By Bill W. Cooper
The Consortium of Rubber Sector Actors of Liberia (CORSAL) has once again decried the ban on the exportation of unprocessed rubber out of Liberia as a result of an Executive Order #124 issued by former President George Weah in 2023.
The group, composed of rubber farmers, rubber brokers, truckers, rubber exporters and forwarding agents, described the action by the former President as “devilish and heartless” and thereby called on President Joseph Boakai to uplift the ban.
The group’s cry comes at the time the Senate Committee on Agriculture has recommended a full plenary to ensure that the ban on the exportation of unprocessed rubbers remains.
The decision was triggered as a result of a joint communication from Bong and Grand Kru Counties’ Senators, Johnny Kpehe and Albert Chie, in which they pleaded with their colleagues to prevail upon the President to remove the ban on unprocessed rubber exportation.
The Senators, in their communication, further alleged they have, on numerous occasions, been engaged by their various constituencies about the hardship they are encountering on a daily basis due to the ban issued by former President Weah.
But in the Senate committee on Agriculture’s report, the ban, as issued by former President Weah, was in the right direction, noting that government and citizenry stand to benefit economically from the country’s rubber sector, contrary to the group’s assertion.
But according to CORSAL, the rubber sector in Liberia’s history is replete with the dominance of few elite institutions, to the disadvantage of the poor Liberian rubber farmers and other actors within the sector.
CORSAL alarmed that it is a work against a free competitive market on the basis of willing buyer and willing seller, emphasizing that the Executive Order was issued abruptly without stakeholder consultation.
In a release yesterday, the group noted, “And to date, we have 94 containers of unprocessed rubber stocked at the Free Port of Monrovia since December 2023, and for which the Government of Liberia has made us to pay US$57,000 in storage fees alone 3 weeks ago.”
“As we speak, the storage is again accruing up to thousands of United States Dollars and we have more than 2,000 tons of rubber in stock at our various buying stations across the country and this is seriously alarming.
Our business capitals are being fast damaged by the action of the Liberian Government initiated by the past administration of former President Weah. Our bank loans are in default and banks are about to take our properties and the Government of Liberia supports this highly,” CORSAL alleged.
The group further disclosed that the government is misapplying the Constitution by using Article 5(c) of the 1986 Constitution, which states that they shall take steps by appropriate Legislation and Executive Orders to eliminate sectionalism and tribalism, and such abuses of power as the misuse of government resources, nepotism, and all other corrupt practices.
CORSAL narrated that the rubber is not for the government and all other conditions set in Article 5(c) are not within the rubber sector, and asserted, “The rubber was planted by farmers without assistance from the government or processors; as such, the farmers must be allowed to have access to a market of their choice.”
Meanwhile, the group said one of the most inhumane and terrible provisions of Executive Order 124 is contained in Section 9.
It states, “That as of the effective date of this Executive Order, all broker activities relating to purchase, sale, or trade of unprocessed rubber in the Republic of Liberia must cease and agents of processors shall be the only persons to act on behalf of, or for a processor, or to act as intermediaries between farmers and processors in transporting the unprocessed natural rubber trade.”
CORSAL maintained that the Executive Order also violates “The Competition Law of Liberia -2016” which promotes efficient free market system, as well as the 1986 Constitution, adding they have met with all the state actors concerning the ban on the exportation of unprocessed rubber and explained how this ban is affecting Liberians, but to no avail.
