As the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission actively pursued its alleged US$3.6 million fraud case involving Abdullah Kamara, the former acting chair of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority, the LACC has remained tight-lipped as to whether it intends to pursue extradition requests against Edwina T. Zackpah, another prime suspect who was indicted and charged but flew the country for months now.
Zackpah and her successor, Kamara (TAMMA Corporation), were jointly indicted on July 10 for allegedly colluding and conspiring to defraud the government of US$3.5 million. They were charged with multiple economic and financial crimes, including Economic Sabotage, Theft of Property, Misuse of Public Funds, Illegal Disbursement and Expenditure of Public Money, Misapplication of Entrusted Property, Criminal Facilitation, Criminal Conspiracy and Criminal Solicitation.
The allegations stem from investigations launched by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), in 2024 into the alleged diversion of public funds and misuse of office involving TAMMA Corporation and its former leadership, including Zackpah who was serving as LTA Chairperson at the time.
Kamara was later appointed to the LTA to replace Zackpah following her suspension on allegations of corruption contained in a GAC report.
However, since the indictment was issued, the LACC has not provided any updates on how it intends to bring Zackpah, who sources say is currently in the US, to face charges. Legal experts note that given Zackpah’s suspected presence in the United States, formal extradition proceedings offer the only viable path to justice, yet the commission has not publicly outlined any such efforts.
“The LACC has been very vocal about pursuing corruption cases domestically, but we haven’t heard any clear strategy for bringing Madam Zackpah back to face these serious charges,” legal experts argued. “This silence is troubling, especially when we know she’s outside the country. The Liberian people deserve to know what concrete steps are being taken to ensure that all those accused of corruption face the full weight of the law.”
Experts noted that the LACC’s silence on Zackpah while reindicting Kamara after Criminal Court ‘C’ had initially dismissed his indictment on procedural grounds raised transparency questions about the anti-graft institution.
Judge Joe Barkon of Criminal Court ‘C’ initially upheld Kamara’s lawyer’s motion for dismissal, which argued that the former acting LTA chair was “wrongly and illegally labeled as TAMMA Corporation’s CEO” in the alleged indictment, although he had relinquished that position over a year ago.
Barkon also questioned why the LACC did not indict the new chief executive officer of TAMMA Corporation and other corporate officers when they knew that Kamara had resigned from the corporation and that these allegations were made against TAMMA Corporation.
“Kamara should not have been named as a corporate officer to represent TAMMA Corporation in the indictment when the corporation, as a distinct entity, had a new chief executive officer and other corporate officers to represent it in the accusations against it,” Barkon noted.
He continued that “the act of the LACC to have designated Kamara in the indictment as chief executive officer is improper, unlawful, untenable, and contrary to the provisions of the Association Law.”
Barkon, while dropping the indictment, indicated that if the LACC had reason to believe there was probable cause to hold Kamara for the commission of the crimes, they should have held him separately from the corporation rather than holding him for the acts of the corporation.
The LACC acted upon Barkon’s advice and, after a failed emergency appeal at the Supreme Court, refiled the indictment—indicting Kamara individually, with focus on his alleged direct role in the financial mismanagement. The reindictment on August 8 comes as the LACC maintained that the defendants have no affirmative legal defense, alleging that their actions caused the government serious financial losses.
According to the indictment, Kamara and TAMMA Corporation allegedly received payments totaling US$54,500 and L$22.5 million in May 2023, and an additional US$1.2 million between June and November 2023 from the LTA, without LTA Board approval or any defined scope of work. The indictment further alleged that Zackpah, as the LTA Board Chair, without the consent and knowledge of her colleagues, approved said funding to Kamara and TAMMA Corporation without a written contract.
The funds were reportedly earmarked for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities under the Liberia Digital Transformation Project (LDTP), an initiative by the then-Weah administration targeting digital literacy among youth.
However, the LACC alleged that the selection of TAMMA Corporation for the LDTP in the absence of compliance with Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) laws made the deal unlawful, as there were no verifiable services delivered in return, with the funds remaining unaccounted for.
The GAC had, in a report on which the LACC indictment is based, claimed that the defendants mishandled public funds under the LDTP, including unauthorized payments and lack of transparency in contract awards.
