MONROVIA – President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has suspended the top leadership of the Liberia Agricultural Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA) amid mounting allegations of financial and administrative misconduct. In two separate letters dated June 25, 2025, President Boakai ordered the immediate suspension of LACRA Director-General Christopher D. Sankolo and Deputy Director General for Administration and Finance, Chea B. Garley.
The decision comes in the wake of serious concerns raised over the management of the institution. The President cited ongoing investigations by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and a formal audit he has requested from the General Auditing Commission (GAC) as the basis for the suspensions. “These actions are being taken in the interest of transparency, accountability, and good governance,” President Boakai stated in both communications.
It can be recalled that just weeks after President Boakai honored LACRA as the best-performing government agency, its two top executives, Sankolo and Garley, now find themselves at the center of a corruption scandal. The suspensions, officially announced on June 26, follow troubling revelations that the agency grossly misrepresented its financial status. While LACRA reported only US$700,000 in revenue for the period of April 2024 to March 2025, internal records indicate the agency actually generated over US$1.5 million during that same timeframe.
Further deepening the controversy are details of questionable withdrawals, including US$10,924 reportedly paid to the Director-General’s security detail, US$3,000 to the DG’s driver, and US$1,000 to the Chairperson of the Board. Additionally, bank statements refuted management’s claim that only US$470 was left in the agency’s account in April 2024. Instead, more than US$68,000 was available at that time. The existence of two undisclosed bank accounts and a series of unverified vendor contracts has also sparked alarm among investigators and critics.
These developments have not only tainted the reputation of LACRA but have also raised serious questions about the credibility of the government’s Performance Management and Compliance System (PMCS), under which LACRA was recently awarded for transparency and service delivery. The scandal has prompted public scrutiny over how an institution now accused of corruption could have passed such evaluations and received national commendation.
In response to the growing scandal, President Boakai has moved swiftly to appoint interim leadership. Honorable Dan Torkamawon Saryee, Sr. will serve as Interim Director-General of LACRA, and Honorable Adolphus Forkpa has been named Interim Deputy Director General for Administration and Finance. The President has reaffirmed his administration’s zero-tolerance policy on corruption, stating that all public officials will be held to the highest standards of integrity and accountability.
The unfolding situation not only threatens the operational credibility of LACRA but also casts a shadow over broader institutional mechanisms designed to measure and reward performance in the Liberian government. With both the LACC and GAC now fully engaged, the Boakai administration appears intent on demonstrating that no agency or official is beyond the reach of the law.
