Liberia: Boakai Suspends Central Bank Governor, Names Acting Successor

President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has appointed Mr. Henry F. Saamoi as the Acting Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL).

This followed President Boakai’s suspension of Executive Governor Aloysius Tarlue on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in response to a compliance audit conducted by the General Auditing Commission. The audit implicated suspended Governor Tarlue and several former officials in financial impropriety involving millions of dollars.

The government has made several arrests, including former security advisor to Ex-president George Weah Jefferson Karmoh, former Acting Justice Minister Cllr. Nyenati Tuan and former Comptroller of the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) D. Moses P. Cooper.

Samuel Tweah, former minister of finance, and Stanley S. Ford, former director of the Financial Intelligence Agency, are out of the country.

The Boakai Administration has embarked on an audit of former President Weah’s government, a move brewing tension in the country.

Former officials described the audit as a witch-hunt and promised to prove their innocence in court.

Audit conducted by the General Auditing Commission withdrawal and disbursement of millions of dollars from the Government of Liberia’s Consolidated Account with the CBL, outside of compliance procedures and policies.

According to the Executive Mansion, President Boakai has also reactivated the government’s Economic Management Team. The Team is expected to ensure coordination of the Government’s fiscal and monetary policy, acceleration of economic reforms to build a robust and resilient economy, strengthening of existing regulations, and improvement of the oversight functions of Ministries, Agencies, and Commissions.

The Team will also serve as a think tank on economic matters, proposing solutions that would tackle economic uncertainties, especially immediate policy interventions. It will also improve the implementation of the Public Financial Management (PFM) law to ensure transparency and accountability for the attainment of the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Growth.

The team that the President will chair includes the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Co-Chair; the Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia, Member; the Commissioner General of the Liberia Revenue Authority, Member; the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Member; the Chairman of the National Investment Commission, Member; and the Economic Advisers to the President, Members.

President Boakai calls on those appointed to continue to demonstrate diligence, commitment, integrity, professionalism, and loyalty in service to country.

Suspended Executive Governor Aloysius Tarlue, who former President Weah appointed, holds a tenured position but may be removed based on cause.

But Mr. Weah terms the arrest of his officials as a witch-hunt, saying that the government of President Boakai has weaponized the judiciary to go after former officials.

In a statement read here on Wednesday, 31st July, the former president further lamented that on Monday, July 29, 2024, the government ordered heavily armed security personnel to carry out series of unlawful detentions of some former officials, which he described as clearly a political move intended to target his ex-ruling Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) and the larger opposition community in the country.

According to him, the action was taken void of a grand jury indictment, noting, “This is the latest transgression of the Boakai Administration in their callous attempt to undermine the rule of law and security of the state.

“The Unity Party can be assured that the CDC will use all legal and political means at its disposal to resist this move to weaponize the country’s judicial system to its selfish advantage. Yes, Mr. Boakai, your actions to politicize justice will be resisted and resisted strongly”, Weah vows.

However, President Boakai’s government rejects the allegation of a witch hunt, maintaining that it has sufficient evidence to prove its charges in court against the accused persons.

The arrest warrants were issued to address charges including economic sabotage, theft of property, illegal disbursement and expenditure of public funds, criminal facilitation, and criminal conspiracy. The defendants are accused of conspiring to divert funds from the government illegally.

The allegations include that the defendants authorized the Central Bank of Liberia to transfer money to the FIA’s account and subsequently withdrew these funds for their personal benefit. Specifically, between September 8 and September 25, 2023, the defendants allegedly orchestrated transfers totaling over one billion Liberian dollars and substantial amounts in U.S. dollars from government accounts to the FIA’s operational account.

Reading from the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission’s report at a regular press briefing held at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs, and Tourism on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, Minister Jerolinmek M. Piah disclosed that, on September 8, 2023, as part of an illegal scheme involving scams and conspiracy, defendant Samuel Tweah sent a letter to the now suspended Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia Tarlue, authorizing and instructing the Governor to transfer LD 55,452,540 from the government’s health and social security account.

He also stated that on September 19, 2023, as part of the ongoing illegal activities, defendant Samuel Tweah sent another letter to the Executive Governor, in which he authorized and instructed the transfer of LD 9,997,000 from a government account held at the CBL to the FIA Liberian Dollar operational account, noting that the total amount of money transferred to the FIA operational account was LD 1,055,152,540.

“Furthering the scheme, on September 21, 2023, the former Minister of Finance, Samuel Tweah, sent another letter to the Government of the CBL, authorizing and instructing the transfer of USD 500 from the government’s health and social security account to the FIA United States Dollar operational account.”

Additionally, Minister Piah detailed that between October 8 and October 21, 2023, the total amount transferred by the CBL to the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) operational account was LD 1,085,152,540. Furthermore, on September 21, 2023, defendant Moses P. Cooper withdrew LD 187,580,000.

Reading from court document, the Information Minister noted that on September 22, 2023, Moses Cooper made two withdrawals from the FIA account: LD 350,000,000 and LD 450,000,000. On September 25, 2023, Cooper withdrew an additional LD 10,000,000 from the Central Bank of Liberia account to the FIA operational account, saying that the defendant withdrew LD 1,055,145,040 in 2023.

Piah said that despite the substantial amounts withdrawn, state security agencies did not receive adequate funds during the period.