Evidence Mounts FDA Signed Illegal Logging Contract

March 14, 2025

Top: Logs appear undersized and spread out, with an earthmover in the background. The DayLight/Ojuku Kangar

By Emmanuel Sherman

Editor’s Note: This is the third part of a series on the illegalities of a new community forest in Grand Bassa County.

VAMBO, Grand Bassa County – Early last month, The DayLight started a series on a newly established community forest, documenting a string of illegalities involving the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and a logging company.

So far, the series has published evidence that the FDA illegally established the Mavasagueh Community Forest in Compound Number Two, Grand Bassa County. The agency approved Mavasagueh’s logging contract with the C&C Corporation (CCC), owned by an ineligible logger, Clarence Massaquoi, who also, manages an illegitimate sawmill in Buchanan.

The DayLight has, however, gathered additional evidence of the FDA’s breach of forestry’s legal provisions, cementing initial findings of the regulator’s wrongdoings.

‘Embarrassing’

Twenty-four out of 39 or nearly 40 percent of the communities that own Mavasagueh participated in an environmental and social impact assessment conducted on the community forest, according to a report. The study, which took place between October and November last year, after the FDA awarded Mavasagueh a community forest status, shows the signatures of representatives of the participating towns.

A legal requirement for logging contracts, the report clearly shows that 15 towns and villages were left out of the process, including Gblorso Town and others in the Vambo Township, which hosts a large portion of forest in that area.

This evidence confirms a previous finding that many communities did not participate in Mavasagueh’s formation. Townspeople alleged that ex-Vambo Commissioner Daniel Dayougar handpicked members of Mavasagueh’s leadership, with some unaware of their roles. Dayougar, who was involved with another bogus deal in 2020, denies the allegation.

Civil society organizations flagged those issues when they reviewed Mavasagueh’s documents last year. They asked that the FDA ensure people participate in the boundary process. Residents The DayLight interviewed corroborated the findings.

Mavasagueh Community Forest supposedly overlaps 3,200 acres of private land. Picture credit: James Giahyue

The new evidence shows the forest’s original name, Vambo-Marloi, was changed to Mavasagueh, a play on Marloi, Vambo, Gorzoah and Sawbein. Like Vambo, Marloi is a township, while Gorzoah and Sawbein are clans.

The name Mavasagueh remains an issue, though.

“The combined name is embarrassing to every one of us,” said Nathaniel Clarke, Commissioner of Vambo Township. “We were not combined with any other forest.

The FDA did not answer why Vambo-Marloi, the name recorded in last year’s forestry sector review, was changed to Mavasagueh. The regulator did not respond to the newspaper’s questions, for this story or previous parts of this series.

A 2018 letter

The first part of this series established that the FDA ignored a claim laid by Khalil Haider, a resident of Monrovia, to 3,200 acres of land between the St. John River and Mt. Findley, which overlaps Mavasagueh’s 26,003 hectares. A Google Earth map of the area Haider’s claim falls within in the first compartment CCC intends to operate.

Then a second person Amos Lewis, a resident of Marshall, Margibi, is also claiming the same plot as Haider. Like Haider, Lewis has informed the FDA about his claim. Both men have presented a Tubman-era deed to substantiate their claim.

Lewis and Haider’s claims are sufficient for the FDA to call off the contract between Mavasagueh. The community forest handbook requires the FDA to investigate and potentially slice the problematic plot from the community forest. The claims prove that the demarcation and mapping of Mavasagueh was not participatory.

Mechanics standing by a CCC earthmover parked for maintenance in Vambo Township, Grand Bassa County. The Daylight/Emmanuel Sherman

The compromise has several implications, according to forestry experts. First, CCC has more forest blocks to cut in a season, as the size of the forest determines the number of blocks. Second CCC can harvest at a faster rate—even, if the company does not cut logs in the area Haider is claiming, since the forest contains the supposedly private plot. Third, Mavasagueh overlaps a private plot, contradicting a community forest’s description: a forest on a community or customary land.

But that is not all. One of the new pieces of evidence is a letter Haider wrote to the FDA in 2018, informing it about his claim to the 3,200 acres.

The letter, obtained by The DayLight, read, “We are getting ready to do some farming projects on our land. But because of the road condition and bridges, we are asking your authority to allow us to market the existing marketable species, which will enable us to generate some funds.” Haider claimed he wrote several other letters to the FDA over the years.

Haider’s letters prove one of two things: First, the FDA ignored his communication. Or the regulator lost it, leading him to write the agency again last year. Notably, this appears to confirm a flawed process, and a finding from last year’s forestry concession review that the FDA did not keep proper records.

An illegal compromise

FDA has sanctioned CCC’s operations despite the mounting illegalities associated with the Mavasagueh-CCC contract.

Photographs and videos shot by The DayLight show apparent undersized logs CCC harvested. The woods are visible in the video spread out in an open field.

Last week the Mavasagueh-CCC contract was read to residents. Though signed in August last year, it was the first time, the townspeople had seen or read the document.

Managing Director Rudolph Merab encouraged CCC and Haider to compromise to avoid the FDA from repeating the process, according to Haider, one of the private land claimants and CCC’s owner Massaquoi.

“I received a call from [Mr. Merab], stating that if I pursued it further, they would have to cancel everything until two to three years before anything,” Haider told The DayLight in January. He added he empathized with Massaquoi because CCC spent a lot of money paving over 15 kilometers of a major road in the community.

This Google Earth map shows Mavasagueh overlaps a supposedly private land, rendering the community forest area unlawful.

“Haider and I settled, and he would work with the community and me so, the FDA should let the document be processed,” Massaquoi told a DayLight interview.

Massaquoi, who conducted a failed logging operation in Grand Cape Mount in the 2010s, covering just 5,000 hectares, is confident of success this time around. He intends to sell logs to Krish Veneer Industries, an illegitimate sawmill in Buchanan he manages. A DayLight investigation found that the Indian-owned Krish is not a corporation, a legal requirement for forestry companies.

As organized as the plan seems, it is not backed by law.

Per the community forest handbook—based on the law—the FDA must “review objections, contact and meet with objectors, and use customary dispute resolution mechanism.” It further requires the FDA to work with the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and the Land Authority to establish a community forest area.

“If required, the FDA and [the] community repeat the demarcation process…”

Inside FDA’s Shady World of Chewing Sticks

March 6, 2025

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Top: Men offload chewing sticks at a beachfront in Greenville, Sinoe County in January 2024. File Picture: Anonymous

By Emmanuel Sherman

BARLOME TOWN – A truck with chewing sticks parked near an open field. Some of the sticks lay on the ground. It had been parked for three weeks in Barlome Town on the Grand Bassa-River Cess highway. The sticks had been transported from Nimba County and uploaded there.

“I am waiting for my boss,” said Obed Amoah, an attendant to the 37-ton truck with Ghanaian license plate GR-5774.

Reporters had happened upon a major player in the shadowy world of chewing stick trafficking. In 2021, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) imposed a moratorium on chewing sticks to curtail the clearcutting of the species. However, The DayLight found evidence, that the FDA has been issuing chewing stick permits amid the moratorium.

The evidence shows that chewing stick pushers pay the FDA at different levels, with poor, rural communities receiving a small portion. The sticks are transported in smaller trucks and are loaded into large trucks similar to the one The DayLight saw in Barlome Town.

Amoah’s boss, Isaac Pyne, pays several fees: an annual registration, a permit license, an export permit, and a waybill—fees for transporting forest products.

Pyne had to travel to Drodonewein, a town in Nimba County to get the sticks. He would mobilize 30 to 40 men to harvest the sticks.

Emmanuel Gibson, youth chairman of Drodonewein, sits on a pile of chewing sticks. The Daylight/Harry Browne

Pyne’s company, Winner Peace and Love Chewing Sticks reached an agreement with Dordonewien for LD40 per stick. The townspeople signed the deal, hoping it would develop the community, as it lacks a hand pump, toilet and clinic.

In all, Pyne harvested 1,000 chewing sticks and made one shipment. However, he has yet to meet all his obligations, having paid the community L$11,360.

“We were thinking we would have gotten the L$40,000 so that we could renovate our peace hall,” said Emmanuel Gibson, the youth chairman of Dordonewein. Pyne acknowledged his debt to the villagers and insisted he would pay the balance.

On commission

Once uploaded into the large truck, Pyne transports the sticks to the border via Pleebo or Laguatuo, and then to Ghana, Togo, or Senegal through the Ivory Coast.

Zebedi Bonwin, another chewing stick businessman in Buchanan, corroborated the route. Reporters had caught up with Bonwin’s truck in a town on the outskirts of Buchanan.

Bonwin revealed he also transported chewing sticks via the sea. “I used the boat one or two times,” he said. Other people The DayLight interviewed in Bassa, River Cess and Sinoe confirmed Bonwin’s sea route account. The newspaper obtained photographs of men offloading chewing sticks on a beachfront in Greenville, Sinoe County.

The DayLight also gathered evidence that chewing sticks and bitter kola are sourced from Bassa, River Cess, Bong, and Lofa, and transported to Guinea. Our reporter visited several locations in the counties, conducting interviews, and photographing warehouses and border crossings.

In Ghana, Pyne sells his sticks to mostly market women in the Ashanti Region of Kumasi, who pay him a commission. The women retail the sticks in shreds, charging US$2.50 or US$3.00 for a pile.

Prominent in African and Asian communities, chewing sticks (Salvadora persica) are used for tooth cleaning and as a herb. With their use dating back to prehistoric times, chewing sticks can be as effective as toothbrushes in removing dental plaque and caries.

A waybill issued by the FDA for 630 pieces of chewing sticks at L$12,600 (US$64) to Winer Peace and Love. File picture: Isaac Pyne

Moratorium

Pyne, Bonwin, and other businesspeople are violating the 2021 moratorium on chewing sticks—with the aid of the FDA.

Pyne provided three receipts that show different kinds of payments to the regulator. One for US$250 dated February 20, 2024, for annual registration. Another one recorded two payments for 630 pieces of chewing sticks with an accumulated volume of 15.908 cubic meters and an export permit fee of US$1,073.70. Two receipts document US$50 for an export license and a waybill of L$12,600. The waybill had been issued at the FDA’s Big Joe Town checkpoint in Grand Bassa on January 17, 2025.

Similarly, two official receipts The DayLight obtained reveal transactions in January last year. The two receipts show L$6,000 and L$9,000 payments to the FDA from one Emma Emmanuel in Greenville Sinoe County.

The evidence establishes Pyne paid some of the fees to an FDA account at the United Bank of Africa (UBA). This payment procedure violates the National Forestry Reform Law and the Regulation on Establishing a Chain of Custody System.

The regulations require that all forest fees be paid to the government’s account at the Central Bank of Liberia. The measure was installed to safeguard public funds, following decades of mismanagement, which, interestingly, continues today.

Women shred chewing sticks from Liberia in Kumasi, Ghana. File picture: Isaac Pyne

That mode of payment is similar to the one that fueled block wood or kpokolo, heavy and compact timber blocks illegally harvested, containerized and exported via land or sea. Following a decade of facilitating the trade, the FDA finally banned kpokolo in 2022. Last year, the regulator also banned the issuance of a certificate that facilitated the trade, according to minutes of an FDA board of directors meeting in July last year.

Pyne and Bonwin claim the government has lifted the moratorium.

“The FDA said the moratorium is lifted and we are starting again,” said Bonwin, who runs the Garraway Enterprise Inc. in the Buchanan suburb of Lower Harlandsville.

But that claim contradicts the facts. The FDA board meeting’s minutes prove the moratorium remains in place. In the meeting, the board agreed to lift the moratorium only upon a review of the Regulation on Non-Timber Forest Products (NFTPs) for the public to participate, an underlining principle of forestry reform.

“All other certificates signed by the [Managing Director] become null and void,” according to the document. “FDA needs to invite all those involved for a way forward.”

Though the board discussed local and national benefits of lifting the moratorium, there is no evidence the regulation has been reviewed, or a consultation has taken place. The FDA’s website does not have such information. Key civil society actors, including the Botanical Products Association of Liberia, which makes awareness of the protection and trade of NTFPs, said they did not participate in any such event.

Formulated in 2008, the NTFPs regulation covers chewing sticks, charcoal, rattans, bitter kola and other forest products other than timber. It was meant to provide income opportunities for local communities and the government, create awareness of NTFPs, and classify them for research purposes.

But it was not sufficiently community-centric, necessitating a review for a possible amendment or replacement.

“Once the [law] gives the community the right to own, manage, and protect the forest, and non-timber forest products are in the forests,” said Bonathan Walaka of the National Union of Community Forest Management Body.

“So, there should be a kind of benefit-sharing scheme for a community to receive benefits from that.”

Philip Parker, the chairman of the FDA’s Board of Directors, did not reply to questions, and neither did the FDA management. This is the second time Parker, whose duty is to hold the FDA to account, has ignored The DayLight’s inquiries. Similarly, the FDA’s refusal to respond adds to its silence on such matters, and an unwillingness to provide public information.

[Harry Browne contributed to this Investigation]

Community Forest Cancels Contract with Wartime Logger

February 21, 2025

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Top: By Varney Kamara

JOHNNY TOWN, Sinoe County — A community forest in Sinoe County has canceled a contract with a logging company owned by a wartime logger.

Last August, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) approved the Numopoh Community Forest’s request to terminate the contract with Delta Timber Corporation. The move marked the end of a years-long dispute over unfulfilled promises to local people, and wasted logs.

“[The FDA] is pleased to have you informed that it interposes no objection to your request.,” wrote Managing Director Rudolph Merab in an August letter only recently obtained by The DayLight.

“However, you are advised to identify and select a company that has both the financial and technical capabilities to manage the forest,” added Merab.

Delta signed a Community Forest Management Contract with Numopoh, securing the right to harvest timber from 7,220 hectares of woodland In 2016.

Under the agreement, Delta was required to construct schools and clinics in the district, providing scholarships and creating jobs for citizens.

However, the company failed to honor its commitments. Instead, disputes over unfulfilled obligations and Delta’s abandonment of about 1,387.343 cubic meters of logs and illegal harvesting.

Furthermore, Delta did not renew the contract after five years in 2021, a legal requirement in community forest agreements.

Gabriel Doe, Delta’s owner and CEO, did not respond to queries for comments on the termination.

The termination of the Numopoh-Delta contract is one of the rare occasions where the FDA acted without an arbitration process as the contract requires. However, several forestry legal instruments give the regulator the right to cancel failing contracts.

Wartime Logger

While the FDA eventually granted the community the legal authorization to terminate Delta’s contract, its decision to previously approve the company’s operations was unlawful.

During the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars, Doe owned Cavalla Timber Corporation, one of 17 logging companies accused of either supporting militias, participating in violence, or facilitating armed conflicts. An estimated 250,000 people died during the wars.

Rotten logs at the Ross Port of Greenville Delta Timber Corporation transferred from Numopoh Community Forest. The DayLight/James Giahyue

In 2001, the United Nations imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on Doe, then-President Charles Taylor, Dutch arms dealer Guss Kowenhoven, and over 100 individuals linked to the Taylor regime.

Two years after the travel ban, the UN sanctioned Liberian logs, aiming to cut the connection between timber revenues and arms smuggling. The sanctions were lifted in 2006, following reforms, leading to the cancellation of Cavalla’s and other companies’ contracts over irregularities.

Subsequently, reformers formulated the Regulation on Bidder Qualifications, which bars individuals involved in the logging industry before 2006, unless they fully and honestly confessed their past actions before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and worked with the FDA to repay stolen funds. No wartime logger ever did that.

But Doe resurfaced about a decade later with Delta, the FDA ignoring the qualification regulation’s war-accountability provision.

Numopoh views the termination as a break from the past, and an opportunity to be in line with the law.

“When [Delta] came here, they refused to consult the community on things they did,” said Sam Kandie, Numopoh Community Forest’s chief officer in an interview in Johnny Town.

“Now, we have taken a collective decision to get rid of Delta. We can only hope this will bring the much-needed development and prosperity to our land.”

Unlawful Contract Unearths Logger’s Hidden Crimes

February 16, 2025

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Top: Clarence Massaquoi, the owner of Bassa Logging and Timber Company, and co-owner of C&C Corporation. By his admission, Massaquoi worked in the logging sector before January 2006, making him ineligible. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By Emmanuel Sherman

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

Evidence suggests the FDA conducted a flawed process that established the Mavasagueh Community Forest in Bassa

Then a DayLight investigation found several forestry offenses committed and associated with Clarence Massaquoi, the logger authorized to operate the unlawful community forest

Massaquoi owes US$56,550 from a previous contract in Grand Cape Mount, leaving hundreds of logs in the forest to rot

Massaquoi is a wartime logger, which makes his forestry activities and ownership of his companies illegal

Massaquoi is also the Manager of an ineligible forestry company in Buchanan, Grand Bassa

VAMBO, Grand Bassa County – Last August, local people signed a forestry contract with a new company. C&C Corporation (CCC) would conduct logging in the Mavasagueh Community Forest in exchange for hand pumps, roads and other things.

CCC has built a 15-kilometer dirt road through the Vambo and Marloi Townships, where the 26,003-hectare forest lies. The company has begun felling trees after the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) awarded it a harvesting certificate.

While townspeople celebrated the contract, a DayLight investigation established problems with the Mavasagueh-CCC contract. The evidence shows that the FDA skipped some legal steps in granting Mavasagueh a community forest status.

The investigation found that the FDA’s demarcation and mapping of the rocky forest did not involve all the communities as required. It also established that two men are claiming 3,200 acres, or about a fifth of the forest between Mt. Findley and the St. John River, overwhelming proof that authorities did a poor job.

The illegal contract thrusts Massaquoi into the spotlight, exposing his hidden and forgotten offenses, spanning over two decades. It was discovered Massaquoi had illegally acquired a contract, failed that contract and ran an unlawful sawmill.

Failed contract

Mavasagueh is the first contract CCC, established only in 2022, has had. However, it is not the only one for Massaquoi, who has 70 percent of the company’s shares. (One Joseph Varney holds the remaining shares)

Massaquoi has another firm, Bassa Logging and Timber Company, which failed a previous contract in Grand Cape Mount County. In 2009, Bassa Logging signed a contract with locals in the Porkpah and Gola Konneh Districts for 5,000 hectares.

Over five times smaller than Mavasagueh, Bassa Logging subcontracted the Lebanese-owned Alma Wood, though that contract was meant for only Liberian companies.

A broken-down timber jack with a log still attached to it is seen on an open field in Benduma in the Porkpa District of Grand Cape Mount County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Massaquoi and El Zein Hassan, his partner, left hundreds of logs to rot in the northwestern forest. Hassan fled the country in 2019 after failing to settle a US$643,000 loan from Afriland Bank. Massaquoi still owes locals US$56,560 in land rental and other fees, according to an official report in 2022.

Months before the report, the FDA had terminated the contract and nine others after they lasted over twice their maximum, legal lifespan.

‘Managerial role’

Massaquoi’s contracts with Bassa Logging had been illegally awarded.

By his own admission, Massaquoi operated for future FDA Managing Director Rudolph Merab during the Second Liberian Civil War. “I worked with Merab from 1999 to 2007 in [a] managerial role,” he told The DayLight.

Liberia Wood Management Corporation (LWMC), Merab’s company Massaquoi worked for, was the subject of international investigations.

One report by UK-based Global Witness in 2000 found militiamen loyal to President Charles Taylor guarded LWMC’s facilities. It said Another report LWMC exported over 12,810 cubic meters of logs in the first half of 2000.

Another report established that LWMC enjoyed a US$1.4 million tax holiday from the Taylor regime during the Second Liberian Civil War (1999 – 2003). Merab claims the amount was less than that.

A 2005 review of the forestry sector reported, “At least 17 logging companies either supported militias… or facilitated illegal arms trafficking, or aided or abetted civil instability.” An estimated 250,000 people died during Liberia’s two wars, with President Joseph Boakai signing an executive order months into his administration to establish a war and economic crimes court.

Merab admits working in the Taylor era but denies any wrongdoing. “We never participated in the war, we never supported any members of the war,” Merab would later tell the Associated Press.

But forestry reformers created a deterrent against the logging industry’s contribution to any future crisis, formulating the Regulation on Bidder Qualifications.

The regulation disqualifies anyone who participated in forestry before January 2006, unless they confessed their wartime deeds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and worked with the FDA on how they would repay stolen funds. There is no record that Massaquoi, Merab, or any other wartime logger did that.

By his admission, Clarence Massaquoi, the majority shareholder of C&C Corporation (CCC) and sole owner of Bassa Logging and Timber Company, is a wartime logger. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

Despite Massaquoi’s involvement in the “blood timber” trade, and Bassa Logging’s letdown, the FDA still qualified CCC. The regulator’s justification for endorsing CCC disregarded the war-accountability provision of the regulation.

The evidence shows that Massaquoi exploited a loophole in the regulation that allows a logger to create another company when a previous one failed. All its debt-related provisions pertain to companies, not their owners or managers.

“A thorough review of records and files available for the past five years…, including the cancelation of concession agreements/contracts, indicates no proof of the existence of CCC,” wrote then-FDA Managing Director Mike Doryen on CCC’s qualification in 2023.

“This instrument, therefore, serves as sufficient testimony… of no breaches of forestry laws or regulations… until otherwise proven,” Doryen added.

Massaquoi now adds to several wartime loggers illegally in forestry, a list that also includes Merab. Merab did not reply to queries for comments.

Plywood Company

A confident Massaquoi said he could operate in Grand Bassa, even after he failed in Cape Mount. CCC, according to an environmental study last year, has over 40 earthmovers and other equipment. The DayLight saw an earthmover along the newly paved dirt road being repaired by mechanics.

“I have eight machines on the road, a motor grader, and bulldozers. I used 700 gallons per two days,” Massaquoi said. “I had done more than 15 kilometers of dirt road and paid salaries while working. You must be financially strong.”

Massaquoi implied he had more business opportunities with CCC than he had with Bassa Logging. He referenced Krish Veneer Industries, a sawmill in Buchanan, Grand Bassa he manages, which exports timber and wood products.

“I can sell to my plywood factory. My buyers are right in Buchanan,” he added.

Mavasagueh Community Forest, which covers 26,003 hectares, overlaps a 3,200-acre private land. New Narratives/James Harding Giahyue

Krish Veneer Industries, which he declined to address, adds another layer to Massaquoi’s hidden or overlooked illegalities.

Krish’s legal documents and business registration certificate prove the company is a partnership. Atique Ahmed and Kamal Parwani, both Indians, hold 57 percent and 43 percent shares in the 2019 company.

The regulation restricts forestry companies to corporations.

The provision is in line with the Public Procurement and Concession Act. It comes from the fact that corporate entities, have limitless liabilities and lifespan, and present more taxable opportunities. Partnerships do not possess such advantages.

Krish is one of the most active companies in a largely dormant logging sector. Last year, it made several exports of round logs and veneer, according to official records. Those exports included 241 logs or 1,243 cubic meters last June.

By the FDA’s standard operating procedure, the regulator is required to verify a company’s legal documents before permitting it to export.

It is unclear whether Krish’s ineligibility went unnoticed or was just overlooked for over five years.

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

Father and Daughter Involved In Criminal Timber Trafficking

February 13, 2025

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Top: Mr. Ben Wesseh and his daughter Benneta Ben Wesseh, a father-and-daughter duo who forges official documents and smuggles timber out of Liberia. Facebook: Benneta Ben

By Varney Kamara

MONROVIA – The DayLight has obtained forged documents used by an unscrupulous father-daughter duo to smuggle timber out of Liberia. The newspaper also found evidence that the duo solicits money from other individuals.

Ben Wesseh, a customs officer at the Freeport of Monrovia and Benetta Ben Wesseh, his daughter, forged export permits and a log-disinfection certificate to smuggle timber to China.

Based on one of the documents, Ms. Wesseh, a resident of Caldwell, smuggled or attempted to smuggle 21.3 cubic meters of timber blocks known as “Kpokolo” last July. The consignment was part of 613 logs harvested in River Cess.

“You are further requested to work closely with relevant government agencies…who will monitor and supervise the process,” read the forged document.

There were grammatical errors that caught our reporters’ attention. However, the most noticeable evidence of forgery was that the document was purportedly signed by ex-FDA Managing Director Mike Doryen. By July last year, Doryen had been replaced by Rudolph Merab five months earlier.

The validity timeframe of the document was also questionable. It tried to imitate a special export permit the FDA issued for kpokolo that lasted for a year. However, this document lasted for only 45 days.

But the Wessehs did not know that the FDA had stopped issuing such export permits following a “ban” on kpokolo in 2022. However, the illegal trade persists. Recently, another Caldwell syndicate was jailed following two years of investigation.

There were other inconsistencies, though.

The forgers miscounted July 25 to September 25, 2024, as 45 days, instead of 60 days. This and all the other discrepancies show that the Wessehs focused on creating the documents rather than making them look convincing.

The fake timber export permit mentioned identification numbers for two receipts. When reporters checked, the payments had been made for or by two other individuals, including ex-Senate Pro-Tempore Albert Chie. The senator denied knowing the Wessehs.

After unraveling the forged export permit, reporters concentrated on the log disinfection or phytosanitary certificate purportedly issued by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Reporters contacted the quarantine department at the ministry, which issues the certificate, a requirement for all exports that is rarely enforced. Unsurprisingly, the department denied it issued Ms. Wesseh the document.

One of the forged documents, naming ex-FDA Managing Director Mike Doryen as the current head of the institution.

The Wessehs appeared to have done a better job with the certificate than with the export permit but slipped. Turns out, the stamp they used was no longer in use by the department.

“I want to categorically state here that this document is fake,” said Lawrence Massaquoi, the deputy director of the quarantine department. “I did not issue this certificate. People are using our names to carry on these criminal acts. We must get to the bottom of this,” added Massaquoi, who is mentioned on the bogus certificate.

The ministry has launched an investigation into the matter.

‘Take care’

Other evidence suggests that not only Mr. Wesseh supports his daughter but also sells forged documents to other people. In a WhatsApp message to a prospective customer, Mr. Wesseh shared a list of prices for several documents, including US$200 for an export permit and US$75 for a phytosanitary certificate. In all, Wesseh charged 2,370 to smuggle a 40-foot container.

The prices on the document were consistent with what sources familiar with the illegal trade told The DayLight. However, to rule out any alibi, reporters obtained an audio recording that backs up that conversation.

Screenshot of Mr. Ben Wesseh’s WhatsApp chat with an individual.

In the recording, Mr. Wesseh can be heard reinforcing the prices. “I sent the FDA paper for you first. Then, I sent the agriculture paper two or three times.” The pages of the documents matched the details Wesseh had provided.

In another audio recording, Mr. Wesseh can be heard pitching a business proposal to an individual, bragging about having connections at various public offices.

The National Customs Brokers Association of Liberia, of which the Wessehs are members, has launched a separate investigation into the situation.

The Wessehs deny any wrongdoing. After evading all efforts for an interview, Mr. Wesseh and Ms. Wesseh later replied to queries for comments.

The older Wesseh said he did not forge or share the documents and was investigating the matter himself but refused to call his company’s name.

Ms. Wesseh said the same thing.

“First of all, our company has never and will never get involved with fraud or exploiting [the] government. Instead of running with unclear information, the best will be to find the office and speak to us in person,” said Ms. Wessh via WhatsApp.

“Having said this, take care.”

The criminal Wesseh duo bears a striking resemblance to a syndicate comprising custom brokers and two Korean nationals who were jailed in 2022 but never indicted.

Top Forestry Company Operates Illegally

February 8, 2025

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Top: Krish Veneer Industries operates illegally in Liberia. The DayLight/Emmanuel Sherman

By James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – A DayLight investigation has unearthed a top-level forestry company that does not meet the requirements to operate in Liberia.

Krish Veneer Industries, a sawmill in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, and an exporter of veneer and round logs, is a partnership, rendering it ineligible to operate. Forestry companies are restricted to corporations, not NGOs, sole proprietorships, or partnerships, according to the Regulation on Bidder Qualifications.

The 2007 provision is in line with the Public Procurement and Concession Act, meant to provide the government with more tax opportunities and predictability. Corporations have limitless liabilities and lifespan, experts say. Partnerships do not.

The provision is part of measures to ensure forest resources are managed commercially sustainably.

Krish’s two partners are Atique Ahmed and Kamal Parwani. Both Indians, they hold 57 percent and 43 percent shares, respectively, according to the company’s legal documents. It was established in 2019, based on its business registration certificate enrolled at the Libera Business Registry.

A screenshot of the relevant provision of the Regulation on Bidder Qualifications prohibits partnerships from conducting forestry activities in Liberia.

A screenshot of Krish Veneer Industries’ current business registration certificate, proving that the company is a partnership, not a corporation as it is required of forestry businesses.

‘My plywood factory’

Amid its illegitimacy, Krish has been one of the most active companies in a largely dormant logging industry. Last year, it made several round log exports, according to Ministry of Commerce and Industry and FDA records.

Trade Mo, a US-based company that tracks global supply chains, reports that Krish has imported assorted items 564 times and exported veneer eight times between 2021 and 2024. Those transactions are valued at US$1.2 million. (Derived from trees, a veneer is a thin decorative wood applied to materials).

Clarence Massaquoi, Krish’s general manager, did not return questions about the company’s status. However, in a recent DayLight interview, Massaquoi, whose contract with an unlawful community forest the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) recently approved, referenced Krish.

Addressing his capacity to manage a forest following an unsuccessful previous contract, Massaquoi said, “I have buyers. I can sell to my plywood factory. My buyers are right in Buchanan,” Massaquoi told The DayLight.

FDA Managing Director Rudolph Merab did not respond to queries.

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

FDA Permitted Export of 100% Illegal Logs

February 7, 2025

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Top: Deputy Managing Director Gertrude Nyaley seen here in 2020, was the technical manager of FDA’s legality verification department (LVD), and oversaw the export of 219 illegally harvested logs in August 2023. New Narratives/James Harding Giahyue

By Esau J. Farr

BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa County – LiberTrace, a computerized timber-tracking system, can detect one illegal log from a consignment of a thousand. So, it is pointless to say whether the system can identify multiple dirty logs in a consignment.

When LiberTrace identifies illegal logs, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) is required to compel the exporting company to correct issues or remove problematic logs from a consignment, according to the FDA’s special operating procedures (SOPs).

But that was not the case with 219 logs a Chinese-owned firm headquartered in Paynesville exported on August 20, 2023. A LiberTrace analysis of the consignment shows that all 219 logs West Water Group (Liberia) Incorporated shipped had been illegally harvested.

The timber, with a volume of 1,266 cubic meters, were shipped through the Port of Buchanan to China on board MV Sheng LEC, a bulk carrier sailing under the flag of Panama. Most of the timber had been harvested in a Grand Bassa County community forest on the same day, July 19, 2023.

Built by SGS, a renowned verification company based in Switzerland, LiberTrace traces timber from its origin to its final destination. The FDA’s legality verification department (LVD) co-manages the system.

Illegal timber undermines the system, a crucial part of forestry reform to ensure Liberia does not flood domestic and international markets with illegal timber as it was during the country’s civil wars between 1989 and 2003.

A LiberTrace screenshot of history of the 219 illegal logs shows that the FDA did not justify its approval for auditing purposes in line with its standard operating procedures.

Warnings and errors

LiberTrace flags issues as “warnings” and “errors,” with the latter more serious than the former.

A closer review of the warnings and errors in West Water’s consignment LiberTrace red-flagged paints a grim picture. All the logs had multiple issues. The FDA had not approved the felling of 166 logs or over 75 percent of the shipment. One hundred and sixty-four logs were undersized and details of 144 did not match the records in LiberTrace.

“Diameter class is different of the one declared during inventory,” some of the issues read.

“Diameter below the minimum felling diameter,” others said.

The FDA’s SOPs for export allow the regulator to override LiberTrace’s red flags. In such an event, the FDA must justify the override for second or third-party auditing purposes. However, LiberTrace’s history of the export shows no justifications were made.

Deputy Managing Director for Operations Gertrude Nyaley, who headed LVD in 2023, thrice rejected the consignment.

Mrs. Nyaley’s last rejection occurred on July 26, 2023— Liberia’s Independence Day—due to “major traceability errors.” But miraculously, it was approved in less than 48 hours. There were no inspections of the consignment or corrections of the issues with the logs.

Theodore Nna, SGS’ project manager, who did not respond to queries for this story, only cared about payments. “[Export permit] will be signed upon all clearing of invoices,” said Nna, making no further comments.

An entirely dirty consignment is rare, even by the FDA’s poor standards—repeatedly fuelled by capacity gaps, noncompliance and impunity.

Nna and the FDA did not reply to inquiries for comments, the same with Mrs. Nyaley who oversaw exports in 2023, and West Water.

Last year, the FDA rejected reports it approved an export half of whose consignment comprised illegally harvested timber as a “misinterpretation” of export data. The regulator argued the errors and warnings LiberTrace identified were “normal occurrences” but struggled to explain inconsistencies that characterized the export.

Last week, another DayLight investigation found that the FDA had okayed the export of 267 dirty timber for a Nigerian-owned company.

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

Second Person Claims Land in Community Forest

February 5, 2025

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Top: Amos Lewis displays an old map of Vambo Township, Grand Bassa County, where he claims to own 3,200 acres of land overlapped by a community forest. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By Emmanuel Sherman

Editor’s Note: This story is the second part of a series on illegalities associated with the Mavasagueh Community Forest in Compound Two, Grand Bassa County.

MONROVIA – A second person has claimed a huge plot of land in a newly authorized community forest in Grand Bassa County, proving that authorities conducted a flawed process, requiring a redo.

Amos Lewis’s claim covers 3,200 acres of land in the Mavasagueh Community Forest, a 26,003-hectare woodland in Compound Two.

“This is to inform your office that my father, the late Duzoe Reeves had 3,200 acres of land beginning from Duzoe Town and its surroundings in the Vambo Township,” read the letter.

“It is my understanding that the FDA has mistaken my father’s private land and has certificated the C&C Corporation to harvest logs from the land,” it added.

Lewis is the second person claiming the land along the St. John River with Mount Findley overlooking it.

In November, Khalil Haider, a resident of Buchanan, laid claim to the same land. However, Haider dropped his contention for a compromise with C&C Corporation (CCC), which had signed a contract for the forest.

A DayLight investigation on Monday found that the compromise was unlawful as community forests cannot overlap private land.

A portion of the Mavasagueh Community Forest in 2020. New Narratives/James Harding Giahyue

The investigation established that the FDA had leapfrogged some legal steps leading to Mavasagueh’s formation, ignoring NGO warnings. It also established that the FDA brokered the compromise between the company and Haider, not wanting to re-demarcate and remap the forest.

The two claims make it more certain that the regulator would redo the process in line with industry guidelines. The claims prove that the FDA did not conduct the demarcation and mapping in line with the guidelines, which have several safeguards to resolve any claims.

The FDA did not immediately respond to queries for comments on the matter.

Khalil Haider was the first to claim ownership of 3,200 acres of forestland in Compound Two, Grand Bassa County, which a community forest overlaps. The DayLight/Emmanuel Sherman

Lewis’s claim

Lewis is a stepson of the late Paramount Chief Reeves, who originally acquired the land. Lewis’s name is on a paper he claims is the original deed.

“Haider faked those things from his mother,” Lewis told The DayLight on Tuesday, displaying an old map of the Vambo Township.

Haider dismisses Lewis’ claim, saying Paramount Reeves transferred the ownership of the land to his late mother, Rosa Dillion. Like Lewis’, Haider’s deed was signed by the late President William V.S. Tubman.

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

FDA Okays Export of over 250 Illegal Logs

January 28, 2025

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Top: Some of the logs LiberTrace red-flagged for having multiple issues but the FDA still allowed to be shipped. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By Esau J. Farr

MONROVIA – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) permitted a company to export round logs mid-last year. However, the regulator ignored its computerized system—known as LiberTrace—red-flagged over 60 percent of the timber.

Out of the total 431 logs, Iroko Timber and Logging Corporation submitted for two shipments, LiberTrace identified 267 as problematic.

LiberTrace, which tracks logs from their sources to final destinations, found the logs’ details were inconsistent with the system’s information. Most of the logs had not been recorded during a pre-export inspection.

For instance, some logs had their butt-end diameters different from what Iroko declared. Others had volumes different from the ones submitted, while other logs had discrepancies with the lengths the Nigerian-owned company declared.

But the LiberTrace analysis and the export specs detailing each log shipped establish that the FDA allowed the tainted logs to go.

The combined 431 logs with a 2,549-cubic-meter volume, were loaded at the Port of Greenville, Sinoe County and departed on April 27 and July 2, 2024, on the Panamanian cargo ship MV Nimeh, destined for Bangladesh.

‘Nothing to add’

Based on the FDA’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) the regulator should have investigated the red flags and sought correction. If not, the SOPs provide the export to be disapproved. “Wood products that are not compliant with the legality definition shall not be authorized for export,” according to SOPs for export.

A screenshot from some of LiberTrace’s analysis of one of two Iroko exports last year the FDA unlawfully approved

The SOPs allow for the FDA to override LiberTrace’s alarms. However, in such a case, the FDA is required to record the justification for overriding the red flags for auditing. Screenshots of LiberTrace’s history of the logs prove there were no justifications for the FDA’s decision to approve the exports.

Those standards contribute to LiberTrace ensuring tax-complaint companies’ logs are legal, not just traceable. LiberTrace plays a critical role in the forestry sector, particularly in combating illegal logging and enhancing transparency in the timber trade. SGS, a Swiss verification company, built the system and the FDA co-manages it.

Confronted with the red flags, Theodore Nna, SGS’ project manager, did not respond to queries. Nna did the same last year in a similar incident. He had sarcastically offered The DayLight a tutorial in interpreting LiberTrace’s data and analysis.

The FDA Managing Director Rudolph Merab declined to speak on the matter. “I believe my team handled this Iroko issue last year…,” Merab said in a WhatsApp chat. “I have nothing new to add!”

A screenshot of LiberTrace’s history of one of Iroko’s exports shows that the FDA did not justify why it overrode errors with several logs for auditing purposes.

Last year, the FDA dismissed reports as a “misinterpretation” of data. It argued that the errors and warnings LiberTrace sounded were routine “minor occurrences.”

Similarly, Iroko did not return emailed questions. The company had initially responded to the DayLight’s inquiries but ceased after the newspaper exposed a series of its wrongdoings.

This investigation adds to the logs’ taint and Iroko’s notoriety. A previous investigation found the logs spent over a year in the Central River Dugbe Community Forest in Sinoe County’s Jaedae District. One unearthed Iroko owed local people a good sum. Another revealed an Iroko shareholder was unqualified for logging over a co-ownership of a company punished for fraud.

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

Miners Dig Community Forest with Expired License

January 21, 2025

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Top: Miners operate with an expired license in the Salayea Community Forest. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By Esau J. Farr

SALAYEA TOWN – In late May 2024, the Salayea Authorized Community Forest filed a lawsuit against a group of illegal miners for alleged unauthorized entry.

The Salayea Magisterial Court threw the case out, saying Ford Tabolo, the miners’ head, had a legal class ‘C’ or small-scale license. The court called on the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) to resolve the matter.

But Tabolo’s miners continued to mine after the expiration of his license in August last year, according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s records. This means that Tabolo has illegally exploited the 8,270-hectare woodland for five months, nearly half of the lifespan of a small-scale mining license.

In a follow-up to previous investigations, reporters walked six hours to and from the community forest late last year and gathered evidence of Tabolo’s illicit mining activities.

“He (Ford Tabolo) is aware of our operation [mining activities] here and he is the one sponsoring us. If anybody has a problem with us, they will put it before our leader,” said Daddy Kanneh, the head of the mining camp.

Illicit miners Water wash gold at a mining camp in the Salayea Community Forest. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr

The camp is first from Salayea Town towards Telemu deep into the forest at the foot of a red, muddy hill. Mine pits spread beneath a hill, with two tents made of palm thatches and tarpaulins. Five miners panned and sieved for gold with a water pump machine, which is prohibited for small-scale mining.

“If the forest people say we should stop mining, that one should be an agreement between them and our boss man,” added Kanneh.

The reporters walked another hour to Tabolo’s second goldmine. Perched on the banks of a stream, some 10 miners worked there—this time—with shovels, buckets, diggers and cutlasses.

Here, the miners built an inclined wooden stage with carpets. They poured muddy gravel on the carpeted stage, followed by water, which entrapped tiny gold nuggets.

Other mineworkers panned for the nuggets, while others dug gravels and transported them to the washing stage.

Miners wash gravel for gold in the Salayea Community Forest. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr

“Right now, we have around 30 persons here in the forest. The way we used to receive gold here, we are not receiving it like that. When we were using the machine, we were getting more gold but the forest guards came here and took it away,” said John Kollie, the camp’s manager. Kollie disclosed they got between a quarter and half of a gram of gold daily.

Reporters could not visit Tabolo’s third goldmine more than two hours walk away, as evening approached. It would have meant sleeping in the dark, humid forest, and compromising their safety. So, they collected testimonies from the miners who had worked there.

They spoke about how Salayea Community Forest guards seized their tools, including a machine, carpets and shovels.

The DayLight could not determine whether Tabolo had a license for all three goldmines, as he has three other expired licenses in Lofa.

Efforts to interview Tabolo did not materialize, as his phone was always off, and he did not reply to text messages. However, in a previous interview with The DayLight, the mine owner said he would upgrade his small-scale license to a semi-industrial scale license.

Mining with an expired license constitutes a violation, with up to a US$2,000 fine, a maximum 24-month imprisonment, or both for convicted offenders.

Conservation undermined

The community forest wants the miners out as the forest is under conservation. Salayea Community Forest is important for conservation due to its rich biodiversity, which has empowered local people.

The community forest runs alternative livelihood programs, including beekeeping, piggery, village saving loans, woodshops and cocoa plantations.

“We want the government to make sure to get the miners out of the forest because it is undermining our conservation efforts,” said Yassah Mulbah, the chief officer of the forest. “We will not rest as leaders of the forest until the right things are done.”

Miners in the Salayea Community Forest in Lofa County. The DayLight/Harry Browne

Last November, the current minister of Lands, Mines and Energy Minister, Wilmot Paye suggested that the mining law was superior to forestry laws and regulations. He made the statement in a WhatsApp chat with The DayLight.

“Your query should further focus on what the Minerals and Mining Law of 2000 says,” Paye texted and did not say anything thereafter.

Paye’s comments were incorrect. The mining law does not recognize community forestry—it is Liberia’s oldest extractive law. However, the Community Rights Law and the Land Rights Act of 2018 do. Both laws grant locals ownership of forestlands.

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

Tag: Forestry Development Authority

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