Claim
Nilton Mawolo, a member of Lofa County Senator Stephen Zargo, claimed that “through Senator Zargo’s lobbying and representation at the ECOWAS Parliament, ECOWAS became one of the four partners” financing the pavement of the Lofa Road.
Rating Justification
After reviewing the claim by Nilton Mawolo made on Voice of Lofa 99.3 FM in Voinjama on Friday June 30, 2023, LVL iVerify Liberia checked to verify the statement.
ECOWAS is Economic Community of West African States. ECOWAS has a Parliament which is the Assembly of Peoples of the Community serving as a forum for dialogue, consultation and consensus for representatives of the people of West Africa with the aim of promoting integration.
Senator Stephen J. H. Zargo is a member of the Parliament representing Liberia, and a member on the Committee on Trade, Customs and Free Movement.
Is Ecowas Funding the Road Project?
We reviewed a September, 2015 press release by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP). In that release, the Ministry named representatives of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) as delegates who toured the road ahead of the signing of various financing agreements that year.
Then Minister of Finance, Mr. Amara M. Konneh disclosed that these institutions were the lenders for the construction of the Mendikorma Road Project (Lofa Road Project). ECOWAS was not found on the list of lenders for the road project.
We also reviewed a May 6, 2021 publication by FrontPage Africa about the same road projects and found these institutions as financiers of the Mendikorma Road Project. They are Arab Bank for Economic Development (BADEA) – US$3.8 million; Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) – US$6.9 million; OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) – US$$8.9 million; Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) – US$9.1 million, and the government of Liberia (GoL) – US$11.9 million. We did not find the mentioned of ECOWAS as one of the funders of the project.
Another publication by Women Voices, a local daily in Liberia, also indicates that the Lofa Road Project is being implemented by China Henan International Cooperation (CHICHO), and is jointly funded by the Arab Bank for Economic Development, Kuwait Fund, OPEC, Saudi Fund, as well as the Government of Liberia.
After a careful review of several news articles and release from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning published at the inception of the ‘Lofa Road Project’, we conclude that the statement made by Nilton Mawolo of the Campaign team of Senator Stephen Zargo that ECOWAS is one of the sponsors of the Lofa Road project is misleading.
ECOWAS is not on the list of financiers of the project. The Project’s Financiers include Arab Bank for Economic Development (BADEA), Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) and the government of Liberia (GoL).
Evidence and References
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Local Voices Liberia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, has implemented the iVerify Liberia system with the objective of strengthening capacities to address threats to information integrity, especially in view of the upcoming 2023 elections, to ensure all Liberian citizens have access to credible, reliable and verified information, everywhere and at all times.
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Misleading 
