–Boakai Gov’t Accused
Several officials of the George Weah administration were on Thursday arrested and jailed for their alleged involvement in the theft of over 25,000 bags of rice donated to Liberia by the Saudi government in April 2023.
Among those arrested were Ambassador Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Telma Sawyer, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Administration; Mary T. Broh, former Director General, General Service Agency (GSA); Henry O. Williams, former Executive Director, National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA); Archievego M. Doe, NDMA Communications Director, and others.
They were arrested and sent to the Monrovia Central Prison based on allegations levied against them by the Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval Taskforce (AREPT), headed by Cllr. Edward Kla Martin, but were later released.
These individuals, along with Varney A. Sirleaf, former Minister of Internal Affairs; Edris Bility, former GSA Deputy Director for Operations; Augustine Kollie, Director for Disaster Victims, NDMA; Mamie Davies, Assistant Director, GSA; Rosetta L. Gbasay Bowah, Logistics Officer, NDMA; Wayfa Ciapha, “purported” CEO, Group of 77; and Evelyn Gbee, Warehouse Manager, GSA, and others to be identified, were indicted for theft of property, economic sabotage (misuse of public money, property or records, theft and/or illegal disbursement and expenditure of public money (b)(c); misapplication of entrusted property, abuse of office and criminal conspiracy.
They were ordered arrested by Criminal Court “C” based on an indictment prepared against them by the grand jury selected, empaneled and sworn to inquire in and for the people of Montserrado County, and brought before the court.
According to information, the rice in question was part of a consignment of 29,412 bags valued at US$425,918, intended for disaster victims, but was allegedly secretly diverted for “personal and political benefit”.
The rice was donated in April 2023 through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, and was consigned to the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) and kept at the General Service Agency (GSA).
However, the Boakai administration is being rebuked for “arbitrarily” and “illegally” arresting and detaining the former officials, and accused of embarking on an agenda of using unproven allegations of corruption to witch-haunt members of the opposition community.
According to a renowned lawyer, Cllr. Pearl Brown Bull, officers of the Liberia National Police (LNP) banged into Mary Broh’s house as early as 6:00 a.m. while she was taking bath and carried out her arrest while she was “naked”.
Mary Broh currently resides in Fish Market community, where former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf resided when she was President. According to rumor, former President Sirleaf collapsed and was rushed to a hospital upon hearing the news of the arrest of her long-time friend.
On the other hand, the Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE) has come in defense of its Political Leader, Ambassador Kemayah, claiming that their leader was arrested as early as 3:00 a.m. by LNP officers who besieged his residence in a scaring and panicking manner just to effect the arrest.
MOVEE vowed to resist President Boakai’s attempt to “lead Liberia with tyranny and dictatorship. The use of state machineries to intimate and deter opposition dissent is undemocratic and chaos-inviting”.
Also, the Secretary General of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), Jefferson T. Koijee, has accused the Boakai-Koung administration of being desperate for relevance and drowning in its own incompetence, and has therefore resorted to weaponizing the justice system in broad daylight.
Koijee claimed that Kemayah, Broh, Sawyer and Doe were paraded and arrested under the guise of “economic sabotage”, a bogus charge being pushed by a corrupt and discredited Assets Recovery Task Force. “But let’s be clear: this is not justice, it’s revenge politics,” he stated.
“How dare Joseph Boakai and his cabal speak of law and order when just weeks ago they disregarded the Supreme Court’s ruling and carried out a legislative coup d’état against Speaker Koffa? Where was the rule of law then?” Koijee wondered.
He further claimed that the man leading this “recovery” effort is a known abuser and a disgraced figure, accused of rampant corruption by his own colleagues, some of whom resigned in protest, and yet Boakai has the audacity to use this same individual to preach about accountability.
“Liberians, we must open our eyes. This regime is lawless, reckless, and has no intention of governing responsibly. Their only mission is to distract and deceive. Today’s charade is not about stolen rice; it’s about silencing dissent, shifting blame, and creating scapegoats while the real criminals sit comfortably in power,” the CDC Secretary General observed.
Political and legal observers are questioning the government’s seriousness in pursuing justice against former officials of government and clamping down on corruption, condemning the way the administration is opening too many fronts without reaching a logical conclusion.
According to the pundits, the government has a case with the former Minister of Finance and others, and another case with former Speaker Koffa and others, and now Kemayah and others. They said the prosecution could be overwhelmed and may not be able to provide any substantive evidence to win any of the cases.