By Contributing Writer | Smart News Liberia
MONROVIA – There are reports that some senior commissioners at the LTA are uncomfortable with cancelling the contract the entity has with TIA-Telecommunication International Alliance (TIA)) and have advised the Chairman not to proceed. But the Charman insists that he will go ahead,
Over the weekend, multiple sources at the entity-LTA and outside, confided in some media outlets that, Mr. Clarance Massaqui, Chairman of the entity has vowed to proceed with the new arrangements despite recommendations from the legislators and Justice Minister not to enter into any new agreement.
One media entity sent message to the Chairman for clarification, but there was no immediate response as of the time of gong to press
“The Charman is bent on giving the contract to NUMTEL. Liberia. Some of the commissioners are not comfortable with it because it sends a bad signal to the outside world. More besides, some of the commissioners said, TIA could place an injunction on the entire process if they continue to go ahead with it” one insider who declined to be mentioned said.
It can be recalled that the government Liberia, in a communication dated November 13, 2025, addressed to Honorable Richard Nagbe Koon, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senator Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence, President Pro Tempore of the Liberian Senate, notified the 55th Legislature of the Executive’s decision to suspend the Telecom International Alliance (TIA) /Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) Agreement, ratified by the 53rd Legislature in 2022, for Telecommunications Traffic Monitoring Services and requested the 55th Legislature to take steps to de-ratify the concession agreement for the regularities
That the decision of the President to issue an Executive Order to suspend TIA/LTA Contract on grounds that fraud was committed during the procurement process, an allegation TIA denied, and his subsequent request to the Legislature to de-ratify the contract, amounts to a dispute. This was said by the legislature committee set to review the concession.
The joint committee recommendations were as follows:
That the TIA/LTA Agreement, ratified by the Legislature, signed by the President and published by Authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, contains a Dispute Settlement Clause at 21.2 that bounds all parties to this contract.
That the Public Procurement Law of Liberia provides a remedy for matters arising from public procurement processes. (These are very keen. It states that matters arising from Procurement process, there is a remedy.) Either settlement, such as renegotiation, amendments or arbitration). But the committee is recommending renegotiation).
Finally, Article 25 of the Liberian Constitution prohibits the impairment of contractual rights. The Legislature cannot therefore embark on a course of action that would violate the contractor rights under an agreement. Hence, The government should pursue the path of re-negotiation rather than de-ratification.
Examples of other concession that have been renegotiated by this government and past governments:
Liberia has a long history of renegotiating concessions rather than DE ratifying them, including the Arcelor Mittal Concession, Firestone, and most recently under this current Administration CTN, MedTech, and Liberia Traffic Management, Inc. (LTMI) agreements, all of which had contentious issues similar to those raised by the President in his letter to the Legislature. The Government should maintain consistency.
In consideration of the above findings, the laws controlling, and Supreme Court decision regarding these matters, the Joint Committee recommends that the Government of Liberia re-negotiates the TIA/LTA ratified Agreement for the following reasons.
