General News
Probe ‘Manipulations’ In Oil Sector
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- Published on Tuesday, 06 November 2012 00:58
- Written by T. Michael Johnny
…National Traditional Council Joins Debate
The Chairman of the National Traditional Council of Liberia (NTCL) has called for an “immediate and uncompromising” investigation into allegation of “manipulations” in allocating oil blocks against the interest of the Liberian people.
Dressed in his usual traditional attire, Chief Zanzar Karwor said it was imperative that the government constitutes an independent investigative committee to ascertain the veracity of District #6 Representative Edwin Snowe’s allegations against the Chairman of the National Oil Company (NOCAL) Robert Sirleaf.
At a recent press conference, the former Speaker of the House of Representative Edwin Melvin Snowe detailed a barrage of accusations in which he displayed documents depicting that the NOCAL chairman holds dual citizenship.
He said Robert Sirleaf, son of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf holds a Liberian diplomatic passport number D000189, issued on December 2, 2009, and also in possession of an American passport, which puts him in the capacity of dual citizenship.
According to the 1986 Liberian constitution, dual citizenship violates the Aliens and Nationality law of Liberia and the Liberian codes Revised.
However, the National Oil Company of Liberia refuted Snowe’s allegation and bragged that it has maintained its stewardship of national resources in compliance with the Public Financial Management (PFM) laws of Liberia.
In a release issued, NOCAL described Rep. Snowe’s allegations as half-truth with its financial processes transparent, noting that the lawmaker should seek information through the “front doors” of NOCAL rather than the “backdoor”.
Based on Rep. Snowe’s range of accusations and the denial of NOCAL, Chief Zanzar Karwor said the oil sector is “Very delicate” and that such accusations have the propensity to cause chaos in the country as they (traditional leaders) seek peace and reconciliation.
“We are country people; so we are not happy over the noise in the oil business, and we are not happy about what is going in the country; we want to have a meeting in Kakata, Margibi County, where all the people who are making the noise to come so that we can look into the palaver,” Chief Karwor suggested.
As a traditionalist, Chief Karwor maintained that Liberia is our common patrimony, and only the place they have lived, adding “We don’t want problems in this country because we are not in the position to run away.”
He, therefore, called on accusing parties to exercise maximum restraints, especially about the issue relating to the discovery of oil and its allocations which, according to Chief Karwor, has the propensity to cause confusion if not properly handled.
