The President’s move comes just weeks after LACRA had been named the “best performing entity” of 2024–2025.
Monrovia – President Joseph Boakai on June 26 suspended the Director General of the Liberia Agriculture Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA), Christopher D. Sankolo, along with his Deputy for Administration and Finance, Mr. Chea B. Garley.
By Selma Lomax, [email protected]
The official explanation cites the need for transparency and accountability, with ongoing investigations being carried out by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and an audit from the General Auditing Commission (GAC).
But beneath the surface, a much deeper power struggle has been simmering —one driven by internal rivalries, political alliances, and, at the center of it all, a man many at LACRA believe should have been the one facing suspension instead: Godia Alpha Kortu Gongolee, the Deputy Director General for Operations and Technical Services.
The President’s move comes just weeks after LACRA had been named the “best performing entity” of 2024–2025, a recognition that highlighted its unprecedented turnaround under Sankolo’s leadership. When he took the helm, the agency was all but bankrupt.
Its account balance was at an all-time low. Registered cocoa exporters numbered just six, and export transactions were barely trickling in at a meager 2,660 annually.
By mid-2025, those figures had skyrocketed. LACRA was sitting on over one million US dollars in reserves, had increased the number of exporters to twenty-three, and logged more than thirty-five thousand export transactions — a staggering leap of over 1,200 percent.
These results were not by accident. Sankolo, a well-trained administrator of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) introduced reforms that were swift and far-reaching. He introduced new verification systems at the Freeport of Monrovia to stem the illegal smuggling of cocoa and mandated direct approval of exports through his office. It was a bold strategy that stepped on many toes—especially those of his Deputy for Operations and Technical Services, Godia Alpha Kortu Gongolee.
According to multiple sources, including leaked internal documents and staff testimonies obtained by FrontPageAfrica, Gongolee had been operating a smuggling ring inside the agency. A report submitted by LACRA’s internal investigation committee earlier this year paints a disturbing picture of cocoa being exported off-the-books, exporters paying unofficial fees in cash directly to Gongolee, and shipments cleared without proper documentation—all orchestrated under Gongolee’s watch.
Despite the mounting evidence against him which has since been submitted to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), Gongolee has remained in his post and the LACC being pressured by Mr. Samuel Stevquaoh.
FrontPageAfrica reached out to Gongolee for a response regarding the allegations. His reply was terse and dismissive: I’m not going to conduct an interview with you on this.” Efforts by FrontPageAfrica to reach Morie proved futile.”
Deputy Minister of State without Portfolio for Special Services and Miss Morine Yaude Nemah has reportedly taken no step to invite Gongolee. According to sources within the Executive Mansion and LACRA, his continued presence at the agency may be linked to his political patronage.
Gongolee was reportedly recommended to President Boakai by his long-time secretary, Miss Morie Nemah. Staffers at LACRA say she has referred to Gongolee as her “eye” at the institution, and there are growing allegations that she has deliberately withheld the internal report implicating Gongolee from reaching the President’s desk.
That report, dated May 6, 2025, accuses Gongolee of supervising unauthorized exports, accepting physical cash payments from exporters, and reassigning inspectors that raised alarm without HR consultation. In one notable incident, Mr. Alieu Feika was removed from APM Terminal after raising alarm over illegal shipment.
Another issue was two 40-foot cocoa containers that were being exported through the Freeport during a public holiday with no valid documentation and were arrested by a Special Taskforce Inspectors assigned at the main Freeport Gate. A junior finance staffer, Ama Y. Gwaikolo, said she was called in on instructions from Gongolee’s administrative assistant, Edward Jusu Soko, to process a US$2,500 payment.
Inspector Romeo Cheatoe confirmed receiving a phone call directly from Gongolee ordering the release of the containers despite those containers being smuggled. But the Taskforce Inspectors refused to yield to Gongolee’s instruction to release smuggled cocoa.
Gongolee also allegedly oversaw the seizure and sale of 500 kilograms of cocoa beans, bypassing police and internal reporting structures. Multiple staffers, including Abu F. Fofana and Lans Kamara, filed formal complaints accusing Gongolee of threatening or pressuring them when they attempted to enforce regulations.
Yet, even with the gravity of these findings, it was Sankolo—not Gongolee—who was removed from office. His suspension has prompted outcry and confusion, especially within the institution he worked to reform. According to sources within LACRA, the internal Board of Directors submitted the investigation’s final report directly to the Office of the President.
However, it appears the report never reached President Boakai’s hands. Staff believe that Morie Nemah, the President’s secretary and a long-standing confidante, may have intercepted or delayed the transmission of the report.
“This was never about the investigation alone,” said a senior LACRA official who asked not to be named. “This is political. Sankolo’s reforms exposed too many people and threatened the wrong networking of criminal cartel. Gongolee had protection. Sankolo didn’t.”
The fallout is particularly surprising given the timeline. In early June, just weeks before his suspension, Sankolo was being praised publicly by President Boakai as the head of Liberia’s top-performing public agency. By the end of the month, he was relieved of his duties, ordered to turn over institutional assets, and placed under investigation.
Critics of the move argue that the President’s suspension of Sankolo—while Gongolee continues to hold power—sends the wrong message about accountability. Civil society organizations and trade partners are calling for clarity, and some are demanding a broader, independent investigation to determine who knew what, and when. Liberia’s cocoa industry, which had begun to regain international trust thanks to LACRA’s reforms, now faces renewed scrutiny and skepticism.
In the corridors of power, some insiders say the move to suspend Sankolo is as much about control as it is about oversight of LACRA. The Boakai administration, now one year into its term, is reportedly focused on consolidating loyal allies in strategic institutions. For some, Sankolo’s independence and refusal to play politics may have made him expendable, regardless of performance.
Meanwhile, Gongolee’s alleged network of smuggling and informal control remains largely intact. Exporters known to have strong ties with his office—such as AYA Group Inc., Randlyn Holding Liberia Inc., and CA & M Trading Limited, Premier Resources Limited, Cocoa Venture—reportedly refused to cooperate with the internal probe.
In contrast, companies like Granex Group, American Global and Atlantic Cocoa Processing collaborated with the investigation.
For now, the LACC and GAC have been tasked with getting to the bottom of the matter. But many within LACRA and the broader public are skeptical that justice will be served unless the political dimensions of the case are also acknowledged. Until then, the institution remains in limbo, its leadership in question, and its progress in peril.
As one former LACRA staffer put it bluntly, “If Sankolo can be removed for doing the right thing, then no one is safe. Not at LACRA, not in this government.”
Whether President Boakai was misled, deliberately shielded from the facts, or complicit in a political maneuver remains unknown. What is clear is that the internal power struggle at LACRA has claimed its highest-profile casualty to date—and the real fight for reform may have only just begun.
