5 Things to Know About Gold Smuggling from Liberia

February 5, 2026

Top: Artisanal miners in Wayjue, Grand Cape Mount County, in 2019. Picture credit: James Giahyue

By Varney Kamara

MONROVIA – Gold is one of Liberia’s most valuable natural resources, yet much of it may be slipping quietly out of the country—untaxed and undocumented. New findings by SWISSAID, a Switzerland-based NGO that provides data on Africa’s mineral exports, suggest that gold smuggling from Liberia has reached alarming levels, potentially leading to billions of U.S. dollars loss for Liberia each year.

The report, published last May, is part of a larger research project on African gold flows. The information it provides was collected from state agencies, company reports, publications, civil and multilateral organizations, researchers, and open-access databases.

This explainer breaks down the report into five key things to understand about how Liberia’s gold is smuggled. It explains where it goes and why weak data, tax gaps, and informal mining continue to fuel the illegal trade.

So, here are five things to know about gold smuggling in Liberia:

1. Liberia Could be Losing US$1.4B to Gold Smuggling

Liberia could be losing US$1.4 billion to gold smuggling annually, according to a DayLight calculation, based on the current price of gold on the world market. Smugglers could be illegally exporting nine tonnes of gold from Liberia through Guinea and Mali yearly.

2. Liberia’s Smuggled Gold Comes mainly from Artisanal Miners

Liberia’s smuggled gold comes mainly from the artisanal and small-scale mining sector (ASM), a largely informal sector that undervalues and underreports the volumes of gold exported out of the country. All of Liberia’s industrial golds are shipped through official border records. However, a majority of the country’s rich yellow minerals produced in the artisanal sector is smuggled through neighboring countries, with no official data reflecting the actual volumes of gold extracted.

While it was asserted that gold is being smuggled into all of Liberia’s neighboring countries, it is a universal consensus that the mineral is mainly trafficked through Guinea before ending up in Mali. Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and Lebanon are the top three destinations outside of Africa. Liberian gold is also smuggled through airports, mainly to the UAE, and directly to Dubai, which is by far the main destination for all undeclared ASM gold from Africa.

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

3. Differences in Tax Rates and Loopholes

Differences in tax rates for exported gold, destinations, and variations in tax systems serve as the main loopholes or incentives for gold smuggling between Liberia and Guinea.

Liberia and Guinea have one percent lower royalty or export rates, compared to other countries in the sub-region, one of the main factors driving illicit gold flows across the region.

In an effort to maximize profits, foreign investors prefer to travel to Liberia and Guinea, which impose lower royalty rates on gold exports. These countries trade in United States dollars, a currency more accessible for international trade. Analysis showed that lower tax rates and access to U.S. dollars were the main smuggling patterns, according to the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.

In an effort to maximize profits, foreign investors prefer to travel to Liberia and Guinea, which impose lower royalty rates on gold exports. These countries are able to trade in United States dollars, a currency more accessible for international trade. SWISSAID’s analysis showed that lower tax rates and access to U.S. dollars were the main smuggling patterns.

To resolve this situation, interventions must be developed beyond mine sites, addressing cyclical financial flows influenced by power structures, and formalizing ASM efforts aligned with the government’s medium-term production goals, including standardizing regional tariff rates to combat smuggling, SWISSAID recommended.

4. Discrepancies in Stats

There are discrepancies between Liberian statistics and the Swiss statistics on imports of gold from Liberia.

Gold is selling for US$4,874 as of Thursday. The DayLight/James Giahyue

Liberia’s data on gold production and exports, released by the Central Bank of Liberia in its annual reports, is inconsistent with that reported by the Liberian chapter of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI).

This is surprising for both entities refer to the same sources, namely the Ministry of Mines and Energy. Second, Liberian authorities do not report trade data to the UN Comtrade, which provides export trade data globally. To resolve this issue, SWISSAID had to ask Liberia’s mining authorities to provide export figures that grouped countries of destination. Large discrepancies of data provided were observed, compelling SWISSAID to cast serious doubts over their credibility.

Official figures on gold production cover only part of the actual volumes of gold being extracted and traded. This is because artisanal and small-scale mining in Liberia, which has taken place on a larger scale in recent years, is highly informal. In 2018, large discrepancies were observed between the figures on gold exports published by the CBL and those on gold exports from Liberia, reported to the UN Comtrade by the authorities of the countries of destination.

SWISSAID noticed substantial inconsistencies in the official figures published by various Liberian entities. Gold export estimates are not updated. This suggests several tons of gold were smuggled out of the country yearly, and imported illegally into other countries, in particular the UAE.

5. Poor Data Complicates Analysis

Poor data situation complicates the analysis of gold flows in Liberia. Comparing figures on the imports of gold from Liberia reported by the authorities with those of the countries of destination to UN Comtrade or published by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), SWISSAID observed such large discrepancies with available data, which impacted the quality of its analysis and seriously hampered its ability to conclude. As a result, several questions remain unanswered.

This story is produced by The DayLight, with support from the Embassy of Ireland through Integrity Watch Liberia. The DayLight maintained editorial independence over its content, which does not reflect the position of the Embassy of Ireland or Integrity Watch Liberia.

9 Things about Liberia’s Extractive Industries

February 3, 2026

Top: A Bao Chico iron ore mine in Gbarpolu County in 2023. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By Varney Kamara

The Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) 16th report highlights both progress and challenges across the country’s extractive sectors.

The report provides information on the mining, agriculture, forestry, and oil/gas sectors’ contribution to the Liberian economy. The annual report is meant to enhance natural resource governance, accountability and transparency.

Covering January 1 to December 31, 2023, the report provides details on payments, productions, exports, and other things. It was published last December, weeks before President Joseph Boakai’s recent State of the Nation Address.

In the address, President Boakai praised the extractive sectors’ contribution to Liberia’s 5.1 percent economic growth in 2023, largely driven by mining, citing the International Monetary Fund.

So, here are nine key takeaways from the LEITI’s 16^th report on the performance of the extractive industries in 2023:

1. Extractive Industries Exported US$1.3 Billion Commodity

Liberia exported US$1.3 billion of extractive commodities in 2023. Major exports included gold, iron ore, diamonds, and round logs. The country exported 12,379 kilograms of gold, 4,002,474 metric tons of iron ore, and 56,838 carats of diamonds.

Artisanal and small-scale mining exports increased, with gold exports rising to 232 kilograms from 82 kilograms in 2022. Diamond exports rose slightly from 55,111 carats in 2022 to 56,838 carats in 2023, a 3.04 percent increase.

The forestry sector produced 661,958 cubic meters of round logs, but exported only 98,426 cubic meters.

Rubber, crude palm oil, and kernel oil sold US$188,463,190 million, representing 13.9 percent of all export earnings. Rubber represents 7.6 percent of the country’s total export receipts and 54.9 percent of agriculture exports, while 6.12 percent of the sector’s exports came from crude palm oil and kernel oil.

Key export destinations for artisanal minerals were Israel, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey. Israel imported diamonds valued at US$6.68 million (27.09 percent), while Belgium imported US$6.57 million (26.67 percent). The UAE and Turkey dominated gold imports, valued at US$4.46 million (18.09 percent) and US$2.29 million (9.27 percent), respectively.

2. Mining is the Largest Exporter

Mining accounted for US$1.16 billion, the most among the four extractive industries. Bea Mountain Mining Company and ArcelorMittal Liberia were the top exporters.

Bea Mountain exported 12,146 kilograms of gold, valued at US$653.6 million, representing 56.3 percent of extractive exports, up from 52.38 percent in 2022.

An ArcelorMittal train transporting iron ore to the Port of Buchanan in 2021. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

On the other hand, ArcelorMittal’s iron ore production declined from 471 metric tons in 2022 to 70 metric tons in 2023. Together, Bea Mountain and ArcelorMittal accounted for 93 percent of mining exports, up from 91 percent the previous year.

Gold accounted for 72 percent of mining exports, up from 40 percent in 2019, driven by higher global prices and increased production.

3. Forestry Is the Least Exporter

Forestry recorded the lowest export performance. Companies exported 98,426 cubic meters of logs, generating US$4.3 million in 2023, compared to 159,473 cubic meters valued at US$3.6 million in 2022. The report attributes the decline—over 38 percent in volume—to the closure of several forestry companies during the year.

Euro Liberia Logging exported 39,676 m3 of logs from 27,675 cubic meters, representing 30.3 percent, the highest in forestry. WESTNAF Limited followed, exporting 753 cubic meters in 2023 from 1,662 m3 in 2022, constituting 18.2 percent of exports.

Keshav Global Industries Ltd recorded the lowest export with 312 m3 of logs in 2023, representing 0.4 percent of exports, and recorded no exports in 2022.

Most logs were shipped to China, Bangladesh, and India, which together accounted for 93 percent of forestry exports.

A truck transfers logs outside of Greenville, Sinoe County in 2023. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

4. Extractive Revenue Hit US$152.46 Million

Mining, agriculture, forestry, and oil/gas contributed US$152.46 million to the Liberian government’s revenue. This amount represents over a fifth of total revenue and over half of gross domestic product.

The 2023 contribution was a 14percent decline from US$182.35 million from July 2021 to December 2022.

The Liberia Revenue Authority collected 80.45 percent of the revenue. The National Port Authority, Forestry Development Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency, and social and environmental contributions accounted for the remaining.

5. Mining Contributed the Highest

Mining accounted for the largest share of extractive revenues, reinforcing its role as the backbone of the Liberian economy. It brought in US$121.49 million, a fall from US$140.61 million in 2022, representing 19.61 decline. Gold, iron ore, and diamond were the main contributors.

6. Oil/Gas: the Least Contributor

The oil and gas sector was the lowest contributor to overall extractive revenue, recording a minimal contribution of $0.55 million (US$550,000), constituting 0.36 percent of the overall extractive revenue.

No oil/gas licenses, production, exports, or agreements existed in 2023, with no records of active companies. However, the NOCAL collected the money from seismic data and contracting.

The amount contrasts with the 2011/2012 fiscal year, when the sector generated US$82.07 million, 14 percent of GDP at the time.

7. Agriculture: largest Employer

The extractive sector employed 12,333 people, representing 0.49 percent of Liberia’s labor force. Of this workforce, agriculture employed 9,302 workers, making it the largest employer among the extractive industries. Women accounted for 23 percent of agricultural employment, the highest female participation rate among extractive industries.

Workers with the Maryland Oil Palm Plantation (MOPP) are uploading fresh palm bunches to a truck in 2023. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Meanwhile, mining employed 2,587 workers, while forestry employed 444, the least.

Firestone Natural Rubber concession, the world’s largest natural rubber producer, is the biggest private sector employer in Liberia.

8. ArcelorMittal Single-largest Taxpayer

ArcelorMittal Liberia was the single-largest tax payment, with US$60 million or 39.4 percent of all extractive revenue. Bea Mountain followed with US$37.6 million or 24.7 percent. Firestone (US$11.6 million or 7.6 percent), Western Cluster (US$10.2 or 6.8 percent), and China Union (US$9.6 million or 6.3 percent) were third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

Additionally, ArcelorMittal paid US$17.5 million in “unidentified taxes” into the government central account. The LRA provided no details of the payment, the 16^th LEITI report found.

9. Beneficial Ownership Regulation Formulated

The Beneficial Ownership Disclosure Regulation is one of the features of the report. It aims to combat illicit financial flows, including money laundering and tax evasion.

Enforced by the Liberia Business Registry, the regulation requires companies to disclose their ultimate beneficial owners, in line with amendments to the Business Association Act of 1976. The regulation is also consistent with Liberia’s Anti-Money Laundering Act, the National Forestry Reform Law, and the Code of Conduct for Public Officials.

This story is produced by The DayLight, with support from the Embassy of Ireland through Integrity Watch Liberia. The DayLight maintained editorial independence over its content, which does not reflect the position of the Embassy of Ireland or Integrity Watch Liberia.

Liberia Permits Dredge Mining while Ghana Outlaws It

January 19, 2026

Top: Illustration by Michael Harijgens for The DayLight

By Emmanuel Sherman

MONROVIA – Liberia has introduced a permit for gold and diamond dredging, lifting a ban on the mining method associated with pollution. Meanwhile, that is exactly the opposite of what has been done in Ghana, where it has been outlawed.

Both countries’ actions come at a time of a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that illegal mining poses a serious global threat. The report found that criminal gangs were seeking to gain control of gold mines in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia.

Last year, Liberia introduced a permit for dredging to increase mining revenue. Small-scale gold and diamond miners can now pay US$1,500 for a dredge permit, and medium-scale miners US$10,000. The permit lifts the 2019 ban, aimed at reforming Liberia’s artisanal mining subsector. So far, no permit has been issued.

Ghana, on the other hand, repealed a law last December to protect its forests and waterways from dredging and other forms of illicit mining. The 2022 law had allowed mining in protected forest reserves, exposing 89 percent of Ghana’s forest reserves to mining.

The repeal followed demonstrations that called for a state of emergency to combat dredging, or as Ghanaians call it, galamsey—a play on “gather them and sell.”

President John Mahama, who made fighting galamsey a campaign promise, had encouraged demonstrators to push the government to act. “I am determined. Let us win this galamsey fight together,” President Mahama said.

One of Ghana’s biggest environmental issues is galamsey, which dates back to pre-colonial times when rural communities were involved in gold-winning practices. It allowed gold won by locals to be used to sustain trade across the goldfields, which later developed into an organized criminal network that spiraled out of control.

A dredging machine on the banks of the St. John River, Grand Bassa County, 2024. The DayLight/Emmanuel Sherman

Galamsey, the illegal mining trade, has a severe toll on Ghana, which led to the destruction of over 4,700 hectares of land across seven regions, causing deforestation and degradation. The Pra River, once a vibrant ecosystem, has been polluted with toxic chemicals like mercury. Israel Derick Apeti, an artist- activist, used some of the polluted water to paint, highlighting the crisis.

George Manful, a former official of Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency, intimated that mercury remains in waterways for 1,000 years. “We are slowly poisoning ourselves with undrinkable water,” Manful told the BBC.

Like Ghana, dredge mining has polluted Liberia’s watercourses, posing a health hazard to rural dwellers and threatening their livelihoods. It also has huge negative impacts on aquatic species, experts say.

“When rivers are dredged, the nesting grounds are destroyed, and fish migrate,” said Eugene Shannon, an environmentalist and an ex-Minister of Mines and Energy, who set up the previous fee structure that did not include dredging permits.

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia warned illegal miners about the overuse of mercury in Liberian waters.

“When we mine gold using mercury, the mercury spreads in the water. The fish live in the water and get their food. The mercury enters the fish. When we eat fish, mercury enters our bodies,” said Dr. Emmanuel Yarkpawolo, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia.

“This can cause damage to our kidneys, cause deafness, cause blindness, and cause women to give birth to children with all kinds of brain problems.”

A drone shot of two dredges on the River Dugbeh in Sinoe County in 2024. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

Two months after Yarkpawolo’s speech, Liberia ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which protects people and the environment from the chemical.

‘Dangerous’ level

Mining is one of the key drivers of Liberia’s economy. The sector generated over US$121.49 million in 2023 or nearly 85 percent of total revenue, according to the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Mining also contributed about 80 percent of all exports. The International Monetary Fund estimates that the Liberian economy will grow by 5.4 percent this year, up from 4.6 percent last year, thanks to the mining industry.

But illegal mining has been a problem for Liberia due to a weak regulatory system, according to a 2021 report by the General Auditing Commission. About 90 percent of gold from Liberia’s artisanal and small-scale mining sector is believed to be smuggled out of the country each year, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. That amounts to a US$455 million loss as of 2011.

Liberia has, however, convicted no one for smuggling or illicit mining. A US$48.8 million case involving Randy Scott, a Liberian miner, and several Chinese nationals, the biggest in Liberia’s mining history, was dropped mysteriously. The men had been accused of economic sabotage, tax evasion, criminal conspiracy, environmental degradation, and encroachment.

Like Liberia, mining is also a pillar of the Ghanaian economy. Ghana is Africa’s largest and the world’s sixth-highest producer of gold, which is at an all-time high of US$4,670 per ounce as of Monday. Last year, Ghana generated over US$10 billion from small-scale gold export. Its GDP grew by 5.7 percent in 2024, with mining largely responsible for the growth.

But, unlike Liberia, Ghana has taken measures to combat dredging. Apart from repealing that law recently, over 850 people are facing prosecution currently for galamsey. Authorities said 76 galamseyers, including 18 foreign nationals, have been convicted of illegal mining since August 2021. Thousands of Chinese have been deported in a crackdown on illegal miners. The country intends to imprison 10 Chinese arrested for illegal gold trade if convicted.

“We are moving heaven and earth so that they dance to the music of the Ghanaian law,” said Prince Kwame Minkah, spokesman for the Ghana Gold Board.

Israel Derrick Apeti, known as Eni Art on social media, paints draw public attention to the plight of galamsey in Ghana. Picture credit: The Africa Report

In response to The DayLight’s queries, the Liberian Ministry of Mines and Energy justified that the permit was an alternative to the dredging ban that had proved “difficult to control.” The ministry stated that it had a system to monitor dredge permit holders.

“The fees will not only increase revenue collection for the government. [It] will help enhance enforcement activities in the mining sector, while the Ministry continues to collaborate with the Environmental Protection Agency on curbing harms to the environment from mining activities,” said the ministry.

Emmanuel Swen, Liberia’s ex-Assistant Minister for Mines, who had helped ban dredging, said permitting dredging was all about the money, and not people or the environment.

“The issue is not about the contribution the use of dredge makes to revenue generation, which seems to be the ministry’s concern,” said Swen. “It is about the adverse environmental footprints that the permit in itself does not address.”

Liberia’s position on dredging mining mirrors Ghana’s initial stance on it, which proved counterproductive. In 1989, Ghana legalized the use of mercury to formalize its small-scale mining subsector. The decision helped spur an increase in gold exports, but a state-backed study found mining has driven mercury pollution to a “dangerous” level.

Integrity Watch Liberia provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained complete editorial independence over its content.

Grand Gedeh Superintendent Allegedly Received over US$7K for Dirty Deed

January 18, 2026

Top: Picture of thriving cocoa beneath tree skeletons located in B’hai Jozon, Grand Gedeh County. DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba

By Varney Kamara and Samuel T. Jabba

B’HAI JOZON, Grand Gedeh County – Local leaders in B’hai District, Grand Gedeh County, alleged they gave Superintendent Alex Grant about 4 million CFA (US$7.111) to get a deed for their ancestral land.

Last March, a delegation from B’hai met Grant at his Zwedru office and gave him the money, according to Jammie Kinyea, spokesperson of B’hai Jozon Management Council. Kinyea said they wanted the Superintendent to leverage his position to assist them in obtaining the deed.

“We were very happy when Grant took over. We thought his ascendency would help to complete the survey of our land to get our deed quickly,” Jammie Kinyea, spokesman of the B’hai Jozon Land Management Council, said in an interview with The DayLight in Toe Town, Grand Gedeh.

“Grant assured us that he would try his best for us to get our deed from the Liberia Land Authority. We tried without success. This is my disappointment,” Kinyea added.

Grant admits to receiving the money, but claims he received only about half of that amount. He said the money was paid through instalments—the first payment was made two months after the meeting, and the second six months later. Like in Kinyea’s case, The DayLight could not independently verify Grant’s claim, as he provided no evidence.

Grant said the money was intended to survey the land and resolve a conflict over it, and not for a deed. The dispute arose between two Burkinabees who were competing to plant cocoa on the land, Grant said.

“I personally suggested to them that to resolve this issue, we need to survey to know who owns what and who doesn’t. This was my way of trying to end the dispute,” Grant said. “That’s how they gave the money for the survey, and the surveyor went in there and did the survey.”

Grant went on to obtain a deed for the land. However, the deed was not in B’hai Jozon’s name as Kinyea and the townspeople had bargained for. Instead, the deed to the farmland was issued to the Grand Gedeh County local government. It was part of a 30-year lease agreement with Boubou Sebu, a Burkinabé businessman.

Barely a week after securing the deed, the Land Authority revoked it over irregularities.

Likewise, county authorities terminated their lease agreement following media reports that exposed violations and inconsistencies. A community acquires a customary deed through a legal process under the Land Rights Act. There is no evidence that B’hai has completed any of those steps.

Townsfolk in B’hai said they only learned that the lease agreement was intended for their land after it was cancelled.

Jimmy Kinyea and the townspeople of B’hai Jozon in Grand Gedeh County gave Superintendent Alex Grant money to help them get a customary deed. The DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba

Grant said the community undermined his efforts to acquire a deed apart from the one that was revoked. He said a draft of the document had been produced, but not been authorized by the Land Authority. Grant did not present a copy of the alleged draft deed, even though he promised to make it available to The DayLight.

Kinyea shrugged off Grant’s comments.

“If he says so, then that’s fine,” Kinyea said. “But all I want to say is that we are happy that the 500 acres that were taken away from us through the lease agreement have been returned.”

DayLight reporters observed thousands of hectares of abandoned cocoa farms on the disputed land. Most of the harvested cocoa is transported to Toe Town. In contrast, others are being shipped across the border town of Barcubley, La Côte d’Ivoire, according to Sonconpocodgou Yologo, spokesman of the Burkinabe workers in Pierre’s Village-1.

Deaths and Divisions Follow Cocoa Farming Paths

January 8, 2026

Top: A drone shot of Pierre Village-1, the largest settlement of Burkinabe migrants in Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba

By Varney Kamara and Samuel T. Jabba

FISH TOWN – In late September, Deppu Kobera, an Ivoirian teenager working on a cocoa farm, was found dead near a forest in River Gee County.

Fifteen-year-old Kobera had gone missing while farming cocoa in the Kwawe Gee Forest, Glorra District, according to the River Gee Police Detachment. His body was discovered three days later in a nearby forest, beheaded and with bullet wounds.

The River Gee case highlights growing conflicts linked to Burkinabe mass migration to Liberia. Known by their tribal name “Mossi,” these Burkinabés travel deep into towns and villages in search of cocoa farmlands. However, this search has been characterized by deaths, divisions, and deforestation. Over the past three years, dozens of disputes involving Burkinabe cocoa farmers have been reported in southeastern Liberia, according to court records.

“I believe their influx will create some maximum-security threat in the country in the future,” said Uriah Zokruah, Deputy Commander of the Grand Gedeh Police Detachment. His detachment has forwarded several cases involving Burkinabés to court.

“We have had about 10 of these cases. In some instances, fines are imposed,” said Shad Dweh, Senior Magistrate of the Zwedru City Magisterial Court. “It’s a complex problem that requires cooperation between the Liberia Immigration Service, the Police, the FDA, and the communities.”

Many Burkinabés cross borders into Liberia from neighboring Côte d’Ivoire by canoe, motorbike, or on foot. Once here, they enter into informal contracts, wherein they invest money and labor, while Liberian hosts and landlords contribute land. Over time, the migrants have come to outnumber their hosts across communities. They are a constant feature on highways and footpaths, having farming tools in their hands.

“We do not want trouble,” Soré Sayouba, a Burkinabe farmer in Grand Gedeh’s Gbarzon District, tells The DayLight. “We feel sad about what is happening, but when there is confusion, everyone gets blamed.”

Liberia Immigration Service recorded 55,000 Burkinabes in Liberia as of August, with 48,000 in Grand Gedeh County alone. There are 4,000 in River Gee, 2,000 in Nimba, and 426 in Maryland.

Divisions

Last March, six months after the Burkinabe teenager’s death, a land dispute between the Kiteabo and Glaro sub-tribes in River Gee County left three people dead: Eric Nyenpan, Sabastine Saylee, and Aaron Teah.

The violence began when Nyenpan of Kiteabo was allegedly shot by Glarro men while setting up tents on the Cheapoo Island, a disputed territory. In retaliation, Kiteabo tribesmen destroyed Glaro villages, killing Saylee and Teah. The clashes have strained longstanding ties between the two groups.

“It is a tragic thing. Investigation into these incidents is growing deeper to find who the killers are. We are trying to establish the motive behind these acts,” said Theophilus Togba, River Gee’s Assistant Police Commissioner.

A drone picture of a new farm shows cocoa thriving while trees decay. The DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba

A conflict between Tojallah and Bargblor in the Gbao and Cavalla districts of neighboring Grand Gedeh may be less chaotic. However, it is getting tense. The dispute began when Tojallah men allegedly abducted over a dozen Burkinabe farmers working for Bargblor in Karblee, a contested forestland.

Tojallah claims a local creek as their traditional boundary, while Bargblor insists it lies somewhere else. Once linked by intermarriages, the two communities—cousins and nephews—now clash bitterly over ownership.

This scenario is unfolding in Dougee Town, Gbarzon District, where relatives are embroiled in a fierce legal battle over a 1,500-acre plot of land.

In 2023, Anthony Rancy, son of a former Grand Gedeh senator, John Rancy, sued his relative, Robert Bestman, at the Zleh Town Magisterial Court, alleging that Bestman had farmed cocoa on his land. Rancy further alleged that Burkinabe migrants, acting on Bestman’s orders, invaded the property inherited from the late senator.

A drone shot of Pierre Village-1, a Burkinabe settlement in B’hai Jozon, Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba

But Bestman denies the charges, claiming the land had been illegally acquired by John Rancy Sr. decades ago, and that residents had long warned Anthony Rancy to stay away.

In the end, the Zleh Town Magisterial Court ruled in favor of Anthony Rancy, sentencing Bestman to nine months at the Zwedru Palace Correctional Center for trespassing.

The conflicts are not limited to Liberian communities and families alone. In some cases, Burkinabé migrants clash with their Liberian counterparts and even their Burkinabé compatriots.

In 2018, the Toe Town Magisterial Court heard a land dispute between Ali Kabore, a Burkinabe cocoa farmer, and Goeyeazon Belaydee, a resident. Their dispute started after Belaydee failed to honor a cocoa agreement, according to court officials. Belaydee had agreed to relinquish a portion of his ancestral land to Kabore in return for cocoa.

However, following years of production, Belaydee failed to deliver on the terms of the agreement, prompting Kabore’s court action. Belaydee admitted breaching the agreement. while the case ended in an out-of-court settlement.

Last August, police in Grand Gedeh arrested several Burkinabe migrants in the Gboryeazon forest area of B’hai District over a land dispute that left three persons injured. Two of the men were so severely injured that they had to be referred to a hospital in Côte d’Ivoire.

Deforestation

Skilled and hardworking farmers, Burkinabe migrants began arriving in Liberia from neighboring Ivory Coast in the 2010s in search of cocoa farmland. Liberia’s abundant, fertile forestlands and weak law enforcement would make their search for the so-called “brown gold rush” a reality.

Liberia holds over 40 percent of West Africa’s largest remaining rainforests, the Upper Guinea forests. However, deforestation is also an issue for Liberia. Between 2002 and 2024, it lost about 390,000 hectares of primary forest, according to the Global Forest Watch, which tracks deforestation.

A flourishing cocoa tree in B’hai Jozon Forest in Grand Gedeh County. The DayLight/Samuel T. Jabba

Cocoa farming was a huge contributor to that. A recent report by the UK campaign group Global Witness found that from 2021 to 2024, Liberia lost a forest area of over the size of the European nation of Luxembourg.

It is easy to see how that works. Unlike the traditional Liberian method of retaining tree canopy, Burkinabe farmers fell trees to plant the crop. They would set fire to the base of trees or apply chemicals, killing them gradually. Drone footage reveals cocoa plants flourishing beneath vast tree graveyards.

These farms are everywhere, including forestry concessions, proposed and national parks, and community forests, resulting in deforestation across vast areas. Farming in parks, designated parks, concessions, and authorized community forests is illegal, according to the National Forestry Reform Law.

Last December, 21 migrants were arrested in Grand Gedeh’s Konobo Community Forest. Their arrest followed several, including 31 Burkinabe nationals, mostly teenagers, for allegedly encroaching on a community forest and a logging concession.

Back in River Gee, a jury confirmed foul play in the death of Kobera. However, no arrests have been made.

In Katebo, 21 suspects, including five Ivoirians and three Burkinabes, have been arrested in connection with the death of the three men. The defendants face multiple charges, including murder and illegal weapon possession.

Their case is before the 15th Judicial Circuit Court.

[Additional reporting by Paul Rancy in Grand Gedeh and Prince Copeland in River Gee]

FDA Begins Logging Concession Process In Gbarpolu

January 7, 2026

Top: A team of FDA staff in a town hall meeting with affected forest leaders in Tima Town. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr

By Esau J. Farr

TIMA TOWN, Gbarpolu County – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) has initiated the process of establishing a new logging concession. The FDA has engaged with the communities that would be affected in Kongba District, Gbarpolu County, near the Gola Park forest management contract area, specifically “D” or FMC-D.

The FDA is conducting social and economic surveys in the area in line with the Forestry Reform Law. The law requires the regulator to seek local people’s consent for possible commercial logging activities. It also mandates the FDA to conduct an inventory of all species of the forest that qualify for a concession agreement.

“Government needs resources and if it must continue infrastructural development, we need to get those resources from the communities for the benefits of all of us,” says Rudolph Merab, the FDA Managing Director. “We want to see our communities developed. Our people in the rural area have been there for years in abject poverty. So, our intervention has to be real.”

FMCs are large-scale concessions signed between the government and logging companies. It covers at least 50,000 hectares of forestland and not more than 400,000 hectares for 25 years.

After the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars, Liberia’s forest cover area was divided into 26 large-scale contracts. They were labelled as FMC “A” to “Z”. This one in Gbarpolu and others were, however, not granted to companies due to technical reasons.

Currently, two of them are active—Geeblo Logging Company and Euro-Liberia Logging Company—according to the FDA’s records, with the rest inactive.

A view of a forest in Tima Town, where the FDA wants to create a logging concession. The DayLight/Esau J. Farr

When completed, the Kongba-based concession would be the first since the initial ones over 15 years ago.

“The team that is here will talk with community people. They will go into the bush to check and find the different kinds of trees there,” Ekema Witherspoon, an FDA consultant, tells a town hall meeting in Tima Town, one of the landowning communities.

“They will take some people from here and work with the team that is coming from Monrovia because your children know the forest.”

Forest leaders of Kongba welcome the idea of commercial logging in their area.

“We don’t want any more parks in our district. The only thing we want is a company that will come and improve our living conditions,” says Blama Kanneh, Paramount Chief of Kongba District.

Other chiefs agree with Kanneh.

“For us to hear you today that you want to work with us for companies to come here, we are very happy,” says Aaron Momo, Zuie Clan Chief. “If you compare other counties in Liberia with Gbarpolu County, especially Kongba District, you will feel at for us here. Development is very slow here!”

Following the FDA’s field report, companies will have to bid for the forest through the Public Procurement Concession Commission (PPCC). The winner of the bid, after legislative approval, will sign a social agreement with the would-be affected communities.

But forestry campaigners dissent from the process. Jonathan Yiah, the head of forest governance of the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), believes it is counterproductive. Yiah references the troubled history of large-scale logging concessions.

A 2013 Liberian government-commissioned report by the London-based Moore Stephens found all seven concessions, covering 1,007,239 hectares, had been illegally awarded.

Likewise, a 2024 review by the US-based Forest Trends found that all FMCs were noncompliant.

“The FDA should refrain from pursuing another forest management contract when nearly all existing contracts are either dormant or underperforming,” says Yiah.

“Instead, the FDA should focus on implementing the recommendations from the Liberia Forest Concession Review (Phase II) of 2024.” The review determined several large-scale logging contracts did not meet essential prequalification criteria, among others.

“Resolving these critical issues should take precedence over initiating another [large-scale logging concession],” Yiah adds.

FDA Resurveys Kwa Forest Amid Mining Interest

November 27, 2025

Top: FDA Managing Director Rudolph Merab in a group photo with residents of the Proposed Kwa National Park, Gbarzon District, Grand Gedeh County. Gaye Town-Thursday, November 13, 2025. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

By Varney Kamara

GAYE TOWN, Grand Gedeh – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) recently announced a resurvey of the Grand Gedeh portion of the Proposed Kwa Protected Area within 90 days. The FDA ordered farmers to halt further degradation of the park, warning of punitive actions.

“We will cut the boundaries and ensure that the government collects what belongs to it, and then the community will get its benefit,” Merab said in a meeting with community representatives in Gaye Town, which borders the park. “I don’t want to see anybody planting cocoa or doing farming business in there.”

But Merab left out important information about the FDA’s plan after the resurvey. A document The DayLight obtained shows that the FDA targets a potential auction of the area where cocoa has been planted. The document was written on October 10, about a month before the Gaye Town meeting.

The document also shows that an unnamed FDA manager dissented from the regulator’s plan to seize and auction. The manager wrote that the “bad precedent” would undermine conservation efforts, fuel violence, and be legally misplaced.

“My technical advice is straight implementation of the law – establish boundaries at the jointly agreed areas and make the presence of the forest rangers,” wrote the unnamed manager.

A DayLight review of multiple laws and regulations confirms the manager’s dissent. While the FDA can punish encroachers, it cannot auction farmland in a proposed protected area.

Like the anonymous manager, the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF), an NGO helping to establish Kwa, opposes the seizure and auctioning plan. Clement Tweh, WCF’s Program Manager, said there was no need to seize and auction the property. He urges the FDA to remove encroachers from Kwa and identify and support livelihood programs for communities.

Tweh also disagrees with the FDA over the resurvey idea, warning the exercise would cause more harm than good.

“This will lead to more problems because lines were drawn during previous surveys. Potential conflict spots were duly identified and demarcated. I don’t see the need for another one,” Tweh said.

“All the FDA needs to do is to remove the park’s illegal occupants, and identify and support alternative livelihood activities for communities.”

The FDA insists on the resurvey. Asked whether the FDA would replicate this action in other proposed and protected areas since encroachment was commonplace, Merab nodded, depending on a “positive” outcome of Kwa’s resurvey.

“We are here because our people keep complaining about encroachment and conflict all around here. Our action is intended to resolve all these issues,” Merab told The DayLight on the margins of the Gaye Town meeting.

Kwa crosscuts River Cess, Sinoe, and Grand Gedeh Counties. It protects Liberia’s vital biodiversity within the Upper Guinean forests, West Africa’s largest remaining rainforests. With 90 percent of its primary forest intact, Kwa hosts vulnerable wildlife species such as the Western chimpanzee, pigmy hippopotamus, and slender-snouted crocodile.

Protecting Kwa is vital for Liberia’s commitment to conserve 30 percent of its rainforests, conservationists say. It contributes to the country’s climate commitment to cut deforestation and forest-related emissions by 2030.

It would be the third time that Kwa has been surveyed.

An overview of Gaye Town, Gbarzon District, where the FDA held its consultative meeting with Kwa National Park’s residents. The DayLight/Varney Kamara

Kwa, formerly known as the Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Forest, was first surveyed between 1950 and 1952 as part of a general survey of the Kwa National Forests, a fulfillment of the Act for the Conservation of Forests, which established legal frameworks for National Parks and protected areas.

In 2023, a survey found that Kwa measured 236,246 hectares after feasibility studies and community consultation in 2016. However, it lost some 64,358 hectares to roads, encroachment, and mining, and now measures 171,888 hectares. These activities have led to habitat loss and the destruction of the ecosystem.

Conservation versus mining

The disagreements over the FDA’s resurvey come amidst miners’ interest in parts of Kwa. In July and August, Grand Gedeh Superintendent Alex Grant met representatives of GLM Inc., an affiliate of Bea Mountain Mining Corporation, Liberia’s largest gold producer.

Pictures The DayLight obtained show Grant, Timothy Amos, a GLM official, and another man in a group picture with Grant in his Zwedru office. They disclosed plans to extend their operations to Boe Geewon, Grand Gedeh’s portion of Kwa.

“I remember some members of a Bea Mountain affiliate met me in my home office and said they wanted to do prospecting in parts of River Cess and Grand Gedeh,” said Grant, who has been under fire for an illegal cocoa farm deal covering 500 acres.

“I told them to go and bring their authorization from the Ministry of Mines and Energy. I did not authorize anyone to go mine in those places.”

Merab said he was unaware of miners’ interest in Kwa, and that nothing had been decided when the survey ended. “We will come back and sit down with our people to decide what to do when it is finished.”

GLM did not respond to queries from The DayLight. Amos had promised to return the question on Wednesday, but had not by Thursday.

Grand Gedeh Superintendent Alex Grant poses with a representative of GLM Inc., an affiliate of Liberia’s largest gold mining company.

Earlier this year, communities in River Cess withdrew their support for the establishment of Kwa through a petition to lawmakers, leading to the extraction of a portion of Kwa. Locals would later sign an MoU with GLM Inc., a subsidiary of Bea Mountain, which is now exploring for gold in the area.

In October, a US-based NGO, Forest Trends, published a mining report that found several licenses overlap with Kwa and other protected areas.

Mining in a proposed or protected area is illegal, under the National Forestry Reform Law, except for industrial mining, which must meet certain requirements.

Sawmill Pollutes Buchanan Neighborhood

November 11, 2025

Top: Smoke billows from a sawmill operated by Krish Veneer Industries Incorporated in New Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. The DayLight/James Giahyue

By Emmanuel Sherman

Residents in communities affected by Krish Veneer Industries’ sawmill in New Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, complain of daily noise and air pollution

Krish’s environmental permit requires a 50-meter distance from any residence. However, satellite imagery shows several homes much closer to the facility.

An independent verifier finds Krish complies with its environmental permit, but inconsistencies undermine findings.

The evidence establishes that the verifier doctored the report, covering up the sawmill’s pollution trail.

NEW BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa County – Seedaye Mingo, a grandmother in her 60s, sits and washes in front of her house, just a few yards from a large sawmill. For her, living near the sawmill, a fresh breeze has become a distant memory.

“The smoke can be black,” Mingo said. “It can smell.”

Mingo is one of several residents in five communities in New Buchanan, Lower Hardlandsville, who are impacted by the sawmill. Residents say they are experiencing some of these health issues. They complain of nonstop chainsaw buzzing and rattling from morning to evening, and smoke from the factory’s huge chimney clouds the entire area, covering everything. A video, shot by one resident, shows smoke billowing from the sawmill into the community.

Krish Veneer Industries, an Indian-owned company, runs the gigantic sawmill. Established in 2019, Krish produces and exports timbers, plywood, and veneer, a decorative wooden material. It has a workforce of 300 people and processes between 25,000 and 27,000 cubic meters of wood yearly. It was dedicated last May by Vice President Jeremiah Koung, which is likely the largest sawmill in the country.

Krish’s environmental permit requires the sawmill to be at least 50 meters away from any residence to prevent pollution. However, satellite imagery, analyzed by Nerisa Group of Companies, a DayLight affiliate, shows that several homes are just a few meters from the facility.

This indicates that residents such as Mingo are exposed to noise and invisible particles suspended in the air. Noise exposure, scientists warn, can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep disturbances, and stress. Similarly, suspended particles can lead to heart and lung diseases in people, and impair visibility, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“The smoke is getting us blind and making our children sick,” says Junior Toe, a resident of Peace community, which hosts the sawmill.

“The pollution is a serious problem. The smoke affects not only adults but also children,” said Pastor Charles Gray of Success Community.

Daniel Larwubah, EPA Grand Bassa County Coordinator, said the agency needed to conduct a study to confirm the community’s concerns. He says he will inform the head office in Monrovia to send a team to the area.

The sawmill also poses a more direct threat to residents. Last year, ashes from the flames transferred to Pastor Gray’s makeshift house. Fortunately for him, neighbors ran to his rescue and cut off the fire.

On another occasion, flames from burning wood waste caught a resident’s clothes just outside the facility.

“I decided to take the clothes from the sun, but the flames from the fire in the fence had already burned the shirt,” says Beatrice Jacobs. Paul Harris, the chairman of Prosser, and other residents, corroborate Jacobs’ story.

A map showing several residences less than 50 meters away from Krish Veneer Industries, a violation of the sawmill’s environmental permit. Nerisa Group of Companies for The DayLight

After those incidents, the community wrote Krish in January last year, complaining about the danger the sawmill posed to the neighborhood, but got no reply. Harris says they also wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia’s Buchanan office, but also got no reply.

So, in June that year, residents complained to the Office of the Superintendent of Grand Bassa County. Before her death, Superintendent Julia Bono held a conference between the community and Krish in June, a Ministry of Internal Affairs document shows.

In the meeting, the late Bono asked the company to find somewhere else to dispose of its waste, according to Harris. She died that November. However, Krish obeyed and stopped burning its wood wastes in the open. The DayLight observed that following several visits there, it remains the case.

A Krish contractor, who asked not to be named because he was unauthorized to speak, confirmed the change. “We use matches to light the fire and put big wood in the oven. The fire would burn throughout the day from 8 am to 8 pm,” he tells this reporter.

Larwubah admits to discussing with Harris about Krish. However, he denies receiving any communication, though the community mentioned that in their letter to the Office of the Superintendent.

Krish did not reply emailed questions on The DayLight’s findings and the residents’ allegations. The newspaper contacted a Krish executive, but he hung up the phone once this reporter introduced himself.

Inconsistencies

The EPA of Liberia certifies independent firms to conduct an environmental audit to find out whether the project complies with legal requirements. By law, the regulator fines a company that violates its permit provisions, based on the audit’s findings.

Smoke chimney mounted on top of the building, in the saw mill compound. Emmanuel Sherman/The DayLight

In Krish’s case, the Monrovia-based Environmental Consultancy Incorporated (ENCO) conducted the audit of the sawmill.

“Krish Veneer Industry is operating in a very effective and proficient manner in safeguarding the environment and its workforce…,” the audit report reads.

But residents dismiss those findings, saying they are unaware that ENCO conducted an environmental audit on the sawmill.

“Nothing of such,” says Joshua Howard, a spokesperson for the community. “They never came here in the community.”

ENCO determined Krish was “compliant” with the 50-meter provision. It established that the facility was a “well contained and [fenced].”

The satellite imagery, however, shows several homes just a few meters away from the sawmill’s fence, some 11, 12, 16 and 22 meters close to the facility. This evidence supports residents’ stories of flames from the company’s yard ending up on their premises next door.

Also, ENCO found that Krish did not employ an officer to handle community complaints in line with its environmental permit. Yet, ENCO marked Krish “compliant” in that area, an inconsistency.

The DayLight found other inconsistencies in the environmental audit report. ENCO reports that Krish respected cultural and historical sites, even though there are none in the community.

It found that Krish’s raw materials were from “outgrown rubber trees,” and that the community was forested. In reality, New Buchanan, where the sawmill sits, does not have a forest. Instead, it is one of the fastest-growing suburban communities with mushrooming homes and businesses on the Buchanan-River Cess highway.

A screenshot of Krish Veneer Industries shows findings inconsistent with scientific evidence gathered with the aid of satellite imagery.

ENCO misplaces its recommendations for finding in the “noise pollution” and “air quality control” portion of the report. It also mistakes findings for recommendations.

These inconsistencies, along with residents allegedly not partaking in the audit, prove that ENCO doctored the report, covering up Krish’s noncompliance.

The evidence indicates ENCO copied details from a 2024 report it had compiled for C&C Corporation (CCC) on the Mavasagueh Community Forest in Compound Two, about a 30-minute drive away. Interestingly, CCC supplies Krish with logs, and both companies have the same general manager, Clarence Massaquoi.

The CCC report was as problematic as the Krish audit report. While assessing potential impacts of CCC’s operations, it consulted only 24 of 39 affected communities.

Townspeople would protest their exclusion, leading to fresh elections that ultimately incorporated the 15 towns and villages left out.

ENCO did not reply to emailed questions, and when contacted, declined to speak to The DayLight.

“Go and ask the EPA,” said James B. Konowa, ENCO’s lead environmental auditor, who is a mining engineer. “We are accountable to them, not to you.”

Integrity Watch Liberia provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained complete editorial independence over its content.

Sand Mining Drowning Fisherfolk in Poverty

November 7, 2025

Top: Empty nets and canoes on the banks of the St. Paul River in Caldwell. The DayLight/Carlucci Cooper

By Carlucci Cooper

ST. PAUL BRIDGE – On the banks of the St. Paul River in Montserrado County, the day starts early. Paddles slicing through the water as fishermen set out before sunrise. For generations, the people along this river have survived on fishing.

But their way of life is fading away.

Where once nets came back filled with fish, now they return almost empty. Children wait on the shore for fathers whose catch can no longer feed them. The silence of empty boats has replaced the laughter that once echoed along the riverbanks.

For Roosevelt Kollie, a fisherman from St. Paul Bridge, a suburb outside Monrovia, who has fished here for over 40 years, the change is personal and painful.

“I have been fishing on this river for more than 30 years, but since companies started mining sand on the river, the fish migrated,” says Kollie. “Places where we used to catch huge quantities are now empty. The river is dying, and so is our livelihood.”

In the last decade or so, fishers like Kollie have seen their catches vanish after several companies began mining sands on the St. Paul River. This is not only changing their way of life but also drowning the fishing community in poverty.

Since 2011, the Ministry of Mines has issued 89 sand mining licenses for rivers and beaches across Liberia, including one that was issued on the 30^th of October, official records show. Nineteen of those licenses were awarded for the St. Paul River, with seven currently active. Most of the licenses came after the Liberian government banned beach sand mining in 2012. The move was meant to curb coastal erosion. However, experts say it has piled pressure on rivers, hampering fishing.

Inland fishery plays a crucial role in sustaining rural life across Liberia. While ocean fisheries often take center stage, rivers, lakes, and wetlands are essential to thousands of families. A 2017 report estimated that 1,460 people engaged in inland fisheries, and the subsector produced 25 percent of the fish for rural communities.

“Fish depend on the riverbed for food. When sand is mined, it destroys their habitat and forces them to migrate into the sea,” says Dr. Eugene Shannon, former Minister of Mines and Energy. “Sometimes they return, and sometimes they’re killed by strong ocean currents. It’s not just bad for the river, it’s devastating for the people who depend on it.”

“[Sand mining] disrupts spawning and nursery grounds and leads to sedimentation, which reduces water quality and oxygen levels,” adds Ahmed Sherf, Director for Environment and Climate Change with the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA). He adds that sand mining damages mangroves, which serve as breeding and feeding grounds for various fish species.

Fishermen know this all too well.

‘’When it rains, my home leaks like outside. My children hold their books so they don’t get wet. Some days they get ready for school, but have to stay home because I can’t afford their remaining school fees,’’ says 42-year-old fisherman, Francis Wreh.

A drone shot of the St. Paul Bridge, after which the fisherfolk community bears its name. The DayLight/Carlucci Cooper

“I go to the river hoping to catch fish to sustain us, but the nets come out nearly empty, only enough to feed us.”

Hopeful, 38-year-old Archie Benson rests on a pile of sand, watching trucks pull away from the riverbank. Not long ago, he would have been pushing a canoe at this hour, nets twisted at his feet. Today, those nets sit dry behind his house. Construction works have replaced fishing, and each load of sand he helps remove feels like another piece of the river slipping away.

“I grew up on this river. Fishing was all I knew. But now I dig sand for construction from the same water that fed us. I feel like I’m undermining my own history, but my family has to survive,” explains Archie Benson, a fisherman-turned-construction-worker.

Fishmongers, too, are bearing the brunt of sand mining. For 36-year-old Tete Wilson, the market no longer echoes with fishermen calling her name. All that is left are empty tubs and tables.

“We used to sit here, and fishermen would bring fish every day, but nowadays we go chasing after them and usually come back with nothing. The fishermen themselves are crying that the water is mean,” says Wilson.

Some fishmongers travel far from St. Paul Bridge just to keep their stalls stocked. Cynthia Nagbe, 29, wakes up before sunrise, boards a taxi to reach beaches in Marshall, Margibi and sometimes Robertsport, Cape Mount, in search of fish. The journey cost her more, but she has little choice if she wants to keep her customers.

A truck collecting sand on the Roberts International Airport highway in 2021. The DayLight/Harry Browne

‘Stop river sand mining’

Sand mining in the St. Paul River might have intensified 13 years ago. However, the river’s profile suggests it would remain a goldmine for the construction industry. One of Liberia’s six largest rivers, the St. Paul flows from Guinea through Liberia into the Atlantic Ocean, spanning 301 miles. A 1963 report found that the mineral is in “unlimited quantities” in the St. Paul Bridge region.

Now, mining sand from the river best explains why fish die or migrate from the area. It works by pumping a mixture of sand and water through long pipelines, using high pressure to extract sediments from the riverbed. The dredged sand is piled in a location where it is separated from the water. The water is then allowed to flow back into the river, degrading that entire ecosystem.

It gets even worse if you add rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, according to a 2017 climate risk profile of Liberia, and overfishing, a lack of canoe-landing sites and storage facilities, according to Sherf.

Sherf says NaFAA is partnering with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and other institutions to meet these challenges and improve fisheries. He recommends the setting up of no-mining zones near critical habitats, enforcing regulations, and promoting alternative construction materials.

Fisherfolk demand these actions now.

“We need the government to either stop river sand mining or enact laws that will protect our river. If we don’t take action, we’ll lose everything: our river, our fish, and our hustle,” says Pious Johnson, a fishmonger in St. Paul Bridge.

“We want the government to act. We survive by this river, so we’re appealing for help,” says Thomas Kollie, a fishmonger.

Annie William, a fishmonger, sits in Sinkor. The DayLight/Carlucci Cooper

The Ministry of Mines insists that companies mining sand on the St. Paul are legal and have the right to be there.

“River sand mining is legal once you have documents that qualify you to operate with a… license, and you pay your taxes,” says Agatius Coker, Mining Inspector. “That’s why we conduct periodic compliance and enforcement with these companies to ensure environmental safety.”

Coker’s comments are largely unfounded. A 2022 General Auditing Commission report revealed that Liberia’s sand mining industry is largely unregulated, with weak oversight and illegal operations.

The report calls for “comprehensive policies, rules, or regulations that are specific to the governance of river sand mining. It found one company operated in Montserrado and Bong Counties without a license, while another abused its prospecting license. It also found that field inspectors did not regularly monitor and report on companies’ operations.

It says, “[The Ministry of Mines] should review the licenses and operations of all companies mining in the St. Paul River and assess the impact of their activities, cancelling and relocating mines that are causing greater environmental degradation.”

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

Land Authority Boss Violated Moratorium and Broke Laws, Probe Finds

November 5, 2025

Top: The Chairman of the Land Authority, Samuel Kpakio, illegally signed a deed as part of a fraudulent cocoa agreement between Grand Gedeh County and a Burkinabé businessman. Filed picture/Liberia Land Authority

By James Harding Giahyue and Varney Kamara

The Chairman of the Liberia Land Authority, Samuel Kpakio, signed a deed for a 500-acre cocoa farmland in Grand Gedeh County, violating a moratorium that President Joseph Boakai pronounced in the State of the Nation Address.

The transaction was a part of a fraudulent agreement between Grand Gedeh County and a Burkinabé cocoa farmer, which, authorities say, has been terminated

The surveyor who surveyed the land is unauthorized to conduct a government survey. Mr. Kpakio even signed the deed before the surveyor completed his work.

The survey was secretly conducted, and there was no record that the land was put out for competitive bidding as required by law

The deed was issued to an unlawful, inexistent recipient

MONROVIA – Over the weekend, the Liberia Land Authority said Grand Gedeh County Superintendent Alex Grant “misled” it in a fraudulent cocoa farming agreement with a Burkinabé businessman. The 30-year deal, worth US$600,000, has been canceled, according to county officials.

“The Superintendent and the County Land Administrator of Grand Gedeh misled the … [Land Authority] during the issuance and signing of the said deed, thereby bypassing established procedures and guidelines required for granting a development grant deed,” the Land Authority said in a statement. It provided no evidence to back that claim.

The Land Authority revoked the deed and suspended two staffers in its Grand Gedeh Office in connection with a deal that targeted 500 acres of ancestral land in the B’hai District. It said it was investigating Paye Freeman, the County Land Administrator, and David Togbasie, Land Dispute Officer. The two men would not speak on the matter.

But a DayLight investigation has uncovered that the Chairman of the Land Authority, Samuel Kpakio, masterminded the deal. Government documents and interviews with officials revealed that Kpakio violated a moratorium to support the agreement. The Land Authority boss utilized an unauthorized surveyor and skipped the legal processes, as mentioned in the weekend press release. The deed was even intended for an unlawful recipient.

The DayLight obtained the deed in question for the 500 acres and observed several issues with the document.

First, Kpakio signed the deed on July 8, 2025, when the moratorium on public land sale was active. The moratorium was issued last year and announced by President Joseph Boakai during this year’s State of the Nation Address, pending the creation of guidelines to prevent land-grabbing.

“These efforts aim to enhance tenure security, resolve conflicts, and promote sustainable land investment throughout Liberia,” the President said. It was lifted on July 31, 2025, twenty-three days after Kpakio signed the deed.

In Friday’s press release, the Land Authority detailed the accusations against Mr. Grant, citing provisions in the Land Rights Act he had allegedly violated. However, the institution glossed over its own actions and inactions, failing to say why it suspended the staffers. This concealed Kpakio’s role in the scandal, while shifting blame to Grant, Freeman, and Togbasie.

While Freeman and Togbasie’s roles in the scam are unclear, the evidence establishes Mr. Grant’s wrongdoing: not obtaining the community people’s consent. However, Mr. Kpakio’s blame game contradicts his position as head of the Land Authority.

Mr. Kpakio is no stranger to land matters. Before being appointed Chairman of the Land Authority, Mr. Kpakio served as director of land use planning and management with “distinction,” according to the institution’s website. Moreover, the Liberia Land Authority was established as a “one-stop shop” for land transactions countrywide, not the Office of the Superintendent.

The DayLight caught up with Mr. Grant in Paynesville on Saturday, but he declined an interview. However, he had admitted to his wrongdoing before canceling the agreement.

“I regret that the locals were not informed by the district’s authorities. I think is a procedural error,” Grant told a team of reporters in an interview in Zwedru City. “Once they don’t agree, and we agreed, we can both come to the negotiation table and have a conversation around it.”

A copy of a fraudulent deed bearing the signature of the Land Authority’s Chairman, Samuel Kpakio

Second, The DayLight also observed another irregularity with the deed Kpakio signed that has nothing to do with Grant. David Sluwar, a licensed private surveyor, had surveyed the land and signed the document, a red flag, the surveyor’s roster shows. A private land surveyor does not survey a government plot; there are 56 government surveyors registered to do this job.

People familiar with public land procedures and processes believe Sluwar played a crucial part in the scandal. “No government surveyor could have signed that deal,” said one official, who asked not to be named over fear of retribution.

There is another issue regarding Mr. Sluwar, though. Mr. Kpakio signed the deed before the private land surveyor completed the survey, another red flag. The document shows that Mr. Sluwar signed it on July 10, two days after Mr. Kpakio. In normal land transactions, the Chairman of the Land Authority signs a deed after the survey is completed, not before.

Furthermore, details of the survey were not published in line with the Land Rights Regulation. The 2022 instrument calls for published details of a government land survey to be published in a government gazette, in at least two newspapers and radio stations, in local languages.

The regulation also requires the Land Authority to publish a survey notice for at least one month. Like the details, there is no record that a survey notice was published.

The Chairman of the Land Authority, Samuel Kpakio, signed the deed before the survey was completed.

Efforts to get Sluwar’s side of the story did not materialize. His mobile phone number was switched off on Sunday and Monday, and he did not respond to text messages. The DayLight has contacted the Surveyor Licensing and Registration Board about Mr. Sluwar’s role in the scandal.

Third, The DayLight gathered evidence that the Land Authority did not vet the land in question before Kpakio signed the deed. Normally, its vetting department verifies whether there are issues.

Failure to verify explains why the agency did not identify that the 500 acres were customary land. The land, located on the Liberia-Ivory Coast border, was unused because it is a far-to-reach area. However, the plot is easily accessible from the Ivorian side.

Fourth, there is no record that the land in question was put out for a competitive bidding process as mandated by the Land Rights Act.

The newspaper observed one more inconsistency. The deed was granted to the Grand Gedeh Local Government Reserved Farmland, which does not exist. A development grant deed is not awarded to a farmland. Rather, it is issued to a person, an institution, an NGO, or any legal entity. In fact, such a deed is so delicate that the new guidelines require the signatures of three commissioners.

Mr. Kpakio evaded all The DayLight’s efforts for an interview. He did not respond to detailed questions on WhatsApp on Sunday and directly to his office on Monday. He also declined an interview on Tuesday and was unavailable on Wednesday.

Regardless, Mr. Kpakio’s well-documented actions contradict his induction speech in February, in which he spoke about reforming the Land Authority.

“There will be no room for unethical and unprofessional conduct, both in administration and in our interactions with our development partners and the Liberian public,” said Kpakio.

“The Liberia Land Authority will operate differently this time. Our work will be grounded in our core values: quality service delivery, transparency, fairness, accountability, integrity, professionalism, and respect.”

[Additional reporting by Paul Rancy in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County]

Integrity Watch Liberia provided funding for this story. The DayLight maintained complete editorial independence of its content.

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