The Chief Executive of City Lion, Alhaji Omaru Sheriff, has questioned his inclusion on the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (LACC) temporary travel restriction list, stating that he is unaware of any ongoing investigation involving him.
Monrovia, July 10, 2025: Alhaji Sheriff told journalists here on Wednesday, July 10, that his only encounter with the LACC was a request for him to provide information on the Gbarpolu County earth moving equipment his company procured for the county, which he did and showed the physical machines at the Freeport of Monrovia.
Displaying documents before journalists, Alhaji Sheriff argued that his Company acted in accordance with the procurement contract awarded to it by the Gbarpolu County authority.
“The LACC invited me over two times; first, it was one Abel, who called me and stated that a Whistleblower had informed them about how City Lion was awarded a contract and did not perform.
According to the City Lion boss, he provided all the clarity that the LACC needed to know about the equipment. When the LACC requested to see the machines in person, he took them to the port, where they observed the equipment and expressed satisfaction.
Alhaji Sheriff and others, including Gbarpolu County Superintendent, Sam K. Zinnah, County Project Management Committee (GPMC) Superintendent, J. Keyah Saah, Anthony Yorker, Fiscal Superintendent, GPMC; and Mr. Robert Benda, Chairman, GPMC, were slapped with a temporary travel restriction in relation to the stalled Gbarpolu County yellow Machine Saga.
The LACC announced last week, informing LIS Commissioner General Elijah F. Rufus to prohibit individuals from departing Liberia while the Commission prepares to issue indictments.
The case involves a 2023 procurement announcement for the purchase of three earth-moving pieces of equipment for the county to be used in road construction projects. City Lion was awarded the contract through the Ministry of Internal Affairs in October 2023 to procure the equipment.
The county authorities, in consultation with residents, signed a resolution for US$425,000 to be taken from their County Social Development Fund (CSDF) for the purchase of three road construction equipment, including bulldozers ($150,000), excavator ($135,000) and motor grader ($140,000) to open and rehabilitate deplorable roads in the county.
However, upon arrival in the country in 2024, as agreed, the county authorities were to utilize their duty-free privileges to clear the machines from the port, which was never fulfilled. The machines’ clearance from the port was delayed nearly a year, accruing a demurrage of about US$100,000 in port charges.
Considered abandoned at the port, the machines were turned over to authorities at the NPA as abandoned property. However, they were reclaimed by the City Lion for a fine of US$15,854.40.
According to Alhaji Sheriff, upon reclaiming the machines, the Superintendent of Gbarpolu County, without consulting the company, went ahead to clear the machines.
Superintendent Zinnah, Alhaji Sheriff, explained that he had only called him to release the title so that the authorities could release the yellow machines to him.
Alhaji Sheriff said the machines in question are currently parked at the Superintendent’s compound in Gbarpolu County.
Alhaji Sheriff wonders why he would be listed on a temporary travel ban when his company delivered the machine as requested. He blamed the delay on the clearance of the equipment, citing the failure of Gbarpolu County officials to clear the machines using duty-free privileges. -Edited by Othello B. Garblah.
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