Krish, the Sawmill the Vice President Dedicated, Explained

May 29, 2025

Top: Perhaps the most active forestry company in Liberia, Krish Veneer Industries exports round logs in addition to plywood and decorated wooden materials. The DayLight/Emmanuel Sherman

By Emmanuel Sherman

BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – Over the weekend, Vice President Jeremiah Koung dedicated Krish Veneer Industries, perhaps the largest sawmill in Liberia.

Established in 2019, the Indian-owned Krish produces and exports timber, plywood and veneer, a decorated wooden material. It processes between 25,000 and 27,000 cubic meters of wood per year, according to an official environmental audit.

“This is a clear demonstration that India is not only a friend of Liberia in words but in deeds,” Koung told the dedication in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. He toured the facility before breaking ground. A crowd of officials, chiefs and elders celebrated the event with workers dressed in protective gear.

“We are happy because these kinds of investments employ our people. If most of the logs can be put into cubes, planks and other things before getting them out of here, there will be job creation,” added Koung.

It might have been Krish’s dedication; however, the company has been in the news several times over noncompliance with the law. The DayLight has compiled these well-documented facts about Krish with supporting evidence:

Ghost of ‘Blood Timber’

The location Krish occupies is a symbol of sub-regional wartime atrocities. Between 1991 and 1997, Guus Kouwenhoven, a Dutch gunrunner and eventual war criminal, operated the Timber Management Corporation from there.

Koung referenced the facility in his speech. “I know the TIMCO yard used to be around here where we used to burn coal,” he recalled. “We were those children around here doing the wheelbarrow from here to town to carry the coals.”

Picture taken on October 27, 1992, North of Monrovia showing ULIMO members of the Maquis patrolling the area and searching for NPFL members. (Photo by Alain BOMMENEL / AFP)

TIMCO’s logs helped fuel the First Liberian Civil War (1989 – 1997). The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that it and other companies illegally traded arms to Liberian militias and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leone, leading to mass killings of civilians.

This became known as “blood timber,” “conflict timber,” and “logs of war.” Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf mentioned it in a recent opinion.

Both Kouwenhoven and his business partner, ex-President Charles Taylor, were convicted of war crimes for their role in the murderous trade. Taylor is serving a 50-year sentence in a British prison. Kouwenhoven, meanwhile, was sentenced to 19 years in absentia by a Dutch court while he lives in South Africa.

Krish Illegally Operates

Krish is a partnership, not a corporation, as required by the Regulation on Bidder Qualifications and the Public Procurement Concession Act. According to its partnership agreement as of March this year, Antique Ahmed and Kamal Parwini are Indian nationals with 57 percent and 43 percent shares, respectively.

The legal instruments restrict forestry companies to corporations, not partnerships. They are a safeguard against the limited liabilities and lifespans of partnerships, as opposed to corporations.

The Public Procurement and Concession Commission has asked the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) to investigate Krish’s business status, according to a letter, seen by The DayLight.

A screenshot of Krish’s partnership agreement

Furthermore, Krish’s head office is in Buchanan, per its legal documents. That violates the National Forestry Reform Law, which calls for all sawmills to have their main offices in Monrovia. This rule is consistent with a provision of a repealed law that was used to hold TIMCO accountable in 2005.

Krish Rents from the FDA Boss’ Family

The land where Krish operates belongs to the family of the FDA Managing Director, Rudolph Merab. Merab inherited the plot from Rose Hill James, his late mother, who inherited it from Merab’s grandfather.

“Merab is from Bassa, and the property is owned by his grandfather,” said Clarence Massaquoi, Merab’s cousin. “Stephen Hill is managing the property; he is a cousin of Merab’s.

A screenshot of an obituary of Edward Merab, Rudolph Marab’s late elder brother, confirms the FDA Managing Director is a member of the Hill family, which owns the land Krish rents.

Khalil Haider, another of Merab’s cousins, corroborated that information. “That place is for Merab’s mother and her family,” Haider said.

The two men’s comments are confirmed by an obituary of Edward, Merab’s elder brother, which shows that the FDA’s boss is a member of the Hill family, the property’s original owners.

This establishes that Merab is caught between two interests involving Krish: a landlord and a forestry regulator. Such a clash breaks the Code of Conduct for Public Officials, which prohibits Merab from “situations of conflict that impair, or are likely to impair, the performance of their official duties.”

Krish’s Manager is Merab’s Cousin

Turns out, Clarence Massaquoi is not only Merab’s cousin but also Krish’s manager, according to FDA records.

Massaquoi is also an ex-employee of Liberia Wood Management Corporation, Merab’s wartime company. “I worked with Merab from 1999 to 2007 in a managerial role,” he told The DayLight in January.

Noteworthy, Massaquoi is ineligible to conduct logging activities in Liberia due to his wartime role. The Regulation on Bidder Qualifications states that wartime loggers must confess their crimes and restitute unpaid or stolen funds, something Massaquoi did not do.

A screenshot of a Krish export permit showing Clarence Massaquoi in the manager’s row.

Krish Benefits from an Unlawful Contract

Krish’s illegal logging love story with Merab and Massaquoi does not end with the pair’s family and work relationships.

Krish does business with C&C Corporation, Massaquoi’s own company. Now C&C has a contract with the Mavasagueh Community Forest, a few miles away from Krish. “I can sell to my plywood factory. My buyers are in Buchanan,” Massaquoi said.

However, C&C’s contract did not follow the law, as the FDA had bypassed legal steps in Mavasagueh’s formation. There are nine steps in the formation of a community forest, characterized by locals’ participation and consent.

In Mavasagueh’s case, some communities adjacent to the forest were left out, there was inadequate awareness, and even people in the communities that the FDA recognized did not participate in the 26,003-hectare forest’s mapping exercise.

Civil Society organizations criticized the formation of the Mavasagueh Community Forest.

The FDA ignored the issues that actors raised, including the absence of civil society organizations during Mavasagueh’s election, which is a requirement.

Matters worsened when Merab allowed Mavasagueh to overlap private land, violating the Community Rights Regulation. Khalil Haider, Merab’s cousin and Paynesville resident, claims 3,200 acres in Mavasagueh.

Haider, who said he was Massaquoi’s step-brother, revealed Merab encouraged him to drop his claim for the contract to continue. Though Merab ignored The DayLight’s queries for his side of the story, Massaquoi corroborated the claim. “Haider and I settled… so the FDA should let the document be processed,” Massaquoi said.

Krish Exports Illegal Timber

April last year, Krish exported 210 logs (1,243 cubic meters), illegally harvested, to Singapore. LiberTrace, the FDA’s computerized system that tracks timber, had red-flagged the logs, but Merab still approved their shipment.

Out of the 210 logs, 66 had minor issues, including differences between their species, sizes and lengths in the system, and the ones exported. A whopping 144, or nearly 70 percent of the consignment, had major errors. There were 66 of these logs whose harvest had not been approved by the FDA.

Krish exported at least three other times to Singapore and the UAE, with some 20 to 30 percent of the logs illegal.

C&C Corporation trucks transport logs from Mavasagueh Community Forest to Krish Veneer Industries. The DayLight/Ojuku Kangar

This story was a Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ) production.

Logs from Conservation Forest Illegally Exported to Europe

May 27, 2025

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Top: An elevated view of a 450-acre plot in the Gba Community Forest in Nimba County being cleared for a mine waste plant. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By Esau J. Farr

ArcelorMittal Liberia gave the Gba Community Forest US$150,000 to clear 450 acres for a waste plant, but locals misused the money

Gba and Westwood Corporation signed an MoU to clear-cut the area anyway to make up for the stolen funds

The deal includes an unspecified number of logs that a previous company had illegally harvested, costing the government revenue

FDA authorized Westwood to skip harvesting requirements, including a mapping and GPS-recording of trees, undoing the immediate past administration’s legal order

Westwood exported the timber to Italy, though the harvesting breaks Liberia’s timber trade agreement with the European Union

GBAPA, Nimba County – A cleared patch of the Gba Community Forest, a rocky conservation woodland, welcomes visitors to Sehyi Geh Town. Chainsaw-wielding loggers from a little-known company pile up logs in the clear-cut patch.

As it stands, Westwood Corporation has exported a combined 216 logs (921.124 cubic meters) from Gba, according to official records. The consignments were shipped in March to Sangiorgi Lugnami, a renowned Italian company. A third export of 142 logs has been requested for Bangladesh in the name of Leifwood APS of Denmark.

The exports, however, violate Liberia’s timber trade agreement with the European Union, known as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA). Under the 2011 agreement, only logs from legal sources, listed and verified, can be exported.

Westwood signed an MoU to clear-cut 450 acres (about 182 hectares) of forestland in the 10,939-hectare forest in Nimba County’s Yarmein District. Westwood agreed to pay Gba US$8 per cubic meter, with the agreement ending next month. A receipt, seen by The DayLight, shows that Westwood deposited US$3,570 into a Gba account last month.

“They have proven to us that they are capable of doing the job due to the machinery they have,” said Samuel Johnson, Gba’s leader, in March. Johnson died shortly after the interview.

But the Gba-Westwood MoU does not qualify the logs as legally sourced. There are five contracts or permits in forestry where legal timber comes from. They are: a forest management contract, a timber sale contract, a community forest management agreement, a private use permit, and a forest use permit.

The GBA-Westwood deal comes close to a forest use permit but differs from it remarkably. This permit is issued through a procurement procedure, for research, tourism, or local use, according to the National Forestry Reform Law and the Regulation on Tender, Award and Administration of Contracts and Permits. The VPA is based on Liberian legal instruments.

Two experts The DayLight interviewed, who preferred not to be named, said the Gba logs were only for domestic markets. They can be converted into planks, generate additional income for locals, and provide temporary employment opportunities for chainsaw millers.

The Nimba flycatcher z

Initially, Westwood was not in the picture. ArcelorMittal Liberia had given Gba US$150,000 in 2014 to clear 450 acres for a mine waste plant. The money was also compensation for a 60-acre plot the company had earlier cleared.

Gba, however, misapplied the funds and failed to clear the area. Subsequently, Gba’s allegedly corrupt leadership was replaced in a scandal that rocked community forestry.

“[ArcelorMittal] paid US$150,000 to Gba to buy a machine or equipment to fell these trees or clear everything out of the site,” said Saye Thompson, the leader for the Blei Community Forest in the same region.

Westwood has exported 216 logs from an illegal source to Italy. Picture credit: Anonymous

Nyan Flomo, who has taken up a leadership role in the wake of Johnson’s death, corroborated that account. ArcelorMittal did not respond to queries for comment up to press time.

The US$150,000 aside, the Westwood arrangement breaks Gba’s original MoU with ArcelorMittal. The document obligates the steel giant to identify trees and guide the clear-cutting process. It nullifies any other MoU associated with the harvesting, such as the one with Westwood.

Gba and ArcelorMittal are conservation partners. Gba is one of four communities adjacent to the East Nimba Nature Reserve (ENNR). Home to the endangered Nimba toad and Nimba flycatcher, the ENNR is part of the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site, running through Liberia, Ivory Coast and Guinea.

Gba co-manages the 13,500-hectare forestland alongside ArcelorMittal, FDA, Blei, Sehyi Ko-doo, and Zor. This collaboration helps protect plants and animals of that region, which, experts say, renders logging harmful to that ecosystem.

And the stakes are higher for Westwood, with Gba its first official operation. The company has experience in construction, having constructed a stretch of the Gbarnga-Lofa highway in 2014. Samuel Cooper, its CEO, declined to speak on the matter.

‘Inability to perform’

Permitting Westwood to export, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) undid what its past administration had done to enforce the law. In a February letter, Managing Director Rudolph Merab excluded Westwood from cutting blocks—regulated forest portions where harvesting occurs. Merab, who did not return emailed questions, has spoken before about deregulation and a drive to increase timber exports.

“Following a desk review of your acquisition of the Gba Community Forest…, you are hereby approved to commence operations,” read the letter.

Merab’s action is the complete opposite of how the FDA handled the Gba case nearly 10 years ago. In 2016, Gba signed a similar MoU with the Liberia Tree Trading Company Thanry. However, the FDA administration then ensured that LTTC Thanry had an annual plan that contained blocks and a map to regulate the harvesting, at least consistent with the law.

Later, Gba terminated LTTC Thanry’s contract due to its “inability to perform,” bringing in Six S (6S) International Trading Limited.

Screenshot of a 2016 FDA report that validated 450 acres in the Gba Community Forest to be clear-cut. However, the current FDA administration deviated from this standard to allow Westwood Corporation to clear-cut the forest.

Though Six S had the capacity, the FDA disapproved of the new company’s harvest because it deviated from the approved plan, several past and present FDA officials familiar with the matter said.

“I [confirm] that during my time at the [legality verification department], 6S did not receive any export permit in LiberTrace,” said Deputy FDA Managing Director Gertrude Nyaley. At the time, Mrs. Nyaley headed the department, which co-manages LiberTrace, the computer system that tracks Liberian timber. She said the company had a tax issue, but, like the anonymous sources, presented no evidence. Six S’s official number did not ring, and it did not answer emailed queries.

Whether unauthorized harvesting or taxes, the Gba-Westwood MoU included an unspecified number of the problematic logs that Six S cut. This violates the Regulation on Confiscated Logs, Timber and Timber Products.

Per the regulation, the FDA is required to investigate, seek a warrant to auction the logs, and fine Six S. Instead, Merab permitted Six S to sell the logs in question to Westwood for US$34 and US$55, losing that revenue.

‘Behind the Curtain’

Gba locals The DayLight interviewed said they were unaware of the Westwood agreement. They had only heard it through the sound of earthmovers and loggers in the forest.

“First, when they came, they just went into the forest and we said, ‘No, you don’t do things like that,’” recalled Aaron Lah, the town chief of Sehyi Geh Town. ‘“This is a town and people are here. Why did you people just come and not reach the townspeople before going into the forest?’”

The Social Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development (SESDev), a Paynesville-based NGO training Gba’s leaders in forest governance since 2023, said it was not informed about the deal.

Thompson, the Community Forests Union’s head, said there were missteps.

“If you don’t share information on what you are doing, it becomes corruption,” said Thompson. “Everything is behind the curtain.”

Liberia Forest Media Watch provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained editorial independence over the story’s content.

Lebanese Smuggles Timber and Wins US$500K World Bank Bid

May 25, 2025

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Top: A graphic depicting Lebanese businessperson Moussa Abdul Karim, the University of Liberia’s department of fisheries and aquaculture sciences and timber advertised, and timber blocks Karim advertises on his WhatsApp profile. Graphic by Rebazar Forte and pictures by Franklin Nehyalor

By Varney Kamara

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series on a Lebanese businessperson’s illegal activities.

In 2023, Mak Enterprises won a bid to construct the fisheries department at the University of Liberia, valued at nearly US$500,000, provided by the World Bank.

Mak’s owner, Moussa Abdul Karim, smuggles timber, including a US$350,000 consignment, a year before the bid.

Between 2017 and 2025, Karim evaded payments for work and resident permits, bringing into question Mak Enterprises’ eligibility for the contract.

Official documents identify Karim as a Lebanese. However, Immigration authorities revealed Karim also holds a Guinean passport—another offense.

Authorities say they would investigate Karim.

MONROVIA – On March 29, a distinguished crowd gathered at the University of Liberia’s Fendell campus to witness the official handover of its fisheries and aquaculture sciences department. Managed by the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) with support from the World Bank, the state-of-the-art facility features 28 rooms.

The two-story building was constructed by Mak Enterprises Incorporated, a Lebanese-owned real estate company established in April 2017, according to its articles of incorporation and business registration certificate. The company had defeated 20 other bidders to win the bid for the US$498,203.52 contract, intended to improve Liberia’s fisheries sector.

“This facility will serve as a beacon of knowledge, training future generations of fisheries professionals, scientists, and policymakers who will drive the sustainable development of Liberia’s vast marine resources,” Dr. Layli Marpanyan, president of the University of Liberia, told the dedication ceremony.

Perhaps, what no one knew was that Mak Enterprises’ owner, Moussa Abdul Karim, was involved in illegal timber trafficking, tax evasion and money laundering. Karim’s illegal activities have defrauded the Liberian Government of tens of thousands of United States dollars for nearly a decade, a DayLight investigation found.

The findings raise questions as to how Mak Enterprises won the bid to construct the fisheries college when the other bidders failed due to noncompliance. The second part of this series will investigate Karim’s path to clinching the contract, including his company’s tender.

A year before winning the bid, Karim exported a US$135,000 worth of sawn timber through his second company, Mak Timber Group Liberia Inc. The buyer was Popular Export & Import Company of Bangladesh, according to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry’s records. Mak Timber Group’s tax history shows no payments for timber transport, permit, export and phytosanitary certificate, a Ministry of Agriculture document that certifies that the timber is pest-free for shipment.

Forestry Development Authority (FDA) records show that the export occurred outside LiberTrace, the legal channel through which timber is traded in and out of Liberia. It is a crucial part of Liberia’s timber trade agreement with the European Union, known as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA). Liberian Timber trade is strictly regulated under the National Forestry Reform Law and the Regulation on Establishing a Chain of Custody System, which requires timber harvest, transport, export, and associated payments to be recorded in LiberTrace.

Experts say Liberia loses about US$1 billion each year due to these illegal financial transactions. In 2023, the US-based Associated Press reported that 70 percent of Liberian timber is perhaps exported outside the legal channel, citing diplomatic sources.

‘Exotic timber’

Apart from the lone export, there are no other traces of Karim’s illicit timber trafficking, but social media provides some clues. Pictures of the wood advertised on Karim’s WhatsApp profile show timber blocks, commonly called Kpokolo, in large and medium sizes, bearing a striking resemblance to other documented timber smugglers.

Though Mak Timber Group Liberia Inc. has exported at least once, this screenshot of Moussa Abdul Karim’s WhatsApp profile shows pictures of timber that he likely smuggled out of Liberia from Grand Bassa County

The pictures share the same caption: “exotic timber & services,” under the banner “Mak Enterprises Inc,” a combination of Karim’s wood and construction businesses. In one picture, timber blocks are shown neatly parked in a container. In another, a man stands behind a pile of gigantic timber blocks on an open field.

Most of the timber in the pictures are marked “AWLC” for African Wood & Lumber Company, which has a contract with the Marblee & Karblee Community Forest in Compound Number Two, Grand Bassa County. Cesare Colombo, African Wood & Lumber’s owner, denies having any connection with Karim or his company.

“We don’t know who those people are, we do not have any connection or discussion with them. I just received this information from you and I will take all the necessary action to avoid this kind of problem,” Colombo said in an email reply to The DayLight.

Tax histories of Mak Enterprises, Mak Timber Group and Atlantic Developers & Logistics—Karim’s third company—revealed he evaded more than US$12,000 for work and residents permits between 2017 and 2025.

The DayLight estimated the value based on official prices: non-Africans pay US$1,000 for a regular work permit, and US$750 for an initial resident permit and US$350 for a renewal. We separately multiplied those figures by nine years, the lifespan of the oldest of Karim’s companies, and added the products. The amount did not include fees that Karim did not pay to the FDA or the Ministry of Agriculture.

Per the work permit regulation, foreign nationals doing business in Liberia must hold valid work permits or risk fines, ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, including sanctions or expulsion.

Similarly, foreigners residing and doing business in Liberia without a resident permit violate the Aliens and Nationality Law. The law obligates non-Liberians to obtain a resident permit, and failure to do so constitutes a violation, whose penalties include fines or deportation.

The Ministry of Labor and the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) confirmed that they did not have any records of Karim, except for one instance.

“We have checked the system and did not find any payment records there,” said Ralphael Donokolo II, Assistant Minister for Alien Registration and Liberianization at the Ministry of Labor.

In 2021, Karim paid US$150 for a resident permit under Mak Timber Group with a Guinean passport, according to the Liberia Immigration Service. However, the business registration certificates of Mak Enterprises and the other companies indicate that Karim is Lebanese. This was corroborated by a 2016 court case involving Mak Enterprises, where a judge was suspended for one year for soliciting a bribe, only to eventually rule in Karim’s favor.

A screenshot of the FDA log-tracking system shows that Mak Timber Group Liberia Inc. shows that the company has never used the system to export timber, proof of his smuggling activities.

By law, Karim is required to provide his “full and true name” and accurate information when applying for visas, resident permits, or other official documents. Using multiple identities constitutes fraud and can lead to expulsion, deportation, and criminal prosecution for violators.

“You cannot carry two identities in Liberia as an alien,” said Elijah Rufus, Commissioner General-designate of the Liberia Immigration Service, via WhatsApp.

Karim did not respond to queries. He evaded detailed questions The DayLight posed to him through WhatsApp text messages and repeated reminders. Joseph Bennett, his lawyer, did not return the queries either.

Labor and immigration authorities disclosed they were investigating Karim, based on The DayLight’s queries. Donokolo said, “In line with the law, he will be fined USD3,000, plus additional USD1,000 for accepting to work without a valid work permit.”

This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).

Men, Tradition Denying Women’s Rights to Land

May 13, 2025

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Top: Women farm rice in a swamp in Gbarmue Town, Jorpolu Clan in Bong County. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By Esau J. Farr and Harry Browne

JORPOLU CLAN, Bong County – In 2018, Liberia passed the Land Rights Act. The historic legislation grants communities and women customary ownership of ancestral land, putting an end to decades of deprivation.

About seven years on, men who use age-old traditional beliefs still deny their female relatives access to land. The DayLight interviewed half a dozen women in the Bong County clan of Jorpolu in the Zota-Panta District with heart-wrenching experiences.

“It is difficult for many women, including me, to engage family members about the farmland issue. This place is interior and people can sometimes use tradition to get rid of you,” says Rebecca Gbartawee, a Worta resident.

“As a woman, if you continue, something may happen to you, or they will think that you want to use traditional means to get the land from them.”

Gbartawee was born in Worta, a town in the Jorpolu Clan, where she happily lived with her parents. Her family farmed rice and other crops on a huge plot year in and year out. However, after her father died, her uncles deprived her mother of farming on the land.

Gbartawee fled to Gbarmue, her mother’s hometown, about a 30-minute walk from Worta. There, Gbartawee’s hopes for a better life were immediately shattered. There and again, they were denied access to a plot owned by her maternal family. Her uncles refused to share the farmland with women.

With no access to her ancestral farmland, Gbartawee struggles to support her children. She had lost her husband, the breadwinner, back in Warta. Her late husband’s family took over their business and everything that they had worked for over the years.

Rebecca Gbartawee of Worta in Gbarmue. The DayLight/Harry Browne

“To get food for my children, I have to struggle. At times, I beg people to give me a piece of farmland to make a farm and feed my children. Their father is no more,” Gbartawee said. “This is very difficult for me to support my children.”

Like Gbartawee, Quita and her sister Kebbeh Leayne have an issue with their elderly brother, Paul Leayne. Their parents died decades ago, leaving behind the rubber farm north of Gbarmue. However, Paul does not share proceeds from the farm with his siblings, according to Quita and Kebbeh.

It is a small farm with about 500 rubber trees, accessible only on foot. We travel through two other larger rubber farms on a motorbike, and at a point, we get off the bike and walk to reach it.

“We have long discussed this one thing and my brother can’t listen to anyone. When he taps the rubber, he sells it and doesn’t give us any of the money,” says Quita at a local entertainment center.

“I want my share of the rubber farm so I can feed my children and me,” adds Quita.

We catch up with Paul at his house, near a lush green cocoa bush. At first, he declines, but now he grants us an interview, denying Quita’s story. He says he gives Quita some of the money he generates from the farm.

“The last time I gave her money was in 2023. Since then, I have not been active with tapping because I am making a rice farm,” Paul tells us.

Kebbeh, the youngest of the three Leaynes, refutes those claims, corroborating Quita’s assertion. “He has put us out of the house that our parents built. He said he is the only child of our parents,” Kebbeh tells reporters. She and her elder sister urge the government to pay more attention to women’s rights.

The experience of Mamie Dolo, also a Gbarmue resident, is similar to that Leayne. Dolo and her mother were compelled to settle in Gbarmue, Dolo’s husband’s hometown, after her father’s death.

Dolo’s father, who had encouraged her to farm on a portion of the land that he and his brother shared, had fallen ill and gone to Monrovia for treatment. Unfortunately, he passed away. After his death, her uncles had demanded she pay them a fee, which she refused.

Dolo’s nightmare continued even after one of her uncles died and the other left the town. Her cousins also demanded an annual fee to farm on their land. However, after two years of payment, Dolo pulled out of the arrangement and turned to selling cooked bowls.

Enforcement

Denying women their rights to landownership with ill-fated customs and traditions was the very thing the Land Rights Act was created to prevent. Before the law, women were not allowed to publicly discuss land matters in rural communities, let alone to own it.

Quita Leayne of Gbarmue. The DayLight/Harry Browne

Asa Chon, the country manager of ForumCiv, a Gbarnga-based NGO working with five communities, urges rural women to take courage amid cultural obstacles.

“We know that there are some discriminatory norms. There are still pockets of resistance,” says Chon in an interview at last year’s National Land Conference in Ganta, Nimba County. “Change is not an event. Change is a process.

“But things are not as common as they were in the past. There is growing awareness,” adds Chon.

Paul Leayne, the brother of Quita Leayne in their father’s rubber farm. The DayLight/Harry Browne

There has been some success, as Chons says. Jorpolu—the clan Worta, Gbarmue, Wiansue and Banama are located—is pursuing a customary land deed. Parley Liberia, another Gbarnga-based NGO, assists locals through legal steps to achieve their goal. As part of that, townswomen, including Gbartawee, attend awareness meetings. Others listen to radio programs on the subject.

Some women are already putting their knowledge to work. Last year, Zinnah Mulbah, a woman in her 50s in Wiansue, a 25-minute motorcycle ride from Gbarmue, won a legal battle.

Mulbah filed a lawsuit against James Kollie, her fiancé, at the Gbarlatuah Magisterial Court. Mulbah was awarded half of all the properties they acquired in their three-decade relationship.

Court documents show she received one house, a motorcycle, household utensils, and 50 pieces of planks. The court awarded her US$1,020 as her share of a plot of land and a car. She got another L$37,800 (US$190), her share of concrete bricks. Additionally, the court awarded her 20 percent of the proceeds from the rubber farm in the June 5, 2024 ruling.

The Lawmaker’s Fake Logging Company

May 12, 2025

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Top: Representative Romeo Quioh (standing third from the left) poses for a picture with an African Finch Logging Limited executive and townspeople of Numopoh. Picture credit: Anonymous

By Varney Kamara

Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a series on Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh’s involvement with a Sinoe County Community Forest Contract.

MONROVIA – In May last year, African Finch Logging Limited was established to trade timber and other forest products. The company is owned by Finch General Trading FZE, a UAE-based firm, according to its articles of incorporation and business registration certificate.

But African Finch did not declare its beneficial owners, the human beings who own the company, based on its legal, and other official documents the DayLight obtained. This is a breach of the Beneficial Ownership Regulation. The 2023 regulation requires companies to register their beneficial owners as a way of combating money laundering, tax evasion and terrorist financing. The DayLight has written the Liberia Business Registry about African Finch’s illegal registration.

Now, alerted by African Finch’s suspicious documents, DayLight investigated its parent company, Finch General Trading FZE’s UAE status.

The investigation found that Finch General is not registered in the Ajman business registry, as African Finch’s legal documents claim. Finch General is not even recorded in the UAE’s database. Further search in the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) Aleph, one of the world’s largest databases of companies, got the same result.

To verify that information, we searched and found Blue Carbon, the Emirati firm that unsuccessfully sought a carbon credit deal with Liberia in 2023. We also found Prestige Constructions LLC obtained from a tax company’s website as a sample of a real certificate.

Next, The DayLight reviewed Finch General’s website and found more issues.

The website’s host, NameSilo, is a legitimate website host. However, it is widely credited with offering privacy protection services, which experts say can be exploited to hide individuals’ identities.

Finch General Trading FZE is located at SM Office HI 222D, Ajman Free Zone, according to the website. But the geolocation it provides points to ASL Logistics, a shipping and distribution company. Also, the website directs users to verify its legitimacy via another site for official business, instead of the official Ajman Free Zone domain for verification.

Red flags

With Finch General’s UAE status unconfirmed and issues with its website discovered, reporters reviewed a Finch General business certificate that Thomas Romeo Quioh, Representative of Sinoe County District-1, posted on Facebook. Quioh had posted the document to disprove the newspaper’s report that he admitted to being on African Finch’s board of directors.

A previous DayLight investigation had cited townsfolk and local officials in Numopoh District, Sinoe County, who alleged he co-owned African Finch. An African Finch executive confirmed Quioh’s control of the company, telling The DayLight to “Speak to [the] Hon.” on company matters.

Locals accused Quioh of bribing and intimidating them into signing an MoU with African Finch on the same day it was introduced. African Finch has signed a contract for logging in the Numopoh Community Forest in Sinoe’s Kpayan District. Quioh denies the allegations.

DayLight’s review of the document Quioh posted found several discrepancies consistent with a forgery. The evidence suggests it was used to register African Finch in Liberia, as it was notarized the same day as the article of incorporation.

Finch General Trading FZE’s fake business incorporation certificate that was posted by Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh on Facebook

First, the document contains a passport with identification number 167557. However, the format used is invalid and short for a UAE passport. UAE passport numbers typically consist of eight digits, including letters, and not six.

Second, it was issued on August 11, 2020—seven years after the company’s registration on September 26, 2013—a red flag. Also, it lacks QR codes and barcodes, important features on UAE business certificates for verifying a company’s legal status.

Finally, it does not name Finch General’s beneficial owners, violating the UAE’s Regulation on the Procedures Related to Real Beneficiaries. Like its Liberian counterpart, the UAE regulation calls for all companies to list their ultimate beneficial owners.

All these findings mean that African Finch lied under oath about its status in the UAE, which constitutes perjury, according to the Regulation on Bidder Qualifications. Moreover, faking the UAE document constitutes forgery, a crime under Liberian law.

Also, Quioh’s stated role on African Finch’s board, the company’s hidden shareholders, and its unproven UAE status do not rule out the likelihood that he co-owns it. His control of African Finch violates the National Forestry Reform Law and the Code of Conduct for Public Officials.

Both laws prohibit a lawmaker from controlling a private firm conducting business with the Liberian government. As a lawmaker, Quioh is naturally a member of the Numopoh Community Forest’s leadership and oversees the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), which regulates the industry. The FDA did not respond to queries for comments.

Similarly, the lawmaker’s office declined to respond to detailed queries on African Finch. However, appearing on an Okay FM talk show last week, Quioh claimed he had mistakenly mentioned African Finch. He meant to say Numopoh.

But the evidence contradicts his claim. Quioh mentioned multiple times in a Facebook post that he was on African Finch’s board, which is inconsistent with a mistake.

“As a duly elected lawmaker and… a member of the advisory board of the Board of Directors of African Finch Incorporation, my involvement in forestry-related matters is strictly within the confines of my legislative oversight responsibilities,” said Quioh in the first mention.

A screenshot of The DayLight’s WhatsApp conversation with Kwadjo Asabre, an African Finch executive

“My role was guided solely by my legislative oversight responsibilities and my position on the advisory board of directors of African Finch…, which is fully aligned with law and transparency,” added Quioh in the second.

To cover up, he altered that line by adding “community forest management committee,” a nonexistent structure. The DayLight documented the two versions of the post.

Furthermore, Quioh’s cover-up comment of being an advisor to Numopoh is unrealistic. In community forestry, lawmakers do not advise. Instead, they supervise community forests’ day-to-day activities, including plans, budgets and even the removal of unscrupulous forest leaders.

African Finch did not return detailed questions on its Liberian and Emirati registration. Edem Macarfui, the company’s registered agent, who receives its legal communications, referred this reporter to Kwadjo Asabre, the company executive who had asked the newspaper to speak to Quioh.

“We don’t have any response for you. We do not support mischief and dishonest publications. It’s cowardice,” said Asabre.

“Don’t text me again.”

This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).

Dirty Deal Exposes Forestry Boss’ Conflicts of Interest

April 28, 2025

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Top: The plywood factory, Krish Veneer’s office, New Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. The Daylight/Emmanuel Sherman

By Emmanuel Sherman

Editor’s Note: This story is the third part of a series on illegalities associated with a newly established community forest in Compound Two, Grand Bassa County.

FDA Managing Director Rudolph Merab illegally granted Mavasagueh in Compound Number Two, Grand Bassa, a community forest status.

Merab approved Mavasagueh’s logging contract with C&C Corporation, co-owned and run by Clarence Massaquoi, an ineligible logger.

Then, a Duport Road resident, Khalil Haider, wrote to the FDA to claim 3,200 acres of Mavasagueh.

Against the law, Merab encouraged Haider to compromise his claim and bargain with Massaquoi. Another person, Amos Lewis, also wrote Merab, claiming the same land as Haider, but his claim has yet to be addressed.

Amid these issues, Merab approved Massaquoi’s harvesting, with the logger selling timber to Krish Veneer Industries, an illegitimate sawmill located on Merab’s family land in Buchanan.

But that is just one of the multiple conflicts of interest involving the FDA Managing Director. Turns out, Merab is related to Massaquoi and Haider, likely explaining why he failed to enforce the law.

VAMBO, Grand Bassa County – Everything about this company’s contract with a new community forest is illegal.

And there are lots of problems, too, based on documents and interviews. The Forestry Development Authority skipped several legal steps before granting Mavasagueh a community forest status. Then the FDA approved Mavasagueh’s logging contract with C&C Corporation (CCC) despite the company’s majority shareholder being barred from forestry activities over his wartime activities. The FDA Managing Director, Rudolph Merab, encouraged a man claiming 3,200 acres of Mavasagueh’s 26,003-hectare woodland to unlawfully compromise. Then, a sawmill linked to the company is illegitimate and engages in illegal timber exports.

Now, a DayLight investigation has established that the Mavasagueh-CCC contract constitutes multiple conflicts of interest involving Merab. The investigation found that Merab is related to CCC’s co-owner, and that the sawmill operates on his family’s property.

These conflicts of interest likely explain why the FDA boss approved CCC’s contract amid the sea of illegalities, ignoring a civil society critique and failing to take any action against the sawmill.

Merab’s conflicts of interest violate the Code of Conduct for Public Officials, a key legislation for the Boakai administration. Merab did not respond to queries on his dual relationship with Massaquoi and other issues in this story.

Merab and a logger

By his admission and LinkedIn profile, CCC’s CEO Clarence Massaquoi, worked with Merab during the second half of the Liberian civil conflict. “I worked with Merab from 1999 to 2007 in a managerial role,” he told The DayLight in January.

Massaquoi’s wartime logging activities disqualify him and the CCC, but the FDA only reviewed the CCC’s financial records, not his wartime activities. War loggers are barred from engaging in forestry unless they confess their roles in Liberia’s bloody conflict (1989 – 2003) and collaborate with the FDA to repay stolen or unpaid funds, according to the Regulation on Bidders Qualification. No wartime logger did that.

Having known Massaquoi for decades, Merab approved his ex-employee’s contract with Mavasagueh, ignoring calls from a group of civil society organizations to re-demarcate and remap the community forest. A previous DayLight investigation corroborated the finding that the FDA did not raise ample awareness, and that public participation in the process was inadequate. Residents only reviewed Mavasagueh’s contract with CCC some seven months after it was signed, and weeks after Merab approved Massaquoi’s harvesting.

In addition to their wartime association, Merab and Massaquoi are related. Rose James, Merab’s deceased mother, was a Hill. She was related to the Holts, Massaquoi’s maternal family, according to Khalil Haider, a Duport Road resident, who said he was related to both men.

FDA’s Managing Director Rudolph Merab in February 2024. The DayLight/Harry Browne

Haider’s late mother, Rosa Dillion, had a relation with the Hills. “My mother and Merab’s mother were cousins, and both families lived separately on Tubman and Church Streets [in Buchanan],” said Haider.

“Massaquoi and Merab are related, and Merab is my cousin. We are all related,” said Haider.

His account is backed by an obituary of Edward Merab, the FDA boss’ late elder brother, who died in the United States in 2020. Another obituary of Sylvia Holt, the matriarch of the Holts, proves that the families are related.

Private land in a community forest

Before CCC began harvesting, Merab received a communication from Haider. In the letter, Haider claimed that he owned 1,295 hectares of Mavasagueh’s 26,003-hectare rocky forestland. The plot is located between Mt. Findley and the St. John River. By that time, CCC’s harvesting had already been approved. Haider had first told the FDA about his claim in 2018.

This was no welcome news for Massaquoi or Merab. The FDA would have to cut off the problematic plot and redo the process, including new mapping, demarcation, and other elements, based on the Community Rights Law Regulation. It could involve coordinating with the Liberia Land Authority and the Ministry of Mines and Energy, a rarity among public institutions.

As a way to avoid that outcome, Merab encouraged Haider to compromise with Massaquoi to continue the operations, according to Haider and Massaquoi.

“The FDA asked me to see Mr. Haider. I met Haider and we talked,” said Massaquoi in a January interview with The DayLight. “Haider and I settled, and said he would work with the community and me, so the FDA should let the document be processed.”

Haider corroborated that account, disclosing that Massaquoi gave him US$1,500. “I assisted him when he wanted to go to the hospital,” said Massaquoi, calling Haider his stepbrother.

In an interesting turnaround, Haider now claims that a letter the FDA hinged its authorization of Massaquoi’s operations was forged. “I did not write that letter,” Haider said. “I know nothing about it. “He faked the whole letter and my signature.” Haider has written the FDA another letter requesting a redress after his initial letter went unanswered.

Massaquoi did not reply to questions for comments on the allegation. However, in the January interview, he claimed Haider had instructed him to write the letter on his behalf, which Haider signed.

Long before this, Amos Lewis, a Marshall, Margibi resident, wrote the FDA, claiming the same land as Haider. Both men’s deeds date back to Tubman’s era. Moreover, and more importantly, Lewis’s claim cements the reality that Mavasagueh overlaps with private land. This proves that the Mavasagueh process was flawed.

A sawmill on Merab’s family plot

Krish Veneer Industries’ operations present another conflict of interest for Merab. The sawmill is situated in Buchanan on a plot belonging to the Hills, Merab’s maternal family. It is infamous, as the Timber Management Corporation, operated by the Dutchman and eventual war criminal Guus Kowenhoven, occupied the facility between 1991 and 1997, Global Witness reported.

Two CCC trucks held in Vambo Township, Grand Bassa County, after residents erected roadblocks in protest of an illegal community forest contract in March. The DayLight/Ojuku Kangar

“That place is for Merab’s mother and her family,” Haider said.

“Stephen Hill is managing the property; he is a cousin of Merab, and the plywood factory was there long before Merab,” added Massaquoi. “Merab is from Bassa, and the property is owned by his grandfather,” said Massaquoi.

There is more, though. Massaquoi is also Krish’s general manager, FDA records show. In his January interview, Massaquoi disclosed that Krish was crucial to his operations in Mavasagueh. “I have buyers. I can sell to my plywood factory. My buyers are in Buchanan,” said Massaquoi.

The evidence shows that Merab is caught between his relationships and his duty to enforce forestry laws and regulations. The evidence shows that his relationships are winning the conflicts.

Krish operates as a partnership in breach of the Regulation on Bidder Qualifications. The 2007 regulation states that a sawmill must be a corporation, as a partnership has a limited lifespan and liabilities. The provision stemmed from the Public Procurement and Concession Act, carved to safeguard against the government’s revenue loss.

Last year, the FDA authorized Krish to export 210 illegally harvested logs to Singapore. LiberTrace, the timber tracking system, found that all the logs had issues. Krish made at least three other shipments to that Asian country and the UAE, which had approximately 20 to 30 percent illegal timber.

FDA Deputy Managing Director for Administration and Finance Victor Kpaiseh told Okay FM that the agency would act. However, some two months later, Krish’s remains a partnership. The Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC), which enforces contracts, has asked the FDA to investigate, according to a letter seen by The DayLight.

Meanwhile, with a workforce of 300 people, Krish is one of the most active companies in a generally quiet industry. It produces between 25,000 to 27,000 cubic meters per year, according to an official environmental report. From April and December last year, Krish exported at least 794 logs, even though its products are veneer—a decorated wooden material—and plywood.

Merab’s relationships with Massaquoi, Haider, and Krish, with the string of offences associated with those relationships, break the Code of Conduct. The code prohibits any conflict of interest, defined as “when a public official… exploits a relationship for personal benefit.” It guides government officials against “situations of conflict that impair, or may likely impair, the performance of their duties.

“No public official… should use an official position to pursue private interests that may result in a conflict of interest.”

This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).

Man Alleges FDA Acted on Fake Letter in Illegal Contract

April 23, 2025

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Top: C&C Corporation’s bush manager, Askew Varney, standing before two earthmovers in Vambo Township, Grand Bassa County. The DayLight/Emmanuel Sherman

By Emmanuel Sherman

MONROVIA – Last November, a Du Port Road resident filed a complaint with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), claiming a large plot in a Grand Bassa community forest. About a month later, Khalil Haider agreed to bargain with the company contracted for the forest and the townspeople.

But in an interesting twist, Mr. Haider now alleges that Clarence Massaquoi, C&C Corporation’s CEO, forged the bargaining letter from which the FDA approved the company’s operations in the Mavasagueh Community Forest.

“I did not write that letter,” Haider said. “I know nothing about it. “He faked the whole letter and my signature.”

Massaquoi and the FDA did not respond to queries for their side of the story.

Last August, Mavasagueh leased 26,003 hectares of forest to CCC in exchange for development. The forest is owned by communities across Vambo and Marloi Townships in Grand Bassa County’s Compound Number Two.

About three months later, Haider wrote the FDA that he owned 3,200 acres of land in the forest. The problematic plot lies between Mt. Findley and the St. John River, presenting a Tubman-era deed seen by The DayLight.

FDA Managing Director Rudolph Merab encouraged Haider to negotiate with Mavasagueh and C&C, according to Haider and Massaquoi. Haider agreed and consented to CCC’s operation, though such a compromise is not backed by law.

As part of the compromise, Haider requested US$3,500, but Massaquoi gave him US$1,500, which he disclosed was used to settle his hospital bills.

Then something happened. Locals protested for their exclusion from the community forest process, thrusting Mavasagueh under the spotlight. The three-day protest was called off after the police, Representative Clarence Banks of District 2, and county officials intervened.

To understand the problem, Banks secured Haider’s letter, which was sent to the FDA last year. Haider then realized Massaquoi had allegedly written the FDA in his name. Efforts to reach Banks did not materialize as he is out of Liberia and has not replied to WhatsApp messages.

The controversial letter—obtained by The DayLight—is consistent with a forgery, as it misspells Haider’s full name.

Haider threatened to go to court when he returned from a medical trip. “I will sue C&C [Corporation] for doing this fake thing,” he said.

Haider has rewritten the FDA again on the alleged forgery.

C&C Corporation’s truckloads of timber leaving Vambo Township in mid-March. The DayLight/Ojuku Kangar

“I am writing you to inquire about the letter that I wrote to you on April 16, 2025, complaining about a fake letter that was given to you by the C&C Corporation claiming that I waived all claims against them,” the letter read.

“I have not received any response from your entity,” added the letter, addressed to Merab.

The forgery allegation is the latest in a series of problems associated with Mavasagueh. Besides, Haider, Amos Lewis, a Marshall resident, claims the same plot as Haider. Mavasagueh was established without the participation of neighboring communities. CCC’s contract was illegally approved because Massaquoi, a wartime logger, is barred from forestry, based on the Regulation on Bidder Qualifications. Krish Veneer Industries, a sawmill in Buchanan to which Massaquoi sells Mavasagueh’s logs, is illegitimate.

By law, the FDA is supposed to halt CCC’s operations and reestablish Mavasagueh, including removing the controversial plot. However, the agency has permitted the contract amid mounting illegalities.

This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).

Bong Clan Nears Official Survey For Deed

April 22, 2025

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Top: Rock Crusher Town in Quikon, Kokoyah Statutory District in Bong County. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By Esau J. Farr

ROCK CRUSHER – A clan in Kokoyah District, Bong County, is close to qualifying for an official survey for a customary land deed. The Quikon Clan recently signed boundary MoUs with its neighbors, the Vehn and Sawulah Clans, leaving it close to completing the legal process.

“The signing of the MoU will help stop conflicts among the present and future generations because the document will show them the boundaries of our land,” says Hellen Kpelletay, a Quikon resident. “It is important for us because it will help end confusion among us and other clans near us.”

In August 2023, Quikon self-identified as a landowning community, the first step in getting title to an ancestral territory. It later adopted a bylaw and constitution, established a community land governance structure, and conducted mapping in line with the Land Rights Act.

The law recognizes collective ownership for people who have lived in areas for generations, once they meet legal requirements. Before the law, rural dwellers were considered caretakers of customary land, not owners.

Quikon is one of the 39 communities Parley Liberia, a Gbarnga-based NGO, is assisting as part of a 3.5 million project provided by the Sweden-based International Land and Forest Tenure Facility.

Before the MoUs, Quikon had disagreements with Vehn and Sawulah on the north and the Sawulah Clan southwest.

For the issue with Vehn, Togar Glaygbo, a Quikon elder, claimed a plot of land there with some cash crops. However, his claim was rejected by some townspeople, including Vehn’s Clan Chief Amos Gardea. Gardea argued that Glaygbo had deserted the area for decades. The disagreement was later resolved after the interventions of local leaders and Parley Liberia.

“We agreed to resolve the matter for the sake of peace. We are one people, from the same background,” says Amos Gardea, the Clan Chief of Vehn.

“I am happy because after the signing of the boundary MoU, I heard that my village, I have in Vehn Clan, is still there for me,” Glaygbo tells The DayLight.

Unlike Vehn, Quikon’s dispute with Sawulah lasted for several years. It was a boundary dispute between Doe Town in Quikon and Nangboe Town in Sawulah. Doe Town argued that a creek was the boundary, while Sawulah contended it was further into Quikon. Later, Sawulah accepted Quikon’s argument.

Very happy

The ceremony for the boundary MoUs was witnessed by Bong County Land Administrator, Amelia D. Cassell, who appreciated locals for their efforts.

“Once the MoUs were signed successfully today, we have hopes for the next step (confirmatory survey),” says Cassell. “The MoU signing is a very good thing because it is in the interest of the citizens, and the various clans around us will benefit.”

David Kangar, Quikon Land Development and Management Committee, called on the Land Authority to complete he process.

“I am very, very happy because I see a way forward. I see the people of Quikon receiving their deed soon,” says Roseline Mulbah, Parley Liberia’s program officer. “It was very, very difficult for us to reach this far.”

To complete the Quikon boundary process, locals must survey a portion of land where the Jor River in Bong meets the St. John River. Once that boundary is established, the LLA will conduct an official survey and present the clan with a customary land deed.

Lawmaker Admits Link to Illegal Logging Company

April 20, 2025

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Top: Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh of Sinoe County’s Electoral District-1 sits next to an executive of African Finch Logging Limited, a company whose board of directors he admits to being on. Picture credit/Anonymous

By Varney Kamara

MONROVIA – Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh of Sinoe County’s Electoral District-1 has admitted his connection to a shady logging company, while denying it.

Quioh was reacting to a recent DayLight investigation, citing allegations by locals that he co-owned African Finch Logging Limited, a UAE-based firm that has a logging MoU with the Numopoh Community Forest in Sinoe’s Kpayan District. Locals, including county officials, accused Quioh of bribing and intimidating chiefs and elders into signing the document the same day he introduced it.

“As a duly elected lawmaker and a member of the advisory board of directors of the African Finch…, my involvement in forestry-related matters is strictly in the confines of legislative oversight,” Quioh said in a Facebook post last Thursday.

“My position on the advisory board of the forest management committee of the district and a non-voting member of the advisory board of the African Finch…,” Quioh added. He followed up that post with a press conference on Friday.

Quioh’s confession to his African Finch role confirms at least one of the allegations locals made. The investigation cited people who accused the lawmaker of co-owning the company, based on his part in the deal.

By his admission, Quioh is liable for multiple conflicts of interest. First, as a representative, he is a statutory member of Numopoh’s forest leadership. Also, as a lawmaker, he has oversight over the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), which governs the logging sector.

This means that Quioh is caught between performing his duties as a lawmaker and his responsibilities as the director of African Finch’s board.

The Code of Conduct for Public Officials prohibits such conflicts of interest. “No Public official or employee of government should use an official position to pursue private interests that may result in a conflict of interest,” it says. Breaking the code constitutes a penalty, including a reprimand, a fine, or removal from office.

Quioh’s conflicts of interest nullify Numopoh’s contract with African Finch. The National Forestry Reform Law bars Quioh and other officials from playing such a role in a private company. It bars “a person associated through investment, ownership, effective control, or other similar means.”

Board of directors

African Finch’s article of incorporation shows it is a subsidiary of Finch General Trading Limited FZE, another UAE-based company. However, the article does not show the persons who own African Finch or Finch General, a violation of the Beneficial Ownership Regulation. The regulation requires companies to declare their human owners, not just parent companies.

Such shadowy ownership neither denies nor confirms the locals’ allegation that Quioh co-owns the company, The DayLight reported.

Kwadjo Asabre, an African Finch executive, fueled the local people’s allegation. When contacted for the company’s side of the story, Asabre told this reporter to “Speak to [the] Hon.”

Quioh appears to lessen his role in African Finch by falsely suggesting it has an advisory board, instead of a board of directors.

A screenshot of a page in African Finch Logging Limited Inc. shows it is a subsidiary of Finch General Trading FZE, and that it has a board of directors

A board of directors differs sharply from an advisory board, according to Black’s Law Dictionary, a leading global reference for legal definitions. A board of directors is a governing body that supervises a company’s activities with legally binding decisions. In contrast, an advisory board provides expert advice and recommendations that are not legally binding.

Accordingly, Quioh plays a much crucial role in African Finch than he has admitted. This likely explains why Asabre referred this reporter to a lawmaker when the newspaper sought an interview with the company.

Quioh claims the newspaper published its story “without [a] proper engagement with his office.” However, the evidence contradicts that claim. The DayLight did contact Quioh and published its article nearly a month later.

On March 20, DayLight reached out to Quioh via WhatsApp with its queries. The next day, in a phone interview, Quioh failed to respond to the queries. Instead, he boasted about his wartime logging experience, ranting at this reporter and hanging up the phone.

“You cannot teach me forestry. You don’t know me. I am one of the longest-serving foresters in this country,” said Quioh, who served as an FDA deputy managing director during Liberia’s deadly civil conflict. He continued the bragging in his press conference and WhatsApp messages to the newspaper.

But wartime foresters are not glorified as Quioh suggests, as they are synonymous with forestry’s darkest era. Logging companies used timber resources to fund warring factions, including forces loyal to the Liberian government. Thus, the phrases “blood timber” and conflict timber” were born, leading to United Nations sanctions in 2003. The sanctions were lifted following rigorous reforms that partially bar wartime loggers from conducting any forestry activities. However, the provision is not being enforced.

Lawmaker Allegedly Bribes Locals for Dirty Logging Contract

April 16, 2025

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Top: Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh whispers to an African Finch Logging Limited executive at a program in Numopoh District, Sinoe County. File picture/Anonymous

By Varney Kamara

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a series on Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh’s involvement with a Sinoe County community forest contract.

NUMOPOH – Sinoe County Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh allegedly bribed locals in Sinoe County to sign a community forest contract with a UAE-based company he appears to co-own. A DayLight investigation also found that the forest was unlawfully extended amid Quioh’s decades-long friendship with the FDA’s Managing Director Rudolph Merab.

Several residents and local officials said Quioh gave thousands of Liberian dollars to Numopoh Community Forest’s leaders, who then distributed the money to community members to endorse African Finch Logging Limited. One person alleged they received the money directly from the lawmaker.

“After the people refused to sign the MoU, then, he (Quioh) carried the [the community forest leaders] behind the house, and we saw them coming back with a black plastic bag filled with money,” said Numopoh’s Commissioner Alfred Harwood. “From this point, the chiefs and other people started signing the document.

“I was sick and did not attend the meeting that day, but afterward, Quioh visited my house and gave me LD5,000, and said I should buy soap,” said Christiana Neoh, Paramount chief of Doboe Chiefdom.

“He also encouraged me to support the company’s entry into our community [forest],” added Neoh.

The residents signed the document the same day it was introduced without making any input. Emmanuel Dapoe, a resident of Kilo Town, said he had to leave the signing ceremony due to his dissent.

Others said Quioh had promised to bring African Finch to the Numopoh when he campaigned for the district’s seat in 2023, which Quioh would clinch after defeating eight other candidates.

“This whole thing is part of that big promise he made to the community during the campaign,” said Alex Sanwon, a prominent Numopoh citizen, in Johnny Town.

The allegations were confirmed by Darius Nagbe, the Superintendent of Kpayan District, where Numopoh falls. In February, Nagbe wrote the Ministry of Internal Affairs, complaining Quioh.

“Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh… singularly took a logging company to the district…,” Nagbe said. He said he was unaware of the company’s presence, and asked Minister of Internal Affairs Sakila Nyumalin to investigate.

A statutory member of Numuoph’s community forest leadership, a representative scrutinizes a logging company wanting to operate there, not negotiate on its behalf. Also, a representative has oversight over the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), which enforces the sector’s laws and regulations.

An official’s involvement with a company or in bribery violates the Code of Conduct for Public Officials, which prohibits inducement and conflict of interest. The code defines bribery as anything promised, offered, given, accepted, or received by a public official for favors in the execution of official duties, including “cold water” or “eating.” It defines conflict of interest as “when a public official, contrary to official obligations and duties to act for the benefit of the public, exploits a relationship for personal benefit.”

Paramount Chief Christiana Neoh of Doboe Chiefdom, Numoph District, said she received L$5,000 from Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh to sign a logging MoU. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

Moreover, any inducement or intimidation violates the locals’ right to consent, guaranteed in several national and international laws, including the Land Rights Act and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These instruments provide that local people must be free to accept or reject a contract.

Quioh did not respond to the bribery claim and other allegations. In a phone interview, he appeared to accuse The DayLight of blackmail while ranting at this reporter.

“You cannot teach me forestry. You don’t know me. I am one of the longest-serving foresters in this country,” said Quioh.

“I know my rights, I know what I did. I’m not a kid.”

“Publish your story in the sky,” he added, hanging up the phone.

Sam Kandie, Numopoh’s chairman, who had celebrated the African Finch deal in a previous interview, did not respond to The DayLight queries.

‘Speak to the Hon.’

The allegation that Quioh led African Finch’s negotiation with Numopoh appears to be backed by photographs of the signing ceremony. In one photograph, the lawmaker is seen whispering to an African Finch representative sitting next to him. Another shows the two men sitting and watching as the ceremony unfolded.

Due to his alleged involvement with African Finch, locals believe Quioh co-owns African Finch. Kwadjo Asabre, African Finch’s CEO, appeared to corroborate that claim when he recommended that The DayLight contact Quioh on company matters. “Speak to [the] Hon..,” Asabre wrote in a WhatsApp interview.

Meanwhile, African Finch’s legal documents do not rule out the possibility that Quoih is its owner. Established last year, African Finch is a subsidiary of Finch General Trading FZE, located in Ajman, UAE, according to its article of incorporation. Finch General Trading primarily focuses on mining, engineering, and agricultural products.. However, the Liberia Business Registry has no record of African Finch’s beneficial owners.

Such a shady ownership structure violates Liberia’s Beneficial Ownership Regulation and renders African Finch ineligible to do business in Liberia. The 2023 regulation requires Liberia-registered businesses to declare their beneficial owners—the person or people who own them. This rule safeguards against transnational crimes such as money laundering, terrorist financing, and tax evasion.

The DayLight has written the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and the Liberia Business Registry about African Finch’s unlawful registration. The Registry is obligated to reject companies with hidden shareholders, while the Ministry supervises the Registry’s functions.

A forest in Sinoe County, southeastern Liberia. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

‘Rudolph is my friend’

But the hidden ownership is not the only violation associated with the African Finch deal.

July last year, Numopoh asked the FDA to cancel its agreement with Delta Timber Corporation, which had previously illegally operated in the forest. About two months later, the FDA granted the request and advised the community to select a new investor.

Numopoh did, but this time, the FDA expanded its size from 7,220 hectares to over 18,000 hectares without the participation of neighboring communities. The company has even started checking trees for possible harvesting.

“I only got to know about the expansion from the signed MoU when somebody posted it on social media,” said Kwankon Saytue of Tartweh-Drapoh Community Forest.

The 2017 Community Rights Regulation guarantees neighboring communities the right to participate in the demarcation and mapping of community forests. There is even a handbook that the USAID funded for that.

Land and forest rights campaigners criticized the extension.

“These are forest communities that were already created by metes and bounds. Their exclusion is not only impractical but also illegal,” said Borwen Sayon of The Nature Compact, a Montserrado-based NGO involved with natural resource management and development.

The illegal expansion could heighten tension in that area. Numopoh and the Do-Wolee township currently have an unresolved boundary dispute that has stalled Golden Veroleum Liberia’s palm plantation there for years.

In all, it appears African Finch is exploiting Quioh’s relationship with the FDA Managing Director, Rudolph Merab. Quioh and Merab have been friends for decades. “When I come to the FDA, I feel at home away from home. FDA is my baby,” Quioh said at Merab’s induction in February last year. Rudolph and myself have 36 years of relationship. I am happy to be here as a friend of Rudolph.”

Not just the Liberia Business Registry, the FDA is also under legal obligation to check a forestry company’s eligibility. The Regulation on Bidder Qualifications requires the agency to reject any company whose owner is a lawmaker. This cannot be done with a company whose owners are unknown.

The FDA did not answer questions on the Numopoh extension and the African Finch’s owners. Last month, The DayLight asked the FDA for information on the Numopoh-African Finch contract, as the information was not on the FDA’s website as required by law. However, that request was denied.

CORRECTION: This version of the story corrects a previous version that named African Finch as Africa Finch.

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