CAPITOL HILL, MONROVIA – Nimba County Senator Nya D. Twayen Jr. has raised strong objections to the proposed Third Amendment to the ArcelorMittal Mineral Development Agreement (MDA), warning that the Legislature is being asked to approve a far-reaching restructuring of one of Liberia’s most strategic concession agreements without adequate safeguards for accountability, national interest, and affected communities.
In a press statement dated January 15, 2026, Senator Nya said the amendment before the Legislature is “not a routine administrative exercise,” but a consequential overhaul that demands “sober and rigorous scrutiny,” particularly given ArcelorMittal’s history of concession compliance challenges.
According to Senator Nya, while the amendment is presented as a restated and consolidated agreement incorporating prior changes, it fundamentally alters the identity of the principal concession holder by transferring all rights and obligations from ArcelorMittal Switzerland AG to ArcelorMittal USA Liberia Holdings LLC.
He questioned the legality and transparency of the transition, noting that the change in company ownership reportedly occurred on December 9, 2025, while the amended agreement was signed on December 20, just eleven days later. “Who then was the government negotiating with, AML Switzerland or AML-USA?” Senator Nya asked, warning that such unresolved questions undermine enforceability and accountability.
The Nimba lawmaker cautioned that although the amendment claims all obligations are transferred in full, assertions alone are insufficient. He pointed to the absence of explicit parent company guarantees, continuity clauses preserving liability for past breaches, and enforceable security instruments to protect Liberia in cases of default or arbitration.
“Without these,” Senator Nya said, “there is a real risk that historic obligations and violations of the old MDA may be diluted in practice, even if not in theory,” stressing that a concessionaire must not be allowed to repackage itself in a way that weakens accountability while retaining access to Liberia’s mineral wealth.
He further criticized the use of a restated and consolidated MDA without clear preservation of accrued rights, unresolved breaches, penalties, and defaults under previous agreements, warning that this could obscure outstanding obligations owed to the state and affected communities, especially in Nimba County.
Beyond corporate governance concerns, Senator Nya strongly opposed provisions that would treat the entire concession area, including unutilized lands and future exploration zones, as a single production area. “I strongly oppose this approach,” he declared.
“A production area is a legal authorization to extract,” Senator Nya said, adding that declaring undeveloped lands productive restricts land use, exposes communities to environmental impacts, and locks resources away from alternative development without corresponding benefits.
He argued that international best practice supports phased development and relinquishment of unused zones, warning that collapsing all concession lands into one production designation opens the door to mineral warehousing under the guise of integration. “The railroad and port are integrated infrastructure. The minerals are not,” he emphasized.
For Nimba County, Senator Nya said the issue has direct and long-lasting consequences, as communities cannot be expected to live indefinitely on land declared productive but left undeveloped, uncompensated, and constrained. “Development delayed is development denied,” he stated.
The senator also raised alarm over the treatment of social infrastructure obligations, noting that while existing MDAs explicitly require roads, bridges, hospitals, health centers, and schools, these commitments are omitted from the proposed Third Amendment.
Instead, the amendment proposes that a separate social impact or infrastructure plan for Nimba, Bong, and Grand Bassa counties be developed within three months after ratification. Senator Nya rejected this approach as unacceptable, saying it weakens legislative oversight and replaces binding obligations with future promises.
“Given the history of noncompliance, this Legislature cannot responsibly ratify an amendment that defers core community obligations to post-ratification instruments of uncertain legal force,” he warned.
Senator Nya called on the Inter-Ministerial Concessions Committee (IMCC) to submit a comprehensive social impact and community development framework as an appendix to the agreement before any ratification is considered.
He also urged the Legislature to demand full transfer documents, beneficial ownership affidavits for ArcelorMittal Switzerland AG and ArcelorMittal USA, and audited financial statements dating back to 2005 to clarify profits, losses, dividends, and return on investment.
“This position is not anti-investment,” Senator Nya stressed. “It is pro-Liberia. It is pro-rule of law. It is pro-community.”
He concluded that until liability continuity is secured, parent guarantees provided, production areas properly delimited, and social infrastructure obligations explicitly embedded in the agreement, approval of the Third Amendment would be premature.
“The people of Nimba County, and the people of Liberia, deserve better than uncertainty, deferred promises, and weakened oversight,” Senator Nya said, pledging to continue insisting that concession compliance is mandatory and that development must be “real, enforceable, and just.”
