The head of the Bring Back Our Money campaigners here Mr. Martin Kollie says the group is planning another mass protest to compel government “to restitute” alleged missing “16 billion” Liberian Dollars.He claims in an interview with VOA Thursday, 4 October that in spite of President Weah’s call for Liberians to be patient on the matter, there continue to be conflicting statements coming from authorities here.
Mr. Kolie chairs the Concerned Citizens United to Bring Our Money Back (COCUBOMB) which led a mass protest here on 24 September and petitioned several international partners including the US Embassy, UN, EU, AU and ECOWAS in the wake of the alleged missing money.
Mr. Kollie rejects the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL’s) report that no money is missing, arguing that the Bank is a party to the alleged crime and cannot be the one to make such conclusion.In the wake of Mr. Kollie’s persistent advocacy over the alleged L$16 billion issue, he alleges that he is receiving death threats from people.
He says he and other ranking persons of the campaign group are being targeted by those allegedly making such threats.According to Kollie, the group is mobilizing for an “unannounced protest” across the country to compel government to restitute the alleged missing money.
Meanwhile Mr. Kollie alleges that there is information at his reach that authorities here are plotting to influence state – run University of Liberia to expel him from the University.The CBL on Tuesday, 2 October announced that the total amount of L$15.5 billion that was printed and brought into the country between 2016 and 2018 was placed in its reserve vaults, dismissing claims of missing money here.
The Bank’s report on Tuesday came after President Weah disputed claims on Monday that any money went missing here under his regime, suggesting that it may have been during former President Ellen Johnson – Sirleaf’s regime.Mr. Weah’s regime says it welcomes international forensic experts to help with the investigation, but his Finance Minister Samuel Tweah and the CBL insist that there is no missing money.
The officials’ conclusions come ahead of findings from ongoing investigation being conducted by a presidential investigative team set up by Mr. Weah to look into claims of money stacked in containers and bags allegedly being missing.On Thursday, the presidential investigative team urged officials in the executive and all branches of government to refrain from issuing statements within the public space without consultation with the team.
The presidential investigative team says it started re-calibrating work as of 1 October, and it needs not less than six weeks for the investigation.
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By Winston W. Parley
