By Othello B. Garblah
In just ten months, at least 13 officials have been affected by dismissals, suspensions, or forced to resign.
Monrovia, November 18, 2024/ President Joseph N. Boakai is not playing. In just ten months of his administration, at least 14 officials have faced his wrath through dismissals, suspensions, and forced resignations.
Whether his actions are selective or not is another debate altogether. However, they are unprecedented in the country’s recent history, especially in less than one year of a new administration.
It all started just 7 months into President Boakai’s administration when he dismissed Mr. James Armah Massaquoi, the then Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Education, for administrative reasons and appointed Atty. Nyekeh Y. Forkpa.
Months after Mr. Massaquoi’s dismissal, Mr. Boakai turned his attention to the Ministry of Finance Development Planning, where then Minister Boimah Kamara had been absent from office for a protracted period due to illness.
Sources say President Boakai wasted no time asking Mr. Kamara to resign since he was not in the right frame of mind to serve at the time. Thus, he was the first to resign.
As if that was not enough, former Commerce Minister Amin Modad, acting in consultation with the Liberia Revenue Authority Commissioner General Dorbor Jallah, violated the 2024 National Budget law to satisfy Mr. Modad’s taste for luxury by purchasing a USD98,000 vehicle for him.
LRA Commissioner Jallah will soon justify his conniving with former Minister Modad before a Senate hearing committee, saying he followed the example of his predecessors.
For weeks, Mr. Modad had been accused of purchasing a luxurious SUV for his official use at the cost of US150K. The vehicle was initially alleged to be a gift from MedTech Scientific Liberia Limited, a Dubai-based subsidiary, to purchase a car valued at US$150,000.
The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) will later provide conflicting information regarding the vehicle purchase.
Days later, in the luxury car saga, Modad tendered his resignation a day after President Boakai slammed him during a press stakeout upon his return to the country. President Boakai said during that press stakeout that he could even ride a wheelbarrow to work.
In the past, Modad would have easily driven his vehicle up and down the streets of Monrovia. This was the case under previous administrations, where some public officials acted with impunity, enjoying the protection of the precedency despite public outcry over their involvement in alleged corruption, misappropriation, or acts incompatible with their offices. It would have been considered early days to act.
Meanwhile, Boakai’s ruthlessness continued last week as he suspended Liberian Immigration Service boss Steve Zargo for three months without pay and sealed the weekend by slapping Assistant Minister Matthew Nyanplu of the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism with an indefinite suspension without pay for his comment about the NEKOTECH scholarship scheme. Nyanplu wasted no time responding with his immediate resignation.
Nyanplu’s suspension and subsequent resignation followed the dismissal of three officials from the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs.
The trio, Mr. Lamine Sharpe, Director of Budget/Finance; Atty. Harry B. Sando, Financial Comptroller, and Mr. Mohammed S. Kromah, Assistant Minister for Human Resources, were dismissed after an investigation linked them to a payroll padding scheme at the Ministry of State.
Their dismissal followed an investigation by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), which revealed their participation in the payroll padding scheme.
A few weeks before their dismissal, three officials at the Liberian Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRC), namely LRRC Executive Director Mr. Patrick Worzie and his two deputies, Mr. Richard Hoff and Mr. AJ Armah Karneh, were suspended and subsequently turned over to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission for investigation.
These men were accused of engaging in questionable financial transactions at the Liberian returnees’ agency, allegedly taking bread from returning refugees’ mouths.
Just around the same time, the President announced the appointment of a new Executive Director of the Liberian Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) while relieving the entity’s Executive Director, Col. Abraham Kromah, and his two deputies, Mr. Hassan Fadiga and Mr. Gbawou Kowou.
The three men were suspended for months following allegations linking them to fights over drug money. However, the committee investigating the incident at the LDEA has yet to confirm these allegations.
