MONROVIA– In a bid to promote accountability and counter corruption globally, the United States government continues to slam officials of the Government of Liberia (GoL) with more sanctions, for allegedly being complicit in acts of significant corruption.
Barely four days after the U.S. Treasury designated Monrovia City Mayor, Jefferson Koijee, for corruption and human rights abuse, the U.S. State Department announced Monday that it had also imposed sanctions on three high-profiled officials of the GoL, for alleged corruption.
Koijee was designated under E.O. 13818 for allegedly engaging, or having been a leader of an entity that has engaged in serious human rights abuse and corruption.
In addition to serious human rights abuse, the Monrovia City Mayor engaged in corrupt acts, including bribery and misappropriation of state assets and pressuring anti-corruption investigators to halt all corruption investigations, according to the U.S. Treasury.
The Liberian officials, who are the latest addition to the list of U.S. sanctions being imposed under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2023, include the Pro Tempore of the Liberian Senate, Grand Kru County Senator Albert Chie; Margibi County Senator, Emmanuel Nuquay; and Finance Minister Samuel Tweah.
Under Section 7031(c), in cases where there is credible information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in significant corruption or a gross violation of human rights, those individuals and their immediate family members are generally ineligible for entry into the United States and must be either publicly or privately designated.
The three men are among more than 30 individuals added to the sanctions list on Monday, with the U.S. government stating that it was taking such actions on the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day and the opening of the Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention Against Corruption, to promote accountability for corrupt actors worldwide.
The U.S. State Department accuses the trio of being allegedly involved in what the U.S. government terms significant corruption.
Tweah, Chie, and Nuquay, according to the U.S. State Department, are allegedly complicit in corruption by abusing their positions as public officials, through soliciting, accepting, and offering bribes to manipulate legislative processes and public funding, including legislative reporting and mining sector activity.
The U.S. government noted that as part of the sanctions imposed on Chie, Nuquay, and Tweah, their immediate family members are also designated, including their spouses Delecia Berry Tweah, Abigail Chie, and Ruthtoria Brown Nuquay, as well as the minor children of Tweah and Nuquay.
