PHOTO: (L-R) Agriculture Min Cooper and LIGIS boss Wreh
The Executive Chairperson of the Liberia Anti-corruption Commission (LACC), Cllr Edwin Kla Martin has released several investigative reports to the public in which he called for the prosecution of several government officials for corruption.
Cllr. Martin told a news briefing that officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services, Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation, and the Planned Parenthood Association acted against the laws in the discharge of their duties, a statement from the LACC said on Friday, June 17, 2022.
Cllr. Martin, LACC Executive Chairperson
Last January, the LACC said that it had “placed the entire leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture under full scale corruption investigation for issues of conflict of interest, financial improprieties and other inappropriate awarding of agro contracts amounting to millions of United States Dollars.”
“The Commission said for the past few months it has gathered sufficient intelligence on the country’s agro ministry that warrant the conduct of a full-scale investigation of all senior officials including Minister Jeanne Cooper, her deputies, assistant ministers and those with decision making powers,” the LACC statement said.
The LACC said at the time: “The Commission said for the past few months it has gathered sufficient intelligence on the country’s agro ministry that warrant the conduct of a full-scale investigation of all senior officials including Minister Jeanne Cooper, her deputies, assistant ministers and those with decision making powers.”
Minister Cooper has spent nearly two years in office, following her appointment by President George Weah on March 4, 2020. Prior to her appointment, she headed her private agricultural company, Fabrar. And back in March 2020, the Liberian female Agriculture Minister told the local FrontpageAfrica newspaper that in order to avoid conflict of interest, she was putting her shares in that private company in “blind trust”.
“In this public forum, I like to say something about my company Fabrar, which I was running peacefully before, but which I have now put my shares into a blind trust so that I can focus my attention on the affairs of the Ministry,” she disclosed then.
LACC’s latest prosecution request to the Justice Ministry
In presenting his elaborate findings over the weekend, the country’s anti-graft Chief said Agriculture Minister Jeanie Cooper awarded contracts to her brother Zubin Cooper and diverted agriculture materials to her personal use. She also awarded contracts to Farbrar- a company in which she has beneficial ownership.
At the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services, the Executive Chairperson Cllr Martin informed the Liberian people that Director General Francis Wreh, his deputies Wilmot Smith, and Lawrence George violated several laws in the purchase of second-handed generators, and the procurement of tablets for the upcoming census.
In the case of the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation, the LACC has charged Deputy Managing Director Moseray Momoh with Economic Sabotage for illegally disposing of public assets and converting the funds to his use.
The LACC Executive Chairperson said the officials from the four agencies will be prosecuted on charges of conflict of interest, theft of property, abuse of office, perjury, and economic sabotage.
The country’s anti-graft Chief said his institution will continue to work to deal with incidents of corruption in Liberia.