The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated Jefferson Koijee, Mayor of Monrovia and Secretary General of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), for being responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuse and for being a current government official responsible for or complicit in engaging in corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets.
The designation is under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, otherwise known as GloMag, and is in line with the U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption, a core U.S. national security interest.
Mayor Koijee was among 20 individuals from nine countries designated for their connection to human rights abuse, and the action was instituted on Friday, December 8, 2023—during the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Mayor has now joined the ranks of a few individuals under Global Magnitsky sanctions in Liberia: Varney Sherman, Prince Johnson, Nathaniel McGill, Bill Tweahway and Sayma Serenius Cephus.
According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Koijee has a reputation for stoking violence and has a powerful grip on Monrovia’s youth. “He controls paramilitary-style organizations associated with the CDC which allegedly recruits former combatants and recently released prisoners,” OFAC said.
OFAC said it has reason to believe that Koijee has instructed these organizations to violently disrupt demonstrations conducted by government critics or political opposition. “Koijee and his supporters have been involved in violence in connection with: an opposition rally in July 2022, students attending a memorial service for former Liberian President Amos Sawyer in March 2022, an anti-rape protest in August 2020, a student graduation ceremony in December 2019, and an opposition rally in November 2018.
“Koijee has also engaged in corrupt acts, including bribery and misappropriation of state assets for use by private political movements and pressuring anti-corruption investigators to halt corruption investigations,” OFAC said in its designation.
Koijee is being designated for being a foreign person who is responsible for or complicit in, or who has directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse and for being a foreign person who is a current or former government official, or a person acting for or on behalf of such an official, who is responsible for or complicit in, or who has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery pursuant to E.O. 13818.
