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).
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.
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.
Top: Ben and Bennetta Wesseh run a timber smuggling business. Picture credit: Facebook/Ben Wesseh
By James Harding Giahyue
MONROVIA – On June 30 last year, Panther, a Liberian-registered container ship, docked at a port in Shanghai, China. Among its cargo was 21.37 cubic meters of timber from the Freeport of Monrovia. The wood had left Liberia on May 31, transiting in Abidjan, Ivory Coast for nine days before its final voyage to the Chinese southern shoreline.
The company shipping the wood was Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc., a Liberian firm owned by Ben Wesseh, a veteran customs broker. The consignment came from 613 pieces of wood that had been harvested in River Cess County, according to a permit authorizing the shipment.
The Shanghai shipment was one of several Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc. made in the last 14 years outside Liberia’s legal channel for timber export or “LiberTrace.” A February DayLight investigation found Mr. Wesseh and his daughter Benetta Ben Wesseh forged the permit and another document to smuggle the timber, which they denied. Now, the newspaper has found additional evidence, providing more details of the Wessehs world of illegal timber trafficking.
56 exports in eight years
Mr. Wesseh formed Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc. on April 11, 2011, to export timber, minerals, and other things, based on its article of incorporation and business registration certificate. He holds 60 percent of the company’s shares, with the remaining outstanding, while Ms. Wesseh runs the business.
Export data gathered by Volza, a UAE-based international trade firm shows that Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc., owned by Ben Wesseh, shipped 56 times between 2011 and 2019.
Records from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the Liberia Revenue Authority, and a shipping line show that the Wessehs exported timber multiple times in the last three years. The records further establish that they made two shipments in 2022 to a Taiwanese manufacturer called Strong Industrial Co. Ltd. The ministry’s records also show that a second consignment went to the same buyer. Also, the date on the first shipment matches the one on the ministry’s record.
But there were other exports than just those three, a lot more.
As of 2019—eight years after establishing their company—the Wessehs had exported timber and other goods 56 times, according to Volza, a UAE-based company that researches international trade data from over 90 countries.
Of that number, 47 went to Uganda to an individual named Chriss Bakara, four to India for a firm called Rajneesh Enterprises, and four to the United States for an individual named Makulah Kromah. A lone export went to Vietnam for Thanh Hoa Mineral Joint Stock Company. Freeport, opposite City Builders—the Wessehs’ business address in the Volza system—was consistent with the address in their company’s legal documents.
The evidence shows the Wessehs traded expensive ironwood, the type used in outdoor construction and shipbuilding for their resistance to wear and tear. Volza documented that the Wessehs’ lone Vietnamese export was 20 cubic meters of tali (Erythrophleum ivorense), a wood used for frameworks that are exposed to bad weather.
Volza’s data on the Wessehs were the same as the ones compiled by ImportKey, a firm that tracks American shipments, and Trademo, a US-based company that provides supply chain intelligence.
Amid the Wessehs company’s well-documented export history, there is no trace of Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc. in LiberTrace, Liberia’s legal channel for the timber trade. A LiberTrace search screenshot shows the company is not registered there, proof it has never used the system before.
This violates several laws and regulations, including the Regulation on Establishing a Chain of Custody System, meant to prevent illegal Liberia timber from entering international markets. By doing so, the Wessehs evaded a significant amount of taxes, including land rental, harvesting, transfer, stumpage and other fees.
Fake Document
Finding additional evidence of the Wessehs’ illegal activities was much harder than detecting the forgery of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and the Ministry of Agriculture’s documents to smuggle the Shanghai consignment.
The newspaper began with the FDA document. First, it was addressed to Benetta Ben [Wesseh] but greeted her as “Mr. Ben.” Then it was signed by Mike Doryen in July 2024, five months after he had been replaced by Rudolph Merab as the FDA Managing Director. It miscounted the period July 25 – September 25 as 45 days, instead of 60 days. Turns out, a revenue receipt number detailed in the permit had been issued to one Albert Chie, perhaps not the Grand Kru senator, who denied knowledge of it or any affiliation with the Wessehs.
The Wessehs did a better job faking a phytosanitary certificate, a document that certifies that timber being exported is pests-free. Though the certificate is a requirement for timber export or import, it is rarely issued, based on The DayLight’s review of several companies’ tax histories.
Armed with that information, the newspaper contacted the quarantine department at the Ministry of Agriculture, which issues such certificates. Unsurprisingly, the department denied it issued the Wessehs the document.
“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.”
Other evidence suggested that the Wessehs sold the forged documents to other potential smugglers. A screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation between Mr. Wesseh and an individual reveals Mr. Wesseh solicited over US$1,350, including US$325 for a pair of FDA documents and US$75 for a phytosanitary certificate.
Liberia has one of the world’s fastest deforestation rates due to illegal activities. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue
The DayLight obtained audio recordings of those unscrupulous deals. In one recording, Ben Wesseh provided details of forged documents he had sent to a potential customer. His count of the documents matched the ones The DayLight obtained.
“I sent the FDA paper for you first. Then, I sent the agriculture paper two or three times,” Mr. Wesseh can be heard saying.
Interestingly, Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc.’s tax history shows that the Wessehs have only paid three times for timber exports. They also paid for a phytosanitary certificate once. The timber payments occurred in 2017, and the certificate two years after.
No Actions
The Wessehs’ illegal activities contribute to Liberia’s deforestation, one of the highest in the world. From 2002 to 2023, Liberia lost 347,000 hectares of primary forest, according to the Global Forest Watch, which tracks global deforestation. In that same period, River Cess— where the Shanghai-bound timber were harvested—lost 28,000 hectares of primary forest.
Mr. Wesseh did not turn out for a scheduled interview. However, in a February WhatsApp interview, Ms. Wesseh denied any wrongdoing. “First of all, our company has never and will never get involved with fraud or exploiting [the] government,” said she.
“Take care.” She and her father locked their Facebook profiles, where the newspaper had gotten their pictures.
It has been about two months since the Wessehs were first exposed, yet authorities have not acted significantly. The DayLight has written the National Customs Brokers Association of Liberia (NCBAL), the FDA and the Ministry of Agriculture. However, none has taken any actions, except that the ministry lodged a complaint with the NCBAL.
Top: Trucks transporting logs are stuck on a road in Vambo Township, Grand Bassa County, after community protesters set up roadblocks, demanding benefits. The DayLight/Ojuku Kangar
By Emmanuel Sherman
VAMBO, Grand Bassa – People claiming landowners of a community forest have protested against a company for allegedly sidelining them in a logging contract.
The aggrieved citizens of Vambo Township set roadblocks to prevent C&C Corporation (CCC) from transporting logs to Buchanan. Over 10 towns and villages, including Gblorso, Vahzohn, Baryogar, Boe, and Cee, participated in the protest.
“We have decided to set roadblocks because of the mismanagement of our resources without understanding,” said Abel Payway, youth chair.
“We did not sign the agreement with them, only a few groups of people. They formed a clique and did what they could without consultation with the citizens,” added Payway.
Last year, CCC signed a logging contract with 39 towns and villages adjacent to the Mavasagueh Community Forest, a 26,003-hectare woodland, in exchange for development.
But everything about the deal was illegal. An environmental assessment of the impacts of the CCC’s operation left out 15 towns and villages. Mavasagueh had been illegally established, and the company is ineligible for logging activities, a report review found, which a DayLight series corroborated. Some towns had criticized the Mavasagueh process for excluding them.
The protest followed months of failed negotiation. It echoes the illegalities of CCC’s operations and foreshadows likely future hostilities.
Rebecca Gblorso, a middle-aged protester, did not mince her words during a Daylight interview. “The company started extracting our logs without any benefit. They started hauling our logs last week Thursday. We feel bad and angry so we set the roadblock,” Gblorso said.
Jacob Cee, an elder in his late 80s was among the protesters.
“I am here to protect my township. I speak for all my elders, so when something is happening here and is not right I represent my community,” said Cee.
“The protest is a wake-up call for the company to meet our needs,” said Vambo’s Commissioner Nathaniel Clarke.
Daniel Dayougar, Vambo’s ex-commissioner and now CCC’s community liaison officer, refutes the protesters’ claim. “Togar Town is out,” said Dayougar, who is accused of handpicking the forest’s leaders.
Horace backs Dayougar. “Those towns that did the protest are not within the [contract area].”
The protest lasted three days and ended when police arrived on the third day.
Misapplication of US$6,000
Clarke and the protesters also demanded accountability for a US$6,000 CCC paid to the community forest leadership. The company had deposited the money into the community’s account.
Askew Varney, CCC’s bush manager, confirmed the company deposited the fund.
“My boss called and said the money given to the community had been mismanaged. I expected the [community leaders to meet] to say, ‘This is what the company has brought to us.’ There is no awareness going on. So, if they are going on with the protest they are right,” Varney said.
One of the roadblocks in Vambo Township that stopped C&C Corporation from transporting logs. The DayLight/Ojuku Kangar
But instead of spending the money on community forest guards and health benefits, Mavasagueh’s leaders bought motorbikes and pills, according to Stephen Horace, one of the leaders. Horace said he had not seen the money but confirmed it had been misapplied.
Last week, at a Buchanan meeting to mediate between the protesters and the company, Representative Clarence Banks of Grand Bassa Electoral District Two and Superintendent Karyou Johnson suspended Mavasagueh’s leadership.
However, Representative Banks and Superintendent Karyou do not have any legal power to suspend the leadership. That power lies in Mavasagueh’s community assembly, its highest decision-maker, and the FDA. The FDA did not immediately respond to queries.
Isaac Tukar, Mavasagueh’s leader, denied any wrongdoing. “I am not in the know of any suspension,” Tukar said. “I am in the Guehsuah Section and doing my work.”
Representative Banks, told Okay FM, a DayLight affiliate, Vambo was awaiting the outcome of a three-week ultimatum CCC to address the protesters’ concerns.
“It is my citizens, that closed the roads. Give me three weeks, I will work with the Superintendent,” said Banks. “If the company does not listen to the issues that will be raised, “I will close it down legally.”
[Additional reporting by Ojuku Kangar]
This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ).
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…”
Top: GVLcompletes the construction of a clinic in Tartweh, Drapoh Chiefdom, Sinoe County/ The DayLIght/ Franklin K. Nehyalor
By Franklin K. Nehyalor
TARTWEH-DRAPOH, Sinoe County – After more than a decade of protests, Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL) has finally established a community clinic to serve its workers and residents.
“We are happy that our people no longer have to travel [far away] for treatment. They can now receive medical care right here in Tartweh,” said Nunu Broh, former Tartweh-Drapoh Agriculture Development Committee chairman. “This is a very significant step because seeking treatment [elsewhere] was a major problem for our community.”
In 2010, GVL and the Government of Liberia signed a 65-year Concession Agreement, granting the company rights to 220,000 hectares of land across Sinoe, Grand Kru, Maryland, River Gee, and River Cess counties. This agreement required GVL to enter an MoU with affected communities and commit to constructing a school, hand pumps, and a clinic.
GVL signed the MoU with the Tartweh-Drapoh Chiefdom of Kpayan District, Sinoe County, obligating, Liberia’s largest oil palm investor to build a clinic in the area. However, the company failed to live up to its obligation.
Over a decade, residents walked three hours to Kabada in a neighboring for chiefdom treatment. The absence of a local healthcare facility led to growing frustration and mounting pressure on GVL.
In October 2023, residents protested against GVL, demanding that the company honor its commitments. In response, GVL signed a resolution with the community in May last year, agreeing to construct a temporary clinic to provide immediate healthcare services until a permanent facility could be built.
Several months later, GVL completed the Tartweh Clinic, following a series of DayLight investigations, holding the company to account.
The newly established clinic, which opened in October, now provides medical services to dozens of workers and residents from surrounding communities.
Located in a GVL estate, and painted in green and white, it has a team of five staff members recruited from Tartweh and neighboring areas. GVL did not answer emailed questions regarding the clinic.
“This is a major improvement from the past. It marks a new beginning in the relationship between GVL and the community,” said Broh.
“Moving forward, we expect GVL to honor all other commitments it made to the community.”
The Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA) provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained editorial independence over the story’s content.
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 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.
Top: The Zor Community Forest covers 1,140 hectares. The DayLight/Franklin K. Nehyalor
By Franklin K. Nehyalor
ZOR, Nimba County – Local leaders in a northeastern community seek more support to conserve their forest.
The Zor Community Forest in Zor Chiefdom in the Gbehlay-Geh District of Nimba County has support from ArcelorMittal Liberia and NGOs. With the support, Zor, a conservation forest, has established cocoa and oil palm farms, recruited forest guards, and conducted training for community members. The community has also provided loans locals have invested to purchase a rice mill and cassava-processing machines.
However, Zor needs more to develop its ecotourism to continue to protect its forest resources.
“We need technical and financial incentives to better preserve our forest and make our community a place of attraction for investors and businesses,” says Robert Mahn, Zor’s executive committee chairman. “But for this to happen, we need constant monthly salary for forest guards, declaration of ecotourism site, and reclamation of our forestland from foreigners.”
“To reduce deforestation, poaching and other illegal activities, we need the necessary support for the community to realize its ecotourism dream,” says Grace Yeeplah, Treasurer of the Executive Committee of the Zor Community Forest. “These efforts have helped us to improve conservation in the last 10 years. We need help to continue with them.”
Cocoa being sunbaked in Zor, Nimba County. File picture: Zor Community Forest
Zor’s push for ecotourism is a significant step in line with the government’s pledge to conserve 30 percent of Liberia’s forest, which forms the largest portion of West Africa’s remaining rainforests. The Community Rights Law…, which created community forestry, allows locals to co-manage forests alongside the government.
However, unfriendly environmental practices like logging, mining, bad farming methods and other forms of deforestation often undermine these efforts, according to a World Bank report. Between 2002 and 2022, Liberia lost 23 percent of its primary forest due to rampant deforestation, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI), which tracks global deforestation.
“More needs to be done,” says James Otto, a lead campaigner at the Sustainable Development Institute. “The community must set up governance systems and structures that will pay attention to issues like benefits for those who have and those who don’t. They must consider seeking partnerships outside, and external support from other entities who have an interest in ecotourism,” adds Otto.
Zor Community Forest lies adjacent to the East Nimba Nature Reserve (ENNR), home to nearly 3,000 different species. Zor is a buffer between the reserve and forests on Liberia’s border with Guinea and Ivory Coast. Covering 1,140 hectares, Zor has faced significant threats from illegal mining, poaching, and commercial agriculture in the past, with hunters from Ivory Coast and Guinea.
So, for over a decade, community leaders in Zor constantly employ conservation and sustainable livelihood initiatives to address these challenges.
Currently, the community has recruited and trained 22 forest guards, who regularly patrol the forest. In October last year, the FDA conducted a joint forest guard training with community rangers with the ENNR. In November 2023, an MoU agreement reached between AML and the Zor community turned former bushmeat sellers and hunters into forest protectors in local communities such as Zolowee, Gbapa, Suakasue and Zortapa.
“We have mobilized the community, created awareness on the need to save the forest and the environment,” explains Mahn. “These efforts are meant to empower our people in ways that will discourage them from harming the forest and its species.”
New development
Zor maintains a host of community livelihood programs through which it protects its forest.
With support from ArcelorMittal Liberia and the NGO, the Multi-stakeholder Forest Governance and Accountability Project (MFGAP), the community processes rice, cocoa, and cassava. ArcelorMittal provides US$160 for community forest guards on a quarterly basis. On the other hand, MFGAP provided US$112,971 to strengthen Zor’s governance system, develop its business model and provide other needs.
Also, Zor has set up 40 acres of oil palm farms in 20 towns adjacent to the rocky forest, with two acres established in each of the beneficiary communities. Zor has a rice mill that helps to increase farmers’ productivity and reduce their high cost of labor, while at the same time generating proceeds from minimal fees charged.
Zor Community Forest’s leaders inspecting a cassava processing machine. File picture: Zor Community Forest
Depending on the size, each farmer is charged LD130 or LD150 to mill a bucket full of rice. Zor’s leadership retains 70 percent of the proceeds into a community account, distributing 30 percent to the rice milling machine maintenance team. Of the 70 percent, 40 percent goes to the landowning communities, while the remaining portion is used for administrative purposes.
Despite the prevailing challenges, Zor remains hopeful of achieving their ecotourism desire provided they receive the necessary support.
“We will get many benefits with the ecotourism project,” says Mahn. “With the right support, we expect the community to come alive with hospitality. We also expect business investment, jobs, economic growth and new community development.”
Top: Ariel view of Nitrian Community Forest in Sinoe County. The DayLight/Derick Snyder
By Esau J. Farr
KABADA, Sinoe County – Jackson Tweh makes a living from beekeeping. Tweh, 35, and a father of six children has six beehives, which produce up to seven gallons of honey every three months.
Tweh was a farmer and hunter since his youth but in 2019 Universal Outreach Foundation, a Canadian NGO, went to Kabada, a town in the Kpanyan District of Sinoe County. The NGO trained him and other townspeople in beekeeping. When the training ended, he received six beehives, enclosed structures where honeybees live and raise their young.
“From what I see, beekeeping is one of the best programs when it comes to human promotion in the conservation community,” says Tweh. “Whenever we harvest, the honey can’t stay long with us because people can be standing by, waiting to buy it.”
Like Tweh, Ophelia Merrian, a mother of five children in her 40s, dropped farming in the forest for full-time shopkeeping.
In 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture trained Merrian to set up a village saving and loan association. The ministry came to Tweh Town, about half an hour’s walk from Kabada, and introduced her to swamp farming, which increased her yield.
In the last five years, Merrian saved her income from the loan scheme, and the interest transformed her life dramatically.
“When I started, I was renting in someone’s house, but right now I have my place,” Merrian said. “This same program helps me to pay my children’s school fees.”
Tweh and Merrian are two of over 200 townspeople living adjacent to the Nitrian Community Forest who have benefited from alternative livelihood programs. The schemes provide replacements for forest farmlands and bushmeat for locals to keep them away from forest farming in one of Liberia’s few conservation community forests.
Established in 2011, the 958-hectare Nitrian is home to different species, including chimpanzees, African elephants, buffalos and pangolins. Located in southeastern Liberia has a high stock carbon value, a 2018 study shows. The forest is, however, being undermined by poachers, farming and other illegal activities.
Dennis Broh, president of the Nitrian community assembly, tells The DayLight the beekeeping and loan schemes have helped to reduce unwanted occupants.
“Intruding into the forest by farmers and hunters has been some of the challenges we have faced here,” says Broh, in a Kabada interview.
“Currently, when you look at the farming activities, the way people were involved with the forest has been cut down,” adds Broh.
Universal Outreach Foundation introduced beekeeping in 2019. The NGO trained 40 men from six towns and 16 villages. In these six years, the trainees have multiplied their beehives from their initial six. Tweh now has 15. Johanson Wiah has nine, the same as Stanley Saydee, and Broh has 15.
Six beehives can produce at least three gallons of honey in as many months, according to the beekeepers, and five liters sell for US$20 on local marketplaces.
Similar to beekeeping, the village saving loan started in 2019. It is a product of a partnership between Dutch NGO IDH and the Ministry of Agriculture. It encouraged residents to do lowland farming to keep their forest standing.
Locals accepted the proposal and started lowland farming. The exercise produced more yields, increased villagers’ incomes and introduced the village saving loan and association program there.
Since then, the association has had an annual saving of not less than L$1 million, except for 2019, the year the scheme was established. The highest income of the scheme was realized in 2023 when the association saved more than L$2 million.
Victoria Cooper, former Sinoe County’s agriculture coordinator, explains it became clear that they needed to manage their proceeds. The ministry provided technical support.
“This is a very good project and I think everyone needs to welcome it to help rural communities fight climate change and strengthen conservation efforts,” says Cooper, who is now a technical assistant at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Vincent Swen, a community leader, led a tour of Nitrian Community Forest in 2019. Picture credit: James Harding Giahyue
‘Not going into logging’
Residents have seen the result of their actions. At the beginning of their conservation efforts, they would record bullet casings and illicit farms. Today, they no longer see those things.
But Nitrian reckons there is a need for full-time forest guards to frequently monitor the forest, not leaders who conduct monthly patrols.
There is also a need for other forms of animal husbandry in addition to beekeeping—and loans—according to Neboe Sarboh, Nitrian’s secretary general.
“The way we are reserving this forest, by right, companies supposed to come here and bring goats, ducks and even cows to the community people to raise them so that anytime you want to eat meat… you can get one and kill it,” says Sarboh. He adds there is a need for more awareness to prevent or curtail unauthorized entry and extraction of the forest’s resources.
A lack of community benefits is a common reason why some communities have dropped conservation for logging or incorporated mining.
“It has been difficult for us carrying out conservation,” says Broh “However, we know the importance of conservation and so we are not going to go into commercial logging.”
