By Bill W. Cooper
Outgoing Minister of Public Works, Ruth Coker-Collins, has strongly refuted an allegation claiming that she awarded a US$260,000 contract to her husband for road works in the country.
Minister Coker-Collins described the allegation from the Spoon Network Inc. former CEO, Stanton A. Witherspoon, and panelists, as a total ‘myth and erroneous’, only intended to malign the hard-earned reputation of her family.
Recently, Witherspoon and his team of panelists, during one of their broadcasts on his popular Spoon Talk Show on Spoon FM, accused Minister Coker-Collins of practicing conflict of interest as a public servant by awarding the mouthwatering road works contract to her husband.
In his allegation, Witherspoon emphatically accused the Minister of Public Works of deliberately refusing to adhere to the public procurement policy in awarding contracts and decided to manipulate the system by awarding her husband with the contract, at the detriment of other Liberian contractors.
But in reaction to the allegation, the Minister asserted, “Fellow Liberians, I am constrained to use this medium to clarify few allegations and misinformation against my person by US indicted criminal who is headed to prison, Stanton Witherspoon, and his ill-informed panelists.”
“In this vein, I want to state categorically here that my husband has never been awarded any contract from the Ministry of Public Works, and since we challenged the Spoon Show on these allegations, character assassination, and blackmail, they are yet to prove their allegations, which is sad for the sacred media profession,” she said.
Minister Coker-Collins, dismissing the claims, also described the assertion as “a total myth and erroneous,” noting, “I hope the LACC does thoroughly look into this matter and close this chapter for the good of my character and that of our society.”
Addressing a news conference yesterday in Monrovia, Minister Coker-Collins disclosed that she became aware of the contract awarded to one Bleco by the National Road Fund without her approval, through a FrontPage Africa January 8, 2024 edition.
According to her, Bleco is owned by Sebastian Collins, who has got no relationship or whatsoever with her family, noting that the nature of the contract, based on the report, was consultancy.
“So, whether the contract went through PPCC or met all requirements, needs to be answered by the manager of the NRF. For all I know or have seen about this contract and available at this conference has got nothing about me, my signature, or the Ministry,” she said.
Minister Coker-Collins clarified that Sebastian Collins is not her husband, neither is he related to her husband or her family, emphasizing, “I have never met this person and don’t even know him or how he was awarded consultancy.”
