GANTA, Nimba – The dismissed treasurer of the Nimba County Project Management Committee, Eddie Z. Tenwah, has issued a strongly-worded criticism of the current management of the PMC over the purchase of three vehicles.

The Toyota vehicles came at the cost of US$38,960 each and are currently in used by Nimba’s Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent for Development, and the County Inspector.

Tenwah said the purchase is in complete contradiction of the PMC mandate to spend money on the development of the county instead of administrative matters. Tenwah made the comments when he conducted a press conference early last week with journalists in Ganta.

“I called this press conference because I am concerned about the three new Toyota pickups that are plying the streets of Ganta, Sanniquellie and around Nimba,” Tenwah said.

“Those cars, from credible information, were bought by the Nimba County Project Management Committee for the use of Hon. Fong Zuagele, Nimba County Superintendent; Hon. D. Dorr Cooper, Asst. Superintendent for Development; and Hon. Regina Mehn, County Inspector of Nimba. The question is, who is responsible [for purchasing vehicles] for the county administration, is it the PMC or the government through the Ministry of Internal Affairs?”

Tenwah served as treasurer and acting chairman of the PMC for two terms of two years each. He said he was aware of the functions of the PMC, which does not include making such purchases.

“It is not the responsibility of the PMC to buy cars for the county administration,” Tenwah said. “Money in the PMC account are meant for development and for the operations of the PMC and should be strictly used in line with its mandate. This is completely against the scope of the PMC mandate and should be condemned in the strongest term.”

In reaction to the allegation, the acting chairman of the PMC, Peterson Walker, admitted to the purchase of the vehicles, but maintained that the action is no way in contradiction to the PMC mandate.

Although Tenwah did not claim that the bidding process for the vehicles was illegal, Walker emphasized in his reaction that his committee followed all such rules. “Let it also be clear to everyone listening that this was not done in contradiction to the Public Procurement Concession Committee or PPCC law that calls for bidding to be done before any procurement by government-run institutions,” he said.

“We did the bidding and the least for the kind of vehicle we needed was US$ 38,000, and that is what we paid for those vehicles.”

Addressing the issue of whether it was legal for the PMC to decide on purchasing the vehicles, Walker said the vehicle purchases were necessary to allow the county leaders to supervise development projects.

“We are aware of the fact that the PMC is responsible [for spending] on development projects in the county, but who is responsible [for supervising] those projects?” Walker added. “Certainly it is the development superintendent. If the Assistant Superintendent for Development does not have a car to monitor the projects around the county, it would be very difficult to have those projects implemented as planned.”

Walker further justified the vehicles for the two remaining positions by claiming that the county inspector needs the vehicle because he “authenticates the progress of projects undertaken in every part of the county.” He continued, “The superintendent is our overall boss and he [oversees] everything that is done in the county. So, the PMC in it right judgment saw [it necessary to] have cars provided for those people to have our works ongoing; and that is exactly what we did.”

“The PMC is in no way working out of its mandate, but rather fostering the progress of her work.”

The law setting the National Budget for the Fiscal Year 2015/2016 mandates the PMC to “ensure that the County Development Funds are spent only on county development activities.” The law also entrusts county councils with the responsibility of deciding on which projects to spend. These decisions are made in the form of resolutions. According to parties involved with the past county council sitting, the decision to purchase the vehicles was not made through a resolution.

Tenwah was relinquished from the positions of Treasurer and Acting Chairman of Nimba’s PMC in February 2015 at the last County Council Sitting for unauthorized use of L$22,000 (US$262) intended to assist a group of market women in Bahn. Tenwah admitted to using the money but said it was used to buy petroleum products for road equipment to be used in clearing a proposed market site.

Tenwah believed that his removal was illegal and in contradiction to the PMC mandate. He has since filed in a lawsuit against the county legislative caucus and the PMC administration. The investigation is still pending.