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Claim: The Montserrado County Senator, Abraham Dillon, alleged that the national budgetary allocation for the office of Liberia’s Senate Pro-Tempore for fuel in 2024 is $17,000.
Verdict: False! DUBAWA’s investigations have revealed that the budgetary allocation for the office of Liberia’s Senate Pro-Tempore for fuel in 2024 is not $17,000, as alleged. The budget for the Pro-Tempore for fuel and lubricants in 2024 is $59,984, as revealed by the approved 2024 national budget developed by the country’s Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
Full Text
The Montserrado County Senator, Abraham Darius Dillon, has claimed that the budgetary allocation for fuel for Liberia’s Senate Pro-Tempore, Nyoblee Karnga-Lawrence, in 2024 is $17,000.
Participating in a radio discussion on Radio Bushrod 98.1, the lawmaker said:
“Fuel for the pro tempore vehicle is $17,000 for the whole year. The pro tem has two security car[s] assigned to her by the government. Break $17,000 for the whole year; that’s about 47 dollars daily to fuel the pro tem car, the parlour car, and the security car. Your [you all] go use 47 dollars a day and put fuel in three cars to operate as a pro tem [pro tempore] for just three hours.”
Senator Abraham Dillon made the statement between 17:00 and 19:25 minutes in the live video.
Data available on Facebook shows that as of July 14, 2024, the video had generated 788 likes, 902 comments, 202 shares, and 25,000 views.
DUBAWA decided to probe the claim as part of its campaign against misinformation and disinformation in Liberia.
Verification
DUBAWA reviewed the approved budget for 2024 as published on the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning website to establish the amount approved for the office of the Senate Pro-Tempore for fuel and lubricants.
The Pro-Tempore is a person elected by Liberia’s senate to serve as a presiding officer of the legislature in the absence of the Vice President. Liberia’s constitution empowers the pro-tempore to preside over the senate, sign new legislation, and administer the oath of office to new members.
On page 5 of the approved national budget, specifically budget code 221401, the total allotment for fuel and lubricants for the country’s Pro-Tempore for fuel and lubricant is not $17,000, as alleged by the legislator.
Instead, $59,984 has been allocated for fuel and lubricants for the Office of the Pro-Tempore for the 2024 fiscal year.
A screenshot of page 5 of the approved national budget of Liberia for 2024
DUBAWA later conducted a Google keyword search to determine whether data was online to support Mr Dillon’s claim.
However, no credible evidence supports the lawmaker’s claim that the budgetary allocation for fuel for the office of Liberia’s Senate Pro-Tempore in 2024 is $17,000.
Conclusion
Based on the information in the approved national budget for the 2024 fiscal year, the Montserrado County senator’s claim that the Senate pro-tempore’s fuel budget is $17,000 is false.
The researcher produced this fact-check under the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, in partnership with Radio Gbarnga FM 96.5 MHz, Liberia, to facilitate the spread of accurate and true information.
