HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DUMPS ARCELORMITTAL FOR GUINEAN INVESTMENT HPX, IN REJECTION OF AML MDA

By Democracy Watch News Desk

The plenary of the Honourable House of Representatives on Monday, March 28, 2022 during its first special Session of the 5^th Session of the 54^th Legislature overwhelmingly voted sending the 3^rd amendment of the ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) agreement back to the Executive branch of government with recommendations for proper renegotiation in the best interest of the Liberian people.

The decision of the members of the House to return the instrument back to the Executive branch came as a result of a motion made by Margibi County Representative, Ben A. Fofana. The Margibi lawmaker’s motion states that, since indeed the Liberian Senate and the House of Representatives cannot concurred with each other on the Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) between the Liberian Government and ArcelorMittal Liberia and knowing that the Legislature cannot negotiate agreements, it is necessary to send the agreement back to the Executive with the various recommendations for renegotiation. He said the Legislature’s function is to ratify agreements that are being negotiated by the Executive and not to make changes.

The plenary of the House in December of last year passed the AML 3^rd agreement with some recommendations attached and forwarded it to the Senate for concurrence. But, the Liberian Senate passed another version of the agreement in February this year, thus leading to the constitution of a conference committee.

In the wisdom of House’s plenary, it was necessary to send the MDA back to the President for renegotiation instead of hauling and pulling between the both Houses. The Senate has already closed for Easter break and the House is expected to close this Tuesday, March 29, 2022.

According the Speaker of the House, the MDA was returned to the Executive in the best interest of the country; but some observers reject that reasoning arguing that the MDA offers significant opportunities for job creation and the overall economic development of Liberia.

There are speculations in the public that the decision of the House to return the MDA was heavily influenced by a Guinean concessionaire with interest in using Liberia’s rail and port for the export of its iron ore.

What is not clear is the benefits of taking a company with its investment in Guinea over ArcelorMittal which has invested over US$1.7 billion in Liberia.  Even though the ArcelorMittal Agreement debate at the Legislature was marred by lots of opposition, particularly, from the company’s affected counties, which accused the company for not fulfilling all of its obligations in the MDA. Notwithstanding, these concerns, there has not been any particular clause in the amended MDA pointed out to be against national interest.

The AML MDA promised almost 3000 new jobs for Liberians, over US$75 Million in revenue and royalties, increase in County Social Development Fund, opportunities for local businesses. The return of the MDA to the Executive will cause delays in opportunities for the many Liberians who are facing extreme poverty and looking to changing their life stations.