Three high-ranking Liberian officials have been removed from office after being sanctioned by the US government for corruption and corruption-related acts in the government.
The three are Nathaniel McGill, Chief of Staff to Liberian President George Weah, Sayma Syrenius Cephus, Chief Prosecutor, and Bill Twehway, Managing Director of Liberia’s National Port Authority.
All have been sanctioned for bribery and corruption under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
The Liberian president, George Weah, responded to the revelation and acted swiftly to suspend the specified officials with immediate effect pending further investigations.
The sanction has led to a freeze of their assets including The officials’ homes taken. The United States government has vowed to sanction anyone who does business with them directly or indirectly.
At a press conference, US Ambassador to Liberia Michael McCarthy stated that the description of Liberian government officials was consistent with the US Treasury’s anti-corruption campaign, which is a vital US national security objective.
“As the corruption problem worsens, a higher number of US officials are publicly criticising Liberia,” McCarthy added.
Corruption in Liberia has increasingly become common in recent years, to the point that it is now the major concern in the bilateral relationship between Liberia and the United States.
McCarthy stated that GloMag targeted perpetrators of major human rights violations and individuals involved in big corruption worldwide.
According to the US assessment, corruption has deprived the Liberian people of “funds for public services, boosting illegal actors, weakening the business climate, and undermining the country’s rule of law and effective government.”
The study found that Chief of Staff McGill bribed business owners, took bribes from potential investors and accepted kickbacks in exchange for diverting contracts to firms in which he has a financial interest.
He is accused of abusing emergency procurement processes to rig contract bids in order to award multimillion-dollar contracts to companies in which he has ownership interests.
Chief Prosecutor Cephus on the other hand, cultivated strong ties with criminal defendants and accepted payments from individuals in exchange for dropping their cases.
Cephus has been accused of tampering with and purposely concealing evidence in trials involving opposing political party members in order to achieve a conviction.
Twehway, who serves as the manager of the Free Port of Monrovia, was sanctioned for arranging the theft of $1.5 million from the National Port Authority into a private account.
Twehway is accused of surreptitiously founding a private firm to which he then unilaterally granted a contract for cargo loading and unloading at the Port of Buchanan using his position at the NPA.
The previous ruling Unity Party of Liberia, now the main opposition, has demanded that the sanctioned officials resign immediately or be removed from their jobs.
Sheikh Al-Moustapha Kouyateh, who backed Weah’s presidential run in 2017, currently leads the Liberia First Movement pressure organization.
He claims that the penalties were not unexpected because the authorities had shown to be innately corrupt.
He said, “Weah should fire these persons in order to maintain good ties with the US and to help Liberia’s Anti-Corruption Commission in pursuing corrupt officials.”
Failure on the part of President Weah in sacking the three, has the potential to result in a statewide demonstration on August 24th, Liberia’s Flag Day.