|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Claim: A Facebook user, Aloysius Howe, has alleged, “The executive branch of government has retrieved the 2025 draft fiscal budget from the so-called majority bloc and submitted it to Speaker Fonati Koffa.”
Verdict: False. The Finance Ministry clarified that it did not resubmit any budget to the House of Representatives.
Full Text
The battle for legitimacy and supremacy remains a major challenge on Capitol Hill, as Liberian House of Representatives members remain divided.
Due to this split among House of Representatives members, the submission of the country’s draft national budget became the centre of discussion among Liberians.
On November 18, 2024, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) submitted the draft national budget for fiscal year 2025 to the House of Representatives through its deputy chief clerk in keeping with section 17.1 of the Public Financial Management Act 2009.
However, on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, social media (Facebook) was flooded with posts claiming that the executive branch, through the Ministry of Finance, had recalled the budget and resubmitted it to the embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Aloysius Howe, a staunch member of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), made such a claim.
Howe posted on his official Facebook page,
“In a twist of event, the executive branch of government has retrieved the 2025 draft fiscal budget from the so-called majority bloc and submitted it to the office of Speaker Fonati Koffa in keeping with the laws.”
Similarly, several blogs and news outlets, including Today Liberia and the Liberian Influence, made similar claims using their official Facebook pages. Due to the sensitive nature of the claim and the current impasse within the House of Representatives, DUBAWA thought it was necessary to ascertain the facts about the claim.
Verification
To begin with, the researcher contacted the claimant, Aloysius Howe, via WhatsApp about some evidence that supports his claim, but there was no response, as seen in the screenshot below.
The researcher also contacted each claimant via WhatsApp and Messenger, but none responded to the inquiry, as seen in the screenshot below.
The researcher then contacted the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) via WhatsApp to ask whether they had recalled and resubmitted the budget. In response, Mr Daniel Nyankona, a member of the ministry’s communication team, said that no budget had been resubmitted to the House.
“President Joseph Nyumah Boakai, on November 18, 2024, submitted the draft 2025 fiscal budget to the Chief Clark of the House of Representatives in keeping with lay down practices; the budget books were delivered to the office of the Chief Clark on December 2, 2024. In light of these, no budget has been submitted to the House again,” Mr Nyankona said,
Also, the communication bureau of the House of Representatives issued a statement clarifying that contrary to the claim, the Executive branch has not recalled the Draft 2025 national budget from the Legislature nor resubmitted it.
The statement said, “The budget, as submitted by the Executive through the Ministry of Finance, was duly received in plenary on November 18, 2024, and has since been sent to committee room. However, it has come to the attention of members in session that the former speaker, Rep. J. Fonati Koffa accompanied by a heavy security presence, forcefully took from the chief clerk’s office copies of the budget intended for distribution amongst the 73 members and is now pretending that the budget was submitted to him. This development is highly concerning and raises questions about the integrity of the legislative process. The members in session strongly condemn the actions.”
A screenshot of the House of Representatives communication clarifying the claim is seen below
Meanwhile, the government, through the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICA), has also clarified that the Executive Branch of Government has not re-submitted the Draft National Budget 2025 to the National Legislature as claimed on social media.
According to a statement issued by the Information Ministry,
“The Executive Branch maintains that the November 18, 2024 submission of the Draft National Budget to the Acting Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives remains valid. When a draft budget is submitted to the Legislature, each member of the Legislature is entitled to a copy in preparation for the budget debate as required by law.”
Below is a screenshot of the Information Ministry’s communication:
Conclusion
Based on the evidence and clarification provided by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, the government through the Ministry of Information, and the House of Representatives, the claims made by Facebook user Aloysius Howe, Today Liberia, and the Liberian Influence are all misleading.
