Investigation Uncovers Illegal Timber Traffickers in Caldwell

January 20, 2025

Top: The headquarters of Libfor Forest Inc. in Riverview, Caldwell. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By James Harding Giahyue and Derick Snyder

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a series that exposes Libfor Forest Corporation, an illegal timber trafficking company, operating in the Monrovian suburb of Caldwell.

CALDWELL – A DayLight investigation has uncovered an illegal timber trafficking company in the Caldwell neighborhood of Riverview. Libfor Forest Corporation. coordinates illegal logging activities in and out of Liberia, packages the wood at an unlicensed sawmill and smuggles them in containers, depriving the Liberian government of much-needed revenue.

Public records and other evidence obtained by The DayLight show that Libfor has never traded through the legal channel for timber harvested, transported, processed, imported, or exported from Liberia, known as LiberTrace.

Yet, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s records show that Libfor shipped 55,000 cubic meters of sawn timber in a 20-foot container on May 2 last year with a value of US$22,000.

Also, data compiled by British firm Experian, which tracks global trade, show Libfor has exported 51 times since June 2022. The latest shipments went to Turkey.

The US-based The Trade Vision, Another data company whose report is consistent with Experian’s, finds that Libfor’s exports to a single company last year were valued at US$71,447.

An internal document shows Libfor predominantly exports Iroko, a high-quality timber species selling for US$390 on the world market. Due to its durability, it is used in shipbuilding, outdoor construction and furniture.

The Iroko information is consistent with the one provided by the Ministry of Commerce, Experian and Trade Vision. The document suggests that Libfor predominately smuggles Iroko in different sizes via the Freeport of Monrovia 7.6 miles away.

Libfor’s setup matches a class A sawmill, which means the company has deprived the government of US$2,500 for each year it has operated. The same with export fees, local communities’ benefits and other payments, including for an environmental permit.

‘Black manager’

Libfor Forest Corporation, solely owned by Amara Fofana, a Liberian, was established in 2021. It is the one that has conducted the smuggling, the national and international trade databases.

But Süleyman Karabacak, a Turkish national, is Libfor’s practical owner.

Fofana recruits workers and runs the business’ errands, based on a previous DayLight investigation. Karabacak, on the other hand, manages the business, including finances and exports.

In 2023, Fofana signed a contract with Sierra Leonean chainsaw millers for illegal activities in Nimba, exposed in the investigation. The newspaper had published the bogus contract and oversized timber the chainsaw millers produced, compelling Fofana to admit to the wrongdoing. The contract also had Karabacak’s contact number, which a call app identifies as “Turkish buyer.”

“It is the white man who owns the company. Fofana is just the black manager,” one source said. “It is Süleyman [Karabacak] who has the money, who owns the machines.”

Karabacak also co-owns Libfor Forestry Inc., another company created on December 21, 2023, and registered earlier this month, per its article of incorporation and business registration certificate. Its other owner is Ibrahim Halil Sever, whose nationality The DayLight could not determine.

Before Karabacak, Hasan Uzan, another Turk, ran Libfor, Riverview residents and people familiar with the company, told The DayLight. Uzan was blacklisted by the Forestry Development Authority in 2023 for illegal logging in Nimba County. The sources identified Uzan in a picture with another Turk when police arrested the pair.

Photographs and videos The DayLight shot and obtained further unravel Libfor’s criminal world. Workers work with machines to rip thick, heavy timber into different dimensions. Loads of sawn wood adorned various locations, with a Caucasian person’s foot and fingers in some of the pictures. In another picture, men weld a truck destined to transport timber.

Screenshots of sawn timber export record of Libfor Forest Corporation also known as Libfor Forestry Inc. by British firm Experian

Drone shots of the sawmill corroborated the photographs and videos. They show guards manning the facility as men work. In one video, a person can be seen throwing something at the drone as it hovered over the walled property that headquarters Libfor.

‘In the bush’

But where do Libfors source their timber? Does it smuggle in sawn wood, too? The answers lie in our previous investigation of the company, interviews with customs and immigration officers, sources knowledgeable about Libfor’s activities, and public databases. Our 2023 investigation uncovered that Libfor had 20 chainsaws and deployed six Sierra Leoneans to operate them. The men, who were unregulated migrants, harvested some 460 pieces of Iroko in Karnplay in Nimba’s Gbeh-lay District.

Workers of Libfor workers operate a mobile sawmill to rip oversized timber in the company’s year in Riverview, Caldwell.

“We hauled some on the road, and the rest are in the bush,” Aruna Kamara, one of the men told The DayLight.

The Iroko timber were three inches thick, one inch more than the approved dimension for chainsaw-milled timber supplied domestically. Oversized timber are relatively a new illegal trade known across the industry as “kpokolo.”

By that time, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) had banned kpokolo after permitting it for over a decade. That ban would be followed by a prohibition on the issuance of permits that fueled the illegal trade, according to minutes of one of the FDA’s recent board meetings, seen by The DayLight.

Fofana, the company’s frontman, claimed that the men had failed to follow instructions. Libfor made furniture to compete with Lebanese merchants. He had recruited the Sierra Leoneans because “There are no good operators in Liberia.”

But he somersaulted when confronted with the contract Libfor had given the men, instructing them to cut timber three inches thick, 13 inches wide and 15 feet long.

“I will reduce it because I can’t fight the government,” Fofana said at the time. He later claimed he reduced the wood, Smart News reported.

Fofana provided no evidence the timber were reduced or used to make furniture. Unfortunately, The DayLight did not have any evidence that Libfor was exporting wood at the time. Drone shots and pictures The DayLight obtained last December show oversized timber in Libfor’s yard. In one of the pictures, two men operate a mobile sawmill with kpokolo fastened to it.

“First they used to bring round logs for sawing but now they saw the wood in the bush themselves,” one source said. “They only [rip] it into smaller sizes at the sawmill.”

Sierra Leone

Different sources said Libfor also gets its timber from Gbarpolu and Sierra Leone.

In an audio recording obtained by The DayLight, Foday Kallon, a cross-border trucker, can be heard explaining how he transports wood from Sierra Leone. Kallon says he does not present any documents to Sierra Leonean immigration and customs officers at Bo Waterside, Liberia’s western border with Sierra Leone the border. He only pays customs duties on the Liberian side of the border.

The DayLight interviewed Kallon via WhatsApp and he added more information. He revealed that he had transported timber up to 80 inches in thickness, sourcing the wood in Kono and other parts of Sierra Leone.

“When you buy the wood, you need to hire a car from me and you pay me. I can carry your wood from Sierra Leone to Liberia. I, Mr. Kallon, will be there for you anytime you are ready. I will invite you to Sierra Leone or if you want to see me in Liberia, we discuss how you will pay, and how we will come and buy the woods. You and I can come to Sierra Leone and buy your wood and I will transport your wood from Sierra Leone to Liberia,” he told our reporter.

Liberian and Sierra Leonean immigration and customs officers, who asked not to be named as they were not authorized to speak, corroborated Kallon’s account. We obtained a picture of timber in a truck that eyewitnesses said Libfor imported over the weekend.

This supports a 2018 World Bank report that found Liberia imported over US$10,580 worth of timber from Sierra Leone, the third-largest importer of Sierra Leonean timber after China (US$20,295) and Belgium (US$14,230).

Sierra Leonean authorities did not respond to queries from a DayLight associate. The DayLight has reached out to the Liberia Revenue Authority and will update this story with the LRA’s response.

‘We can’t sleep’

Riverview residents have had issues with Libfor for causing noise pollution and spoiling the community’s road. The community—close to the St. Paul River, giving it a waterfront scenery—has watched as Libfor scars the secluded, suburban community.

Mary Toe, an elderly woman who lives behind Libfor’s fence, complained about the noise from the woodwork. “I can’t sleep at night,” she told The DayLight. “The people work all night.”

Other residents backed Toe’s comments. Hassan Kamara, a concerned youth, said Libfor’s container truck spoiled Riverview’s main road, sparking a protest.

French, Turkish, and Dutch

Libfor sheds light on the widespread irregularities and the general downturn of forestry. A recent review of the sector found only five out of 11 logging companies were active, and that none met legal requirements to operate. Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) reports that the sector generated US$7.65 million from July 2021 to December 2022, a far cry from 8.5 million in 2018 alone.

Sierra Leonean Timber blocks such as these are smuggled to Liberia on container trucks

The Regulation on Establishing a Chain of Custody requires all timber harvested, transported, processed, exported, or imported to pass through Liberia’s timber tracking LiberTrace. Trading outside LiberTrace is an offense, with violators facing a prosecution, forfeiture of their vehicles and equipment, and a prison term, according to the Regulation on Confiscated Logs…

Libfor did not answer questions The DayLight posed to it. Karabacak claims he only speaks French, even though documents prove he speaks and writes English.

So, The DayLight translated the questions into French, Turkish and Dutch, the two nationalities of Libfor Forestry Inc. Nevertheless, Karabacak did not respond.

Instead, Karabacak informed Fofana, who called the newspaper and scheduled an interview that day. However, Fofana, too, did not turn out. He evaded an interview in Cape Mount and two schedules for Monrovia.

River Cess Clans Receive Deeds, Empowering Local People

January 17, 2025

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Top: Clan Chief Mary Garpu of Dorbor receives the clan’s customary land deed. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By Harry Browne and Aaron Geezay

YARPAH TOWN – Several clans in River Cess recently received customary deeds, granting them the right to manage and benefit from lands left behind by their ancestors.

On December 10, 2024, the Liberia Land Authority(LLA) presented customary deeds to Gbarsaw, Dorbor, Ziadue, and Teekpeh Clans in River Cess County, formalizing the communities’ ownership.

Then 10 days later, the Siahn Clan in Central River Cess District and the Togba-Nyankun Clan in Fen River District received theirs.

“Today has become one of the happiest days of my life,” said Samuel Vonziah, chairman of the Gbarsaw Community Land Development Management Committee, fighting back tears.

“When you see me coming down with tears, it is tears of joy, tears of pain, the kind of struggle that we have been through, and other people who struggled with us in the past. All this represents the difficulties we underwent. As communities celebrate this historical moment, we hope for a new beginning that would improve their lives,” Vonziah added.

Edith Gbukpa, a women’s leader of Siahn, celebrated the milestone similarly. “In the past, our parents used to be caretakers of the land, but we are so happy today that we have right over our land.”

The latest issuance increases the number of communities with customary deeds to at least 27 from a list of 21 as of September last year, according to official records. Five more communities are poised to be issued customary deeds, while 30 have registered and conducted confirmatory surveys, representing over 1.3 million acres of land.

The six clans’ progress followed the completion of several processes that qualified the communities, including community self-identification, participatory mapping confirmatory survey, and. Before granting the property deeds, land authorities ensured all land disputes within the clans were amicably resolved.

An elevated view of a portion of Teekpeh Clan’s 65,224.61 hectares of land. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

Obtaining the deed is a break away from the old days.

In the past, communities struggled to get their deed. The right of customary people to own land in Liberia was only recognized in 2018, 171 years after independence. Historically, customary land rights were often overlooked and disregarded.

The Aborigines Law enacted in 1956 weakened the rights of Indigenous people by disregarding customary land rights, experts say. The move denied native people legal ownership of land without written deeds, emphasizing control and ownership by the state.

Consequently, this lack of recognition contributed to significant land disputes and conflicts over resources across Liberia, posing sufficient risk to Liberia’s peace and stability.

In response to the growing threat posed by land disputes, Liberia, backed by the international community, enacted the Land Rights Acts, which recognizes and protects customary land ownership.

Hailed home and abroad as a landmark achievement, the law recognizes customary land ownership, following decades of deprivation.

“Our land is for us now,” said Nancy Garpu, Clan Chief of Dorbor Clan. “It wasn’t for us at first. It was for the government but now the land is ours. So, I am happy that we have gotten our deed. When I go to my home, it is dancing that we will carry on there.”

The deeds now give communities the freedom to decide how to manage and benefit from the resources of the land, providing them with a window of opportunities to attract investment for local development.

Six of River Cess’ 34 clans now have a customary land deed. The DayLight/Harry Browne

“This is the time to lobby for companies. The reason why we struggled for the deed,” said Onesimus Charles, chairman of the Teekpeh Community Land Development and Management Committee. “I am confident that this deed would ensure the protection and promotion of our customary land.”

The Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), which supports Gbarsaw, Dorbor, Ziadue and Teekpeh, hailed the handing over of the deeds.

“We are grateful that we were able to educate our people on the processes leading to the acquisition of their deeds and awareness about their rights. This is a result of that engagement you see here today,” said Winston Siaker, a representative of the SDI. “It means we are graduating from the past, where people will no longer say women cannot own land but only boys children.”

Borbor Boeyon, River Cess County Land Administrator. Boeyon disclosed five other River Cess clans are in the process of obtaining their deeds. Boeyon added that many of River Cess’ 34 clans had started the deeding process but were at the boundary demarcation level.

“The land will now be under the clans’ protection and they are going to do what they can do,” Boeyon told The DayLight on the margins of the deeding ceremony in Yarpah Town. “Unlike before, the government will not just move in an area and say, ‘We are taking this portion of land from you.

“Today they have been set free.”

FDA Illegally Permits Abandoned Logs Export, Missing Over US$100K

January 16, 2025

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Top: Some of the 431 logs Iroko Timber and Logging Company harvested and took about a year and six months to export. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By Esau J. Farr

MONROVIA – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) permitted the export of 2,549 cubic meters of abandoned logs, failing to punish the company involved, and losing substantial revenue.

Iroko Logging and Timber Company exported two consignments of logs on May 7 and July 18 last year, based on official documents. The combined 431 logs were shipped to Chittagong, Bangladesh via the cargo ship MV Nimeh.

But that was more than one-and-a-half years after the logs were harvested in the Central River Dugbe Community Forest in Sinoe County.

Iroko had harvested the logs in October 2022, per the Nigerian-owned company’s website and Facebook page. It only transported the 431 logs from the Jaedae District woodland to an open field near Greenville in February and March last year, residents and other sources said.

That violates the Regulation on Abandoned Logs, Timber and Timber Products. The 2017 regulation requires all logs to be transported, processed, or exported between three weeks and six months after harvesting.

If a log stays in a particular location outside the regulatory timeframe, the FDA is obligated to investigate, auction the logs, or fine the company that harvested them. The fine includes a tenth, a twentieth and a fortieth of twice the total value of the abandoned logs, depending on the species classes.

Because the FDA did not do that with Iroko, the government lost US$103,387, according to The DayLight’s analysis, based on the export permits and the regulation.

To arrive at the fine, the newspaper grouped each species of the logs and doubled their volumes. Next, it multiplied the total volumes by their corresponding, FDA-approved prices and added those products. Then it added all of the first-class species, based on the FDA’s categorization, and found 10 percent of that sum.

The newspaper did the same with the second-class ones, finding five percent of the sum this term. Finally, it added the percentage values of the two classes to establish what should have been Iroko’s fine and the government’s revenue.

The loss of US$103,387 comes when the forestry sector faces a downturn in revenue generation. From July 2021 to December 2022, the sector generated US$7.65 million, the least in the extractive sector despite Liberia holding the largest patches of West Africa’s remaining rainforests.

That figure could be more, though. Iroko left several logs in the Central River Dugbe Community Forest, according to residents.

A screenshot from Iroko Timber and Logging Company’s Facebook page showing the logs were harvested on October 14, 2022, more than one-and-a-half years before they exported.

Bartee Togba, the chief officer of the community forest, corroborated the residents’ account. Togba said villagers had counted over 60 logs in the woodland on the border with Grand Kru. “There were more logs,” he said, and there would be an additional counting.

Following the second of two DayLight investigations last year, the FDA promised to investigate Iroko over the logs’ abandonment but did not. The regulator did not respond to queries for comment.

From July to August last year, Iroko paid the Liberian government US$173,432, covering export, land rental and other fees. The evidence, however, shows that the company owed the government US$16,263 in land rental fees.

That August, Iroko asked the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) to pay the balance due in September and October. The LRA agreed.

“If we default on this agreement, our tax debt may be referred to the Ministry of Justice to sue for the unpaid tax and or court’s authorization to seize and sell our property,” the agreement’s terms and conditions read.

But the money has not been paid, according to Iroko’s tax payment record, seen by The DayLight. Despite months of notice, Iroko and the LRA did not respond to inquiries for comments.

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

FDA Pays Board Member Living in America

January 15, 2025

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Top: The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) pays Mr. Isaac Grigsby a board sitting fee through a proxy despite the fact he lives in the United States of America. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) pays a member of its board of directors who lives in the United States fee for meetings he does not attend, according to official documents obtained by The DayLight.

In March, President Joseph Boakai appointed Isaac Grigsby, an 80-year-old resident of New Jersey, on the FDA board. Since then, Grigsby has been receiving board-sitting fees through Gabriel Flaboe, a project coordinator at the Ministry of Public Works.

Grigsby informed FDA Managing Director Rudolph Merab about the payment procedure in May, based on a letter obtained by The DayLight. “You are hereby authorized to issue the board fees in the name of Mr. Gabriel Sarkpa Flaboe each time he [serves as a] proxy for me,” Grigsby wrote.

Accordingly, Merab forwarded the communication to the Deputy Managing Director for Administration and Finance Victor Kpaiseh to process Grigsby’s payment. “Please act accordingly,” Merab requested on May 13.

That same day, Flaboe received L$131,625, the equivalent of US$500 for sitting fees, US$50 for communication and 25 gallons of fuel for transportation.

The board of directors, which comprises seven other people, is crucial to the running of the FDA. It has oversight over the formulation of regulations, codes and manuals governing the forestry sector. It provides direction for the FDA, passes resolutions and approves the agency’s organizational structure.

A letter Isaac Grigsby wrote to the Forestry Development Authority appointing Gabriel Sarkpa Flaboe to receive board sitting fees on his behalf.

One of the checks Gabriel Sarkpa Flaboe, Sr. received on behalf of Isaac Grigsby, a member of the FDA board of directors

And the stakes are even higher now, with widespread violations and forest degradation, while the sector struggles to generate revenue.

Quorum

The board does not have a code or bylaw regulating its activities. However, Grigsby collecting board payments while residing in a foreign country violates the FDA Act of 1976. The law requires payment for directors who sit in board meetings, not absent ones through proxies.

In fact, it has a provision for absent board directors. “They may receive [from] the authority a stipend for each meeting attended and reimbursement for all expenses they incur in discharging their duties to the authority,” the law states. “A quorum for any meeting of the Board shall be a majority of its members.”

FDA Managing Director Rudolph Merab did not respond to queries for comment on the matter. Merab’s failure to respond comes barely a month after he bragged of denying journalists required access to public information and evading interviews.

“I don’t run my office in the press but when there is something like I told people I would call a press conference,” Merab told a media event last December. “I will speak once and I will try to make myself clear. After that, I will not speak again.”

Flaboe positively identified Grigsby in a photo The DayLight downloaded from Grigsby’s Facebook page. He said Grisby was his uncle. However, he did not answer why he was receiving board-sitting fees for his uncle who does not live in Liberia, and whether Grigsby was sharing the board fees with him.

Similarly, Grigsby did not respond to queries.

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

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