MONROVIA – There have been speculations in the public space regarding what others consider a jamboree over the 2025 fiscal budget, particularly by the House of Representatives and the Executive Branch—jamboree necessitated by the cost of sustaining the House Speakership battle in favor of the so-called Majority bloc. It was widely reported dozens of lawmakers of the defunct bloc were lavishly kept in a private hotels around Monrovia for months in order to lure and sustain their solidarity—something believed to have led to massive drain on the House’s allotments in the 2025 National Budget. And there are reports of attempts by the Government to effect a recast as a cushion or cover-up for “what the lusts have eaten”. As usual, raising the alarm is Nimba County District #7 Representative Musa Hassan Bility who, having sent an open letter to President Joseph Boakai on the same mater, warning him against the contemplated recast, is now asking Finance Minister to publish Government fiscal performance report of the year as to cast lights particularly on House of Representative’s fiscal performance—performance he believes is in the red. The Analyst reports.
The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr. Augustine K. Ngafuan, is being strongly urged to publish Government’s Budget Performance Report covering fiscal year 2025 in the spirit of accountability, public trust, and the constitutional obligation for transparent governance.
In an open letter to the Finance Minister, Nimba County District #7 Representative Musa Hassan Bility said he wanted the Minister to immediately publish the Budget Performance Report for FY 2025 to date, particularly detailing the allotments, disbursements, and expenditures of the House of Representatives.
Bility said his demand for such a report was in furtherance with his recent outcries against news of budget cast which he considers a matter of grave national concern, since the House of Representatives has already exhausted its fiscal allotment for the 2025 Fiscal Year.
“This is not a light accusation,” he warned the Finance Minister. “It strikes at the heart of fiscal discipline, transparency, and the credibility of the Legislature as a custodian of the public purse.”
It can be recalled the Nimba County lawmaker tendered a similar open letter to President Boakai asking him not to acquiesce the recasting of this year’s budget so that the President’s name is “tied to one more chapter of waste, greed, and betrayal.”
He also told the president in the open letter, “The world is watching you. The Liberian people are watching you. History will remember you. In this moment, you have a choice: stand with the people, or stand with those who exploit them.”
Reverting to the Finance Minister, Bility said: “Hon. Minister, the Ministry of Finance is not merely an accounting office, it is a guardian of the Republic’s fiscal integrity. At a time when public confidence in government spending is low, you have the opportunity, and indeed, the duty, to demonstrate that the public purse is not a private wallet”.
Bility lamented that his discovery on the already drained 2025 budget has been repudiated by his House colleagues, and one major way to prove who is telling the true is by publishing the budget performance report.
“My assertion has been met with denials from some of my colleagues. They dismiss it as untrue, suggesting that the House remains well within its budgetary space,” he told the Finance Minister. “But words alone do not resolve matters of public finance. Only facts, backed by official records, can.”
He insisted: “Let the people see for themselves. Let the truth stand on its own legs, whether it vindicates my assertion or disproves it. Our citizens deserve nothing less than clarity about how their money is being used, especially in a time when our nation struggles to fund basic services, from hospitals and schools to roads and food security.”
According to him, his colleagues are seeking to turn the pressing issue into a political dispute, which for him, he would not, adding, “This is not about politics. It is about numbers. It is about transparency. It is about the Liberian people’s right to know.”
He said if the House is within its budget, let the report show it; if it is not, “let us face the truth, accept responsibility, and make the necessary corrections.”
Bility emphatically told Ngafuan: “Sir, this is your moment to stand for openness. Publish the report. Prove me right or wrong, and in so doing, prove to the Liberian people that we, their leaders, have nothing to hide.”