Liberia’s Ambassador-designate, to Washington D.C., Professor Dr. Al-hassan Conteh, is being entangled in an alleged rape incident involving a minor that occurred in 2020 under his administration, while serving as Ambassador to Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Monrovia, Liberia, November 22, 2024 – The Liberian Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs chaired by Montserrado County Senator Abraham D. Dillon mandates Liberia’s Ambassador-Designate to the United States of America, Dr. Al-hassan Conteh, to provide full investigative report on an alleged rape incident involving a 7-year-old minor at the Liberian Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria under his administration.
A Liberian Embassy official assigned to the country’s diplomatic mission in Abuja, Nigeria, had alleged that his seven-year-old daughter was sexually abused right in the embassy’s premises by two perpetrators.
Complainant Nat Bayjay, then Minister Counselor for Press and Public Affairs deployed in Abuja, had narrated that his daughter was sexually abused over a period of seven months by two different perpetrators in 2020.
President Joseph N. Boakai on Wednesday, November 6, 2024 nominated Ambassadors of Foreign Missions in the United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Japan, Kuwait, Qatar, Senegal, Morocco, Ghana, and Liberia Permanent Mission in New York.
Those nominated are: Al Hassan Conteh, Ambassador Designate, United States of America, Genevieve Kennedy, Ambassador Designate, United Kingdom, Teeko Yorlay, Ambassador Designate, France and Edward Appleton, Ambassador Designate, Japan
The list also include Brahima Kaba, Ambassador Designate, Kuwait, Mohammed Kanneh, Ambassador Designate, Qatar, Ali Sylla, Ambassador Designate, Senegal, Joseph Johnson, Ambassador Designate, Morocc, Musu J. Ruhle, Ambassador Designate, Ghana and Lewis Brown, Ambassador Designate, Liberia Permanent Mission in New York.
During confirmation hearing on November 20, 2024, in the chamber of the Liberian Senate for both Dr. Conteh and Lewis Brown, the committee developed deep interest in the alleged rape case and posed several questions to Ambassador Conteh, who failed to provide adequate information on the situation.
However, the committee ordered Dr. Conteh to provide full investigative report of the incident to the secretary of the Liberian senate to properly establish his role played in addressing the issue.
Meanwhile, the Ambassador-designate assured the committee to work with the Senate Secretary to provide both hard and soft copies of investigation conducted, which was later sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia during the administration of former Foreign Minister D. Maxwell Kemayah.
Bomi County Senator, Edwin Snowe, who is also member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, asked the nominee if he were aware of the alleged rape at the Liberian Embassy in Nigeria and to state his role in the incident as then head of Mission and what he could he have done better.
Senator Snowe laments that the situation brought embarrassment to the country, stressing that it is therefore, important that Dr. Conteh tells the body what happened, and to assure that such will not occur in the United States, where he will be deployed, if confirm.
Responding to the questioned, Dr. Conteh admitted that the incident mentioned by Senator Snow happened at the Liberian Embassy during his administration, which he termed as very unfortunate. However, he told the senators that he did his best by properly addressing the issue.
According to him, when the matter was reported, he took seized of the situation and chaired the investigation and provided recommendation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia that it was beyond his jurisdiction, so it needed to be forwarded to court.
However, Dr. Conteh stated that after his recommendation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs followed the recommendation to the Ministry of Justice and the court was involved, and as far he knows, the case is currently in court and there are details he can’t provide now as a matter of law.
“As Ambassador to that country, I did my best to investigate it properly and report it expeditiously to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs back home. It was an incident between the young children of two families that lived on the same flood of the embassy residence. So, it was investigated by me. I chaired the investigative hearing which I can share with you. I immediately sent the report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; they read the report and its recommendations. Also, based on the report, they sent four ambassadors at-large to also investigate and they did and advice the Ministry” the nominee explained. Editing by Jonathan Browne
