“The shifting of Figure itself is an alteration. Even if as technicians, they decided to shift figures, they should have brought it(the Budget) back to us and said based on discussion outside of Plenary, we did some shifting.”
CAPITOL HILL, MONROVIA: The Specialized Committee set up by House Speaker Cllr. Jonathan F. Koffa to probe into the alleged altering of the Fiscal Year 2024 National Budget has concluded and submitted its report, findings, and recommendations to the Plenary of the House of Representatives.
Following the submission of the report and subsequent adjournment of the day’s sitting, ERA NEWS spoke with Nimba County District 2 Representative, Nyahn Flomo at his Capitol Hill office about the Committee’s Report.
Addressing queries from our reporter, the Lawmaker said that to an extent the report by the specialized committee is good; but however, the recommendation, and conclusion had some issues.
According to Rep. Flomo, he thinks the committee should have been more fierce based on the engagements they had with all of the parties involved during its investigation and information gathered thereafter.
He said that the Committee should have been clearer in identifying those who are involved with the a altering of the National Budget.
“I think they should have been more forceful and upright to clearly say these were the people who were involved with alteration; and this is the role they have played.”
Frowning on the Committee’s recommendation that actions should be taken against the Deputy Chief-Clerk for negligence in handling documents, the Nimba County District 2 Representative said the Committee fell short when it failed to name the major actors in the Budget altering.
He furthermore stressed that had the Committee been straightforward with its findings and conclusion to identify the culprits, it would have help in the recommendation made to the Plenary.
According to him, due to the failure of the Committee to identify the actual doer of the alteration, it made the recommendations ineffective and did not correspond effectively to the situation.
Additionally based on informations compiled by the Investigative Committee, Rep Flomo said he believes that the FY 2024 National Budget was altered. He told our reporter that the basics of the alteration derived from the Chief-Executive who said that some budgetary alignments needed to be made after receiving the Budget that was passed by the National Legislature.
“The shifting of Figure itself is an alteration. Even if as technicians, they decided to shift figures, they should have brought it(the Budget) back to us and said based on discussion outside of Plenary, we did some shifting.” Rep. Flomo Added.