MONROVIA – Prominent Liberian activist Martin K. N. Kollie has sounded a fresh alarm over what he describes as deep-rooted corruption at the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), under the leadership of Mayor John-Charuk Siafa. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Kollie wrote: “MCC under John-Charuk Siafa is infested with significant corruption. A dossier just got leaked. Too much is happening. Imagine, civil servants at MCC with higher ranks are still earning US$95 plus LRD 7K. Why? Sad.”
Kollie’s post comes at a time when the MCC is already under formal investigation by the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) of Liberia, which has issued a comprehensive request for financial and payroll records amid mounting allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement.
In a letter dated May 28, 2025, and signed by FIA’s Officer-in-Charge Mohammed A. Nasser, the agency outlined serious concerns based on preliminary intelligence. These include the existence of ghost employees on the MCC payroll, the issuance of fictitious receipts to taxpayers, arbitrary salary deductions, and duplicate names appearing across financial records. The letter, titled “Request For Information,” was also copied to the Minister of Justice and Chair of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Inter-Ministerial Committee, Cllr. Natu Oswald Tweh.
The FIA invoked Section 67.3 of the FIA Act of 2021, granting it broad investigative powers to access information from public institutions. The agency demanded payroll records from March 2024 to present, bank-submitted payrolls, account details of MCC bank accounts, all receipts issued to taxpayers since January 2025, and any internal investigative reports, including access to MCC’s digital financial platform. The Mayor and the MCC were given a deadline of June 2, 2025, to comply; failure of which, the letter warned, would be viewed as complicity in the suspected wrongdoing.
Despite the serious allegations and the launch of an investigation, the Mayor’s office is pushing back. Varney Diggs Sr., Communication Director at the MCC, issued a spirited defense of Mayor Siafa in a Facebook post, accusing critics of engaging in a “malicious smear campaign.” He described the wave of criticism as an orchestrated effort to tarnish the Mayor’s reputation, warning against “flying monkeys who wake up and speak slanderously to impugn the integrity of the Mayor.” According to Diggs, it is only a character assassin that makes claims that someone is guilty of a crime without presenting any evidence.
Diggs insisted that the Mayor remains unwavering in his mission to dismantle internal cartels that have “oxidized the systems at the MCC through prolonged fraudulent financial actions.” He acknowledged that the institution faces challenges but stressed that Mayor Siafa is a results-oriented leader committed to progress and reform. Diggs praised the Mayor’s forward-thinking leadership, noting that MCC staff have benefited from international training programs in India, Japan, and the London School of Economics. He pointed to the establishment of a One-Stop Shop Center at City Hall and the awarding of 25 international scholarships to Monrovia’s youth for study in Guizhou Province, China.
He also highlighted the renovation of a neglected public latrine in the Slipway community, ongoing city sanitation work, and the modernization of waste transfer stations at Stockton Creek and Fiamah. Diggs further revealed that, for the first time, Monrovia will soon have a fire truck to support the Liberia National Fire Service. He said the Mayor’s office has installed 37 prefabricated trash bins across Central Monrovia, completed housing units for residents near the Cheesemanburg sanitation landfill site, and established an MCC Mini Clinic to serve staff and surrounding communities. Roads leading to the landfill site, he added, have also been improved under the Mayor’s direction.
“With over 21 years of corporate experience, Mayor Siafa is not guessing what to do at City Hall; he’s finding practical solutions to the problems we face,” Diggs declared.
Still, concerns persist. A recent internal audit uncovered financial irregularities at the MCC between January and April 2025, revealing that more than L$2.16 million and US$21,000 were illicitly withdrawn through fake deposit slips, impersonation schemes, and unlawful revenue collection.
Amid these developments, Unity Party stalwart Queen Johnson took to social media on May 31 to accuse Mayor Siafa of nepotism and financial misconduct. “Siafa is a criminal,” she wrote. “What do you expect from a guy who got appointed, took all his staff from his printing press and employed them at MCC, then closed down the printing press?” Johnson also alleged that Mayor Siafa appointed his daughter as the Corporation’s Revenue Director and boasted that his wealth, not President Boakai’s decision, secured him the position.
