This decision has prompted separate investigations in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. However, no significant punitive measures have been taken against anyone, despite an acknowledgment and apology from Deputy Finance and Development Planning Minister for Fiscal Affairs Anthony Myers.
Senator Prince Moye of Bong County defended the budget’s passage, stating that the senators reached their decision after a seven-hour meeting. He claimed that once a Conference Committee is established and submits a report, it cannot be debated again, dismissing concerns raised by his colleagues.
“We considered the recast budget passed. As per our law and rules, a conference committee report is non-debatable,” Moye stated. He also mentioned that some state-owned enterprises were tapped for funds, contributing US$17.3 million to the budget, with US$9.5 million coming from borrowing.
Despite these issues, the Senate provided little justification for passing the recast budget during late hours. Presiding Officer James Biney maintained that there is no precedent for debating a conference committee report after its submission.
A motion to endorse the report was filed by Senator Gbleh-bo Brown of Maryland County, leading to a yea and nay vote that facilitated the budget’s passage, despite objections that resulted in some senators walking out in protest.
