By: Tunji Okunlola
A jury in Monrovia has found three former senior members of George Weah’s government guilty in connection with the disappearance of rice donated by Saudi Arabia for vulnerable Liberians. The verdict came after a trial lasting 40 days.
Criminal Court “C” returned the decision on Friday before Judge Ousman F. Feika. Former Internal Affairs Minister Varney A. Sirleaf and his onetime deputy for administration, Momolu Johnson, were convicted on all five counts: theft of property, abuse of office, misapplication of entrusted property, criminal conspiracy and economic sabotage.
Former Foreign Affairs Minister Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, whose ministry received the shipment, was convicted on several counts. On two others, theft of property and criminal conspiracy, the jurors could not agree, so prosecutors must decide whether to retry him or drop them. His former deputy, Thelma Duncan Sawyer, was cleared of every charge.
The donation
In April 2023, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center sent Liberia 29,412 bags of rice, each weighing 25 kilograms, worth $425,918. The aid was meant for disaster victims and extremely vulnerable people. It was delivered to the government through the Foreign Ministry, with the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) responsible for distribution.
The Ministry of Justice and the Assets Recovery Taskforce said about 25,054 bags, over 85 percent of the shipment, never passed through approved NDMA channels. Prosecutors argued the rice was redirected and handed out outside official procedures.
What the trial turned on
The main question for jurors was whether moving the rice from the NDMA warehouse in Gbarnga to facilities of the General Services Agency (GSA) was a routine administrative decision or a crime. Sirleaf and the defence said storage and logistics problems prompted the move, not any improper instruction from the Foreign Ministry. The jury did not accept that account.
Wider case
Court reports indicate seven people have now been convicted in the broader prosecution, among them former NDMA Executive Director Henry O. Williams, Augustine Kollie, Archievego Doe and former GSA Deputy Director Edris Bility. Mary T. Broh, the former GSA director-general, was originally indicted, but the state entered a nolle prosequi and her case was discontinued.
What comes next
The court will move to sentencing and may order restitution, and it must also settle the financial liability for the missing rice, which prosecutors put at more than $360,000. The defence can ask for a new trial or an arrest of judgment, and any appeal would follow Liberian court procedure. The full verdict sheet and certified judgment should clarify the findings on each count.
The outcome will be watched as a test of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s pledge to fight corruption and tighten oversight of public resources. The verdicts, however, apply only to the individual defendants and the evidence presented at trial. The case has also prompted questions about how humanitarian aid is tracked as it moves from diplomatic missions to government agencies and then to beneficiaries.
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