Several individuals accused of misappropriating US$425,918 worth of rice donated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have turned themselves in to Criminal Court ‘C’, which is presiding over the case.
The rice, amounting to 29,412 bags and weighing 735,300 kilograms, was donated in 2023 through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) to support food security and disaster victims in Liberia. It was handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), but a sweeping investigation by the Assets Recovery and Property Retrieval Task Force (AREPT) has since revealed massive alleged mismanagement.
Sources at the court told the Daily Observer that the defendants were accompanied by their lawyers and bonds when they appeared. “Most of these defendants, who turned themselves in, reached bond agreements with the court. The General Services Agency (GSA) employees were in majority,” one source said.
None of the defendants have entered pleas yet, as the arraignment process remains separate from the bond proceedings.
Former Foreign Affairs Minister Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah and three others—former GSA Director General Mary Broh, former Deputy Foreign Minister for Administration Thelma Sawyer, and former NDMA Director for Disaster Victims Henry O. Williams—were initially arrested but later released from the Monrovia Central Prison without formal bond hearings. All four have denied any wrongdoing.
Four additional defendants arrested at the time remain in detention.
Among the full list of accused are Varney A. Sirleaf, former Minister of Internal Affairs; Augustine Tamba, Deputy Director for Operations at NDMA; Augustine Kollie, Executive Director; Archievego M. Doe, NDMA Communications Director; Edris Bility, former GSA Deputy Director for Operations; Mamie Davies, Assistant Director at GSA; Momolu Johnson, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs for Administration; Rosetta L. Gbassay Bowah, Logistics Officer at NDMA; Wayfa Ciapha, purported CEO of Group of 77; and Evelyn Gbee, Warehouse Manager.
The defendants face charges of Theft of Property, Economic Sabotage, Misuse of Public Money, Misapplication of Entrusted Property, Abuse of Office, and Criminal Conspiracy.
According to the Grand Jury indictment, the rice was stored in three warehouses: 11,200 bags at GSA, 12,292 bags at one NDMA site, and 5,920 bags at another. Of the original 29,412 bags, 25,054 are alleged to have been illegally diverted or sold, resulting in a loss valued at US$425,918.
Investigators say Kemayah and Sawyer exceeded their roles at the Foreign Ministry by issuing directives related to rice distribution, which fell under the NDMA’s jurisdiction. NDMA’s former Executive Director, Henry O. Williams, was reportedly left in charge of 4,317 bags but accounted for only 720 when his successor, Ansu Dolley, took over. Investigators allege Williams “misapplied, stole, took and carried away” the missing bags.
Former NDMA Communications Director Archievego M. Doe is accused of taking 250 bags under false pretenses. Augustine M. Kollie admitted during interrogation that he distributed 4,282 bags without proper records and that he had overseen the release of another 5,000 bags—4,000 of which were allegedly squandered by himself and Edris Bility. He claimed he was later instructed by co-defendant Augustine Tamba to withdraw from the process.
Logistics officer Rosetta Gbassay Bowah allegedly took 1,000 of the 5,000 pre-positioned bags. Wayfa Ciapha is accused of removing 1,760 bags for supposed distribution to Group 77 beneficiaries but kept no records to confirm the rice reached them.
The indictment also names Edward S. Konneh, Memie Davis, Evelyn Gbee, and others yet to be identified.
The Grand Jury indictment reads: “That, the total value of the properties and or rice jointly stolen, misapplied, taken and carried away illegally and criminally by Defendants Mary Broh, Dee-Maxwell Saah Kamayah, Varney A. Sirleaf, Henry O. Williams, Edris Bility, Augustine Tamba, Augustine Kollie, Momolu Johnson, Archievego M. Doe, Thelma E. Sawyer, Wayfa Clapha and Edward S. Konneh, Memie Davis and Rosetta Gbassay Bowah, Evelyn Gbee and others to be identified, is 25,054 Saudi Arabia’s donated rice, valued at USD$425,918.”
The case remains in its early stages. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Source: Liberian Observer
