Viperous Finance Minister -Wickedness & Gross Insensitivity

Minister Konneh and his tax rates

 Part II: Whipping Liberians With Punitive Regulation
Abroad, Liberia’s Finance Minister Amara Konneh may be the best, but at home Mr. Konneh is that viperous snake biting and injecting venom in the bodies of Liberian citizens. He portrays himself a pleasant, friendly and easy-going cabinet minister, but under his sleeves he carries a clout of sheer wickedness and insensitivity.

 

In his Administrative Regulation published on Octoer 14, 2013 and swung into effect on December 8, 2013, less than 90 days and without proper education, Amara Konneh declared: “The Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Finance, hereby announces the imposition of PUNITIVE TARIFF on the importation of used motor vehicles more than ten years old…” I should emphasize that this regulation did not go through the National Legislature; it is not an Executive Order; rather, it is a decision purely made by the Minister of Finance as setup in paragraph one of the general rule of the document. That means the Finance Minister can be personal held for everything about this regulation – its successes and failures. See the documents:

According to the regulation, which was signed by the Deputy Minister for Revenue, James Kollie and approved by Minister Konneh, it does not matter whether the vehicle is for transportation purpose, or whether it is just one of your goods for commercial purpose, or whether it is a private vehicle. That means, a Liberian residing in the United States or Europe who bought a decent 11-year old vehicle and brought it to Monrovia for his/her own use, the Customs Officers at the Freeport of Monrovia are under obligation to punish you for bringing that vehicle. And although it is your personal vehicle, the government will charge you an extra 10% tax in addition to a set 10% tariff set by the revenue code of the country. Worse still, if your vehicle is 16 to 20 years old, you will be punished with a 20% tax. Above 20 years, if your vehicle was in a container the customs officers will not even allow you to off-load it at any ports in Liberia. It is banned!

Now read through the entire document, there is nowhere in the document where the Finance Minister’s regulation talk about “vehicles that are not road worthy”. He talked about age. Here is the catch: Say you have a Ford Explorer that is 16-year old. Before putting it on the container you took it to a body shop in the United States or Asia or Europe and did body refurbish. In addition to the body works, you service the engine, put in new gaskets, change the rollers, put in new tie-rod, change your shock absorber, etc. Now you are certified you have a fairly good vehicle to drive in Monrovia to start your hustle. When this vehicle arrives at the Freeport of Monrovia, the government will Liberia will punish you for bringing in this vehicle. The regulation is not concerned about whether your vehicle is road worthy; they are concerned about how old your vehicle is. Does that make sense at all? I think it is not.

The question now is who does this regulation seek to benefit? There are thousands of Liberians residing in the diaspora who are struggling daily to catch the first dime and transform it into something tangible to return home. It is very hard to land a new vehicle. In fact, my interview with people who knew Minister Konneh when he was residing in the United States said he could not even finish paying his car notes before he went to Liberia in 2004 to join Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf campaign. Today, he can look at a Billy and pay $200,000 cash down. Here is the same man who was struggling he now is passing orders that will punish his fellow compatriots. What kind of man is he – simply wicked and insensitive!

In part three of my series I will start my series of practical examples of how the government of Liberia did not only punished my wife and I, but she stole from us. You will see how the customs officers say one thing about the punitive tax but charge completely different tariff. In my first example I will clearly show you with receipts and documents how the government made my wife to pay 53% instead of 20% punitive tax. In addition to the 53%, you will also see in the document how the government charged us more than $300 in additional penalties and customs duties on the same vehicle. Follow
this series. Let’s expose corruption together.