The plenary of the Liberian Senate on Thursday, January 13, 2022 overwhelmingly voted to have the Agriculture Minister, Jeanine Cooper, suspended from all active duties and functions of the Ministry of Agriculture to enable her to adequately defend herself against several corruption allegations. The decision of the Senate to have the minister suspended and go through investigation came as a result of a comprehensive report from the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry.
The committee further recommended that the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and the General Auditing Commission (GAC) be charged to conduct an investigation and audit into the allegation of corruption highlighted in the report. The Committee also recommended a forensic audit to be conducted on the Ministry’s payroll as it is believed that ghost names and unfair qualifications and remunerations are factors affecting the Ministry’s budget. Similarly, the Senate Committee also requested for the physical assets of the ministry to be part of the investigation.
According to the Committee’s report, a copy of which is in the possession of the Hot Pepper, Minister Cooper told the Committee under oath that she was not a signatory to any account of the ministry. But, the Committee established that the minister was signatory to LBDI’s MOA Agriculture Value Chain Project account, #001USD 2130314040. At this account, she served as signatory ‘A’ along with three other persons, who are contractors and not employees of the ministry.
In the same vein, the Committee also established that Minister Cooper also gave four contracts to four of her advisors working within her office for two years, including her brother, Zubin Cooper, with fabulous salaries. The four persons are Thomas Gbokie, PMU-MOA214928-CS-INDV, Agricultural Knowledge Management Advisor, with an annual salary of US$100,000 (February 15, 2021—February 14, 2023); Sylvester W. Taylor, PMU—MOA214927-CS-INDV, Financial Management Advisor, annual salary US$50,000; Zubin L. Cooper, Communication and Marketing Specialist, PMU-MOA214927-INDV, annual salary US$100,000; and Luakena A. Tolbert, LR-PMU-MOA 174130-CS-CDS, Financial Investment and Communication Consultant, annual salary US$60,000.
The Senate Committee’s report also discovered that a contract of US$298,145.42 was awarded to Momolu Tolbert, CEO, Liberia Cocoa Corporation, by Minister Cooper to supply F1 Hybrid Cocoa seeds to the Ministry of Agriculture. On the contrary, according to the report, all of the seeds brought by Tolbert are all dead and they were not the F1 Hybrid Cocoa seeds.
