In Summary:
- Senator Abraham Darius Dillon claimed in a radio interview that for the first time in the last six years, the Liberia National Fire Service budget moved from under US$2 million to over US$4 million in 2024 and that US$ 2 million was deliberately allocated to buy fire trucks and other firefighting equipment.
- We have checked this claim by reviewing the national budgets from 2018 to 2024 and found that while LFNS did not reach US$4 million, it was above US$2 million in 2023, and the amount allocated for the purchase of fire trucks and firefighting equipment was US$1.4 million and not US$ 2 million.
On April 14, Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillion appeared in a Punch FM interview and made claims about allocations to the Liberia National Fire Service, comparing the six-year tenure of former President George Weah with the first year of the administration of current president Joseph N. Boakai.
Senator Dillon made the claim at 22:53 timestamp while stressing on actions taken by the legislature to improve basic social services by improving budgetary allocations to government functionaries.
Claim
Said Senator Dillion: “For the first time, the Fire Service budget came from under $2 million in the last six years to over $4 million last year (2024), and we (the legislature) deliberately appropriated $2 million to buy fire trucks and other fire-fighting equipment”.
Rating Justification
To fact-check this claim, we review the approved National Budgets from 2018 to 2024 with a specific focus on allocation to the Liberian National Fire Service.
Our review of the budget found that the Liberia National Fire Service budget in 2017/2018 was US$ 1,706,046.
In the 2018/2019 approved budget, US$ 1,847,292 was allocated to the Liberia National Fire Service.
While in the 2019/2020 approved budget, US$ 1,834,093 was allocated to the Liberia National Fire Service.
In 2020/2021, the Liberia National Fire Service received an allocation of US$ 1,770,640.
While in the 2021 Special Budget, which ran for the last six months in 2021, the Liberia National Fire Service got an allotment of US$ 43,517.
In 2023, US$ 2, 218,102 was allocated to the Liberia National Fire Service, but the outturn for 2022 shows that US$ 3,126,479 was received by the LNFS.
In the 2023 budget, which was the last of the six-year term of former President George Weah, the LNFS got an allocation of US$2,180,102. Also, in 2024, US$ 4,167,557 was allotted to the National Fire Service.
Of this amount, US$2,012,102 was allotted for employee compensation, US$746, 407 for goods and services that included administrative expenses and special operational services, and US$1,408,100 for the purchase of transport equipment.
Conclusion
Based on the review of the past budget, we conclude that Senator Dillon’s claim that, for the first time, the Fire Service budget rose from under $2 million in the last six years to over $4 million in 2024 is mostly correct. However, in 2022, the Liberia National Fire Service outturn was US$3.1 million, and in 2023, the Fire Service budget was US$2.2 million.
He is incorrect that the legislature deliberately appropriated US$ 2 million in the 2024 budget to buy fire trucks and other firefighting equipment. The amount allocated in the budget for fire transport equipment and vehicles was US$ 1.4 million.
