On Fresh Allegations Linking Him To US$20.5M Rice Subsidy Misapplication
PHOTO: Samuel D. Tweah, former Liberian Finance Min. in another hot water
By Our Staff Writer
Just less than a week after Criminal Court C Jury found him not guilty in the high profile US$6.2 million corruption trial, former Finance Minister in the CDC government, Samueal D. Tweah, Jr. is back in hot water, with the Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval Task Force (AREPT) summoning him to appear to answer allegation linking him to misapplication of over US$20 million rice subsidy program.
The rice subsidy program was implemented by the former CDC government of ex-President George Manneh Weah between 2021-2022.
In its letter to the former Finance Minister, the Task Force said it is investigating allegations of theft of property, economic sabotage, misapplication of funds, criminal conspiracy and criminal facilitation tied to the subsidy initiative announced by the Liberian government to reduce the price of a 25-kilogram bag of rice.
Tweah, who has acknowledged receipt of the letter of summon, said on his Facebook page on Wednesday, May 13, 2026:
“My lawyer, the decorated Cllr. Arthur Tamba Johnson, informed me yesterday that Cllr. Kla Martin of Asset Recovery says he has a letter for me. I asked him to call Kla back to receive the letter on my behalf. Kla said he would send letter today.”
According to the letter from the Task Force, the investigation is being conducted under Executive Order No. 161, which established the body to identify and recover stolen or suspicious assets and has requested the former Finance Minister to appear with his lawyer at its headquarters in the Golden Key Compound in Monrovia’s Paynesville suburb next Tuesday, May 19 at 11 a.m.
While agreeing to face the Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval Task Force’s US$20.5 million rice subsidy allegation of misapplication, Tweah has vowed never to bow “to political intimidation and blackmail, not after Tonia Richardson, Weewee Debbar, Jackson F. Doe, Gabriel Kpolleh and the other 250,000 martyrs of our history have paid that pyrrhic price for our liberty!”
In fact, the former CDC government Finance Minister said on the same day he will be facing the probe of the Task Force next Tuesday, he is set to be addressing a local intellectual discourse in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
“On that same day, I would launch a national discourse at CIEO on the maladies of national development and democracy under President Joseph Boakai. We would collectively reflect upon the reversal of gains made in the last 20 years since the end of war!,” Tweah wrote on his Facebook page.
Records in its possession indicate that payments made by the government for the rice subsidy were diverted for personal use and had no impact on reducing rice prices during the period under review, the Task Force alleged in its letter.
AREPT investigators are further alleging that in his former capacity as finance minister, Tweah acted with others to approve and process payments connected to the subsidy program that were allegedly diverted.
In 2024, Samuel D. Tweah and other former CDC government officials were indicted for the crimes of Economic sabotage, fraud on the internal revenue of Liberia, misuse of public money property, record;,theft and illegal distribution and expenditures of public money, Theft of property, money laundering, Criminal facilitation and Criminal Conspiracy.
But last Friday, May 8, 2026, Tweah was found not guilty of the multiple criminal charges by the Jury of the Criminal Court C at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia.