The Budget Is Only Meant To Pay Senior Government Officials’ Salaries, Vehicles Purchase, Travel Allowances And Other Benefits
By Ramsey N Singbeh, Jr
director@news.throngtalk.com
+231772641146 / 880147358
Liberia’s former Senate Pro-temp, Armah Zulu Jallah says with the way the National Budget of Liberia is structured, it is very clear that the Government of Liberia is unready and unable to develop the country. He made the statement indicating the current and past governments including the one he formed a part of, especially at the National Legislature.
He said about 90% of the country’s budget is spent on recurrent cost which is focused on paying senior government officials’ salaries, purchasing their vehicles, providing other benefits for them and sometimes paying debts owed by the country.
According to him, just a little amount of 10% is used for national development which is taking the country nowhere.
How be it, in Liberia, senior government officials include the president, vice president, speaker, senate pro-temp, deputy speaker and chief justice. Others include the rest of the members of the National Legislature, ministers, directors and others.
He was also key on the issue of travel allowances for senior officials of the Liberian Government in his statement.
He made the utterance at a jammed packed National Kpelle gathering at the Gbarnga Administrative Building recently when he made a special remark during the meeting.
The meeting was the first National gathering of Kpelle and Kpelle-Speaking People in Liberia aimed at discussing the well-being of the largest tribe in Liberia, specifically looking at national unity and development amongst them.
There were a lot of people in attendance at the meeting including former pro-temp Armah Z Jallah, former Senators Henry W. Yallah and Franklin Siakor, Senators Prince K. Moye and Nathaniel Falo McGill, Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor, Former Representative Moses Y. Kollie, chiefs, elders, local government officials of Bong, Lofa and Margibi Counties and many other high profile Kpelle-Speaking People of Liberia.
Mr. Jallah’s statement was focused on three key points including urging the Kpelle Tribe to rise up and unite, the establishment of what he termed as the National Kpelle Bank of Liberia and the structure and focus of the National Budget of Liberia.
His statement was buttressed by many of the speakers inclusive of a lot of the individuals named above who attended the gathering.
While speaking specifically about the budget, he stated: “By all standards, the Liberian Government is not able to uplift the standard of all of us. It’s not possible. I’ve been a president pro-temp before. You got an eight hundred million United States Dollars budget for Liberia, about ninety percent of that amount is spent on recurrent cost.”
He said for instance, a national budget of US$800,000,000 will have 90% being used for recurrent cost like salaries, buying of cars for senior government officials including members of the National Legislature, their travel allowances and doing a lot of things for them and sometimes paying debts, while 10% which is around US$80,000,000 will be used for development in the country.
He said by standard, that amount cannot even properly run the Cutting University. He wonders when government will even reach to somewhere like Sannoyea with better roads. He added that if the government patches a few areas along the road, the citizens should be grateful to God.
He noted that until the the government redefines and restructures the national budget and shift to the necessary priorities, Liberia is going nowhere in development.
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