Minister for Roads and Transport, Kwasi Amoako-Atta signing the $2 billion Sino-Hydro deal on behalf of government
Liberia appears to be in ‘anarchy’ after the Akufo-Addo administration finally signed a $2 billion deal with China in exchange for the bauxite from the West African nation.
Some Liberians have expressed dissatisfaction with President George Oppong Weah of Liberia for encouraging his communication team to announce that he had secured a $54 million grant from the Chinese Government to construct just two flyovers and “emergency food aid.”
Supporters of President Weah took to social media to congratulate their leader for performing ‘magic’ by securing $54 million from China on the sidelines of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing.
Unfortunately for the supporters of President Weah, it was about the same time President Akufo-Addo posted on his official Facebook account that he had finally signed the $2 billion Chinese deal.
The whole debate moved from President Weah securing $54 million to his inability to take ‘sound’ investment proposal to the Chinese Government to secure a better deal just like President Akufo-Addo did.
The Critics accused the Weah administration and its supporters of mediocrity for trumpeting the $54 million grant in view of the fact that President Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had secured $2 billion from China.
But supporters of President Weah argued that the money from China is a loan given to Ghana for some specific projects.
They also highlighted the fact that Ghana has a bigger economy with huge population, stable economy and better infrastructure.
Social media platforms, especially Facebook, became the ‘battle’ ground for Weah’s supporters and the critics, forcing Liberia’s Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Eugene Fahngon, to appear live on Facebook early Monday from his Monrovia-based office to debunk what he termed “negative propaganda” by perceived opposition supporters and critics.
Misconception
The $2 billion deal has been described as a game-changer by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and it is a barter arrangement which allows China to have access to Ghana’s bauxite deposits.
Ghana is due to receive $2 billion from China’s Sinohydro Corporation Limited to undertake over 60 infrastructure projects for $500 million to bridge the country’s infrastructure deficit estimated at $30 billion.
The rest of the money would be allocated to other key areas.
Sinohydro Corporation Limited would receive refined bauxite in the form of alumina or aluminum over a 15-year period (inclusive of a three-year grace period) from Ghana.
However, there appears to be misconception about the deal among the ruling class in Liberia and President Weah’s supporters, who claim the $2 billion is a loan which Ghana will repay with interest after a period of time.
But Ghana is not expected to repay the amount with interest.
Deputy Information Minister of Liberia, Mr Fahngon, in the live Facebook chat said “a Memorandum of Understanding was signed over a year ago between Ghana and China. It wasn’t an agreement. An agreement is different from an MoU. Our friends (critics and opposition supporters) went wrong all over the place. Ghana got $2 billion and the President left the place with peanuts. There is a vast difference between a loan and grant.”
He said the opposition in Liberia and critics of President Weah should be ignored over the issues.
“They are ignorant of the fact that Ghana has gone for a loan and Weah has gotten free money, which for those on the ruling Coalition of Democratic Congress Change (CDC’s) camp is better than Ghana’s $2 billion.
The critics are ignorant and when I say our friends are ignorant it’s not an insult, according to Mr. Fahngon.
A supporter of the CDC Government, Solomon Mandela Muin, posted in a pro-Weah Facebook Group titled ‘Congress for Democratic Change’ said that “I am researching the normality of the part of the brain that thinks a $2 billion credit money is better than a $54 million free money. Oppositions can relate.”
Insistence
But the critics insist President Weah got ‘peanuts’ from China as compared to that of President Mr Akufo-Addo.
“The mediocrity to celebrate $54 million as though the world has come to an end. Here Ghana grabs $2 billion and they aren’t spreading lappas in the streets. So it goes!,” one of Weah’s critics named Propoor Togbar posted in a popular Facebook group for Liberians called ‘The Coasta Show,’ which has about 269,000 members.
The critics said that the time has come for Liberia to emulate the shining example of Ghana under President Akufo-Addo to move away from aid and grants to trade with the West.
By Melvin Tarlue