By: Ayeason Yeeba
In 2018, the National Elections Commission of Liberia (NEC) signed a contract with M-Tosh Print Incorporated to procure, supply, and deliver pre-packed election materials for the Sinoe County Senatorial and Montserrado County District #13 Representative By-Elections.
The contract, valued at US $589,060.00, was approved by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) and attested by the Ministry of Justice.
Just days before delivery, M-Tosh informed the NEC that the cost of the chartered flight had unexpectedly increased by US $150,000. The company warned that it would not proceed with delivery unless the NEC agreed to cover the additional cost. Despite this, NEC instructed M-Tosh to deliver the materials, which it did.
Later in 2018, the NEC wrote to the MFDP regarding the US $150,000, and while an allotment was issued, the funds were never disbursed.
Earlier this year, M-Tosh filed a lawsuit in the Commercial Court seeking payment of the outstanding amount.
The contract between NEC and M-Tosh clearly stated in Article 12 that it constituted the entire agreement, with no other verbal or written terms beyond what was explicitly stated. Article 4 set the total contract value at US\$589,060 broken down into US$289,060 for goods and US$300,000 for air transport via chartered flight.
The NEC has maintained that it should not be liable for the additional US$150,000, arguing that M-Tosh was already contractually obligated to deliver the materials under the original terms.
However, the court found that the debt had effectively been acknowledged by government authorities back in 2018.
