SANNIQUELLIE, Nimba – Junior Senator Thomas Grupee and District #7 Representative Worlea Saywah Donah both resigned their respective posts as Chairman and Secretary of the Nimba County Legislative Caucus. The lawmakers announced their resignation at the recently concluded County Council Sitting Meeting held in Sanniquellie.

Grupee said that he decided to resign after receiving many calls from the people of Nimba. He added that the voice of the people is the final word as they are the ones who elected him to his position. He concluded by saying that he needed to resign, in order to keep the spirit of unity among members of the caucus and bring peace to the citizens of Nimba.

Donah said that it was time to give way to others after serving for more than eight years in the position and that it was time to focus on developing the district and the people he represents. Elections for the vacant positions will be held following the next caucus assembly at the capitol building in Monrovia.

The Council Sitting Meeting, which started as a closed-door meeting of caucus members and local county authorities, concluded after three days of deliberation on issues of development and growth of the county. Among issues discussed were allotments to the current road project and other institutions within the county from the county 2014/2015 budget of US$3.6 million. After signing the resolution, delegates at the meeting agreed upon allocations to be made in the following areas:

• Road rehabilitation.
• The disabled community.
• Ganta United Methodist Hospital.
• Liberia International Christian College.
• African Bible College University.
• Nimba Community Radio Association.
• Nimba County Community College.
• City Mayors’ project management costs.
• County caucus meetings.
• County administration operations.
• Project management costs for statutory and administrative district commissioners.

In a related development, Eddie Tenwah, Treasurer and Acting Chairman of the Project Management Committee, has been dismissed from both positions. The dismissal comes in the wake of a L$22,000 (US$262) scandal. The caucus made the decision for what the caucus leadership called a “refusal to reimburse the fund to marketers of Bahn Market whom he received the money from.”

Speaking on Radio Karghema, Tenwah said, “I am very surprised for this issue to be brought at the meeting. We resolved this matter ever since. The money was not for my pocket, but I considered paying this money back at the end of the month, after receiving my salaries. That is how we concluded when I was invited to Monrovia by the caucus to give information about the money.”

Tenwah said, “I was in charge of rehabilitating the road from Ganta to Saclepea, and then from Saclepea to Bahn. When I got in Bahn, a group of market women came to me and asked that I cleared their market spot. My response to them was that the fuel allocated for the work could not be used for another purpose. If used to do your work, I will not be able to complete the road project.”

“If you people want me to do the work, the only option is to replace the fuel I will be using,” Tenwah said. “They agreed. We calculated the amount of fuel to be used, and it summed up to that amount, that is how we did the work. The money was paid and the fuel was bought to have the project completed. So I did not use the money for my own purpose.”

Tenwah’s removal from his positions by the caucus is based on section 9E of the 2014/2015 National Budget Law crafted by the Ministry of Finance. It states, “a member of the Project Management Committee can be removed from his position for acts determined inappropriate by the caucus.”

Eddie Tenwah served the post in place of suspended PMC Chairman, Clinton Layweh. Layweh was chairman of the PMC more than two years prior to his suspension. He was suspended in July of 2014 by Nimba County Superintendent Fong Zuagele for an alleged withdrawal of more than US$300,000 from the coffers of the county’s Social Development Fund without his approval.

A committee has been set up to conduct an investigative audit over the scandal. For the past eight months, Layweh has enjoyed a salary of over US$2,000 per month, as the investigation is still on-going.

In the interim, Peter Walker and Gompa Osundu Dahn were appointed to the positions of Acting Chairman/Treasurer and Acting Controller, respectively. The Chairman of the PMC is responsible for the supervision and monitoring of all projects undertaken by the county. Positions in the PMC last three years for officials who are appointed by the caucus.

Featured image courtesy of Flickr’s Jbdodane