Home Tags Nimba County

Nimba Clan Seeks Support to Protect Community Forest

December 13, 2024

Top: Sehyi Ko-doo Community Forest’s members in Sanniquellie-Mahn District, Nimba County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By Varney Kamara

SEHYI-GEH, Nimba County – Villagers in a northeastern clan seek support to keep their forest amid huge challenges.

On 22 February 2017, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and Sehyi Ko-doo Community Forest signed a community forest management agreement that authorized the community to manage its forest.

“We have planted trees and established a management body to protect the forest,” says Ericson Flomo, the leader of the Sehyi Ko-doo Community Forest as The DayLight tours one of the replanting sites.

“We have also put in place other measures to empower the people. We did this realizing that conservation is the best way to save our forest and the environment,” adds Flomo.

“We need resources, training, and capacity building to maintain and grow this initiative. Strengthening our workforce is critical to these efforts.”

The 1,538-hectare forest is next to the East Nimba Nature Reserve (ENNR), a biodiversity hotspot home to rare wildlife, including African elephants, chimpanzees, and golden cats. The FDA and its international partners see Sehyi Ko-doo and neighboring community forests as important for the ENNR’s protection.

In the past, the region hosted logging, hunting, mining and farming, activities that caused deforestation, habitat loss, and threatened species.

Thus, locals are rethinking ways they can benefit from forest resources without cutting down trees or degrading the forests. From 2002 to 2023, Liberia lost 347,000 hectares of primary forest, making up 15 percent of its total tree cover loss, according to the Global Forest Watch, which analyzes satellite images to track deforestation worldwide.

Reforestation

To help solve this problem, Sehyi Ko-doo runs a reforestation program, a community forest guard service and alternative livelihood activities.

Launched in 2019, the project has seen the replanting of 30,000 trees, including 28,000 indigenous species. It is one of the largest reforestation initiatives in the country.

The Sehyi Ko-doo Community Forest covers 1,538 hectares in the Sanniquellie-Mahn District of Nimba County. Varney Kamara/The DayLight

Moreover, Sehyi Ko-doo has put 15,000 trees in nurseries, which have produced high yields. They plan to establish a regional laboratory for plant and medical research.

But there are challenges. Locals do not have a water pump machine so, they water the nurseries manually. Furthermore, the distance between the clan and where volunteers collect seeds on the Guinea border is too far. Volunteers, including Otis Flomo, must make the sacrifice. (The Flomos of Sehyi Ko-doo are all related one way or the other, according to a local legend)

“We can go in the bush, bring the seeds before putting them on the ground nursery,” Otis Flomo tells our reporter. The nursery site is on the banks of a river on the Sehyikimpa-Karnplay highway. “We want to appeal to the people to give us one motorbike to be carrying them.”

Forest guards

For effective monitoring, Sehyi Ko-doo has a team of townsmen who regularly patrol the forest to track illegal activities. ArcelorMittal Liberia the project’s main funder, provides a monthly compensation for the guards.

The company has backed conservation projects in the region, including Sehyi Ko-doo’s neighbors: Blei, Zor and Gba Community Forests. It sees the protection of adjacent forests as an important part of managing the ENNR alongside the FDA.

But the support has proved insufficient. Sehyi Ko-doo wants that to increase the guards from 12 to 20. Volunteers lack training, and equipment and need a pay raise.

“Each patrol we make helps us to ensure our forest remains a home for wildlife,” says Emmanuel Flomo. We are also appealing so that the people can add some money to our pay because it is small.”

Emmanuel Flomo’s voice echoes in the forest as he speaks. There were no sounds or signs of logging, mining, or wildlife hunting. The noise from chainsaws and earthmovers that once vibrated in the rocky woodland has been replaced by the original cawing of birds, hooting of chimpanzees and rustling leaves from the footsteps of forest guards.

“What we earn here is nothing compared to the work we do. But we continue to work because the benefits of this project extend to the entire community,” says Charles Mele, the nursery supervisor.

Alternative livelihoods

The forest guard service aside, Sehyi Ko-doo runs an alternative livelihoods program to keep locals from the forest. It offers a variety of skills such as women’s arts and crafts, traditional tie dye, tailoring, soap-making, and computer literacy.

Also, Sehyi Ko-doo is building its headquarters in Sehyi-Geh. When completed, the structure will consist of a 250-person conference center and four offices.

It was built with US$42,000 from Solway Mining Inc., which had an iron ore exploration contract with Sehyi Ko-doo, and funds from ArcelorMittal.

Sehyi Ko-doo headquarters will host a 250-person conference center and four offices. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

“Our forefathers saw the need to protect the forest and its resources. As members of the current generation, we are under obligation to protect this heritage to save the unborn generation,” says Flomo.

“Now, we have a collective responsibility to repair the damage and ensure future generations benefit from the forest.”

Salayea Shows Community Land and Forest Leaders Can Work Together

November 2, 2024

Top: Eva Kpandah, Palama Clan’s community land and development committee chairperson. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By Esau J. Farr

SALAYEA TOWN, Lofa County – In 2019, the Sehyi Clan in Sanniquellie-Mahn District, Nimba County began the legal process of acquiring a customary land deed. Sehyi’s community land development and management committee spearheads that process.

Another clan group has exercised similar functions over Sehyi’s forest since 2017. The Sehyi Ko-doo Community Forest’s community forest management body comanages the 1,538-hectare forest alongside the Forestry Development Authority (FDA).

There is a problem, though. The forest leadership does not have a good relationship with its land counterpart. Like several communities, they are at loggerheads, with mounting calls for a national conversation to resolve these disputes.

But things are different in the Salayea District of Lofa County over 200 miles away. There, three—not two—community land and forest bodies, peacefully coexist and solve some of the district’s problems.

Since 2009, the district has had a community forest development committee, representing locals’ interests in a large-scale logging concession.

In 2016, the Salayea Community Forest was established, with a community leadership to co-manage the forest.

Then in 2019, Palama, a clan that hosts a portion of the Salayea Community Forest, established a governance structure to help develop and manage its land.

“If we don’t merge and work together, things will not work well for us,” says Yassah Mulbah, the chief officer of the Salayea Community Forest.

“We are working together as a team for a goal to protect the forest, to take it from illegal activities for the community’s development,” adds Eva Kpandah, the chairperson of Palama Clan’s land committee.

All three of the district’s bodies combat community challenges, including land conflicts and illegal mining activities.

A portion of the 8,270-hectare Salayea Community Forest in Lofa County. The DayLight/Harry Browne

In May, Kpandah tipped off Mulbah when she spotted miners entering the forest. Kpandah and Tokpah Koiwu supported Mulbah in filing a lawsuit against the miners. Koiwu is a member of Salayea District’s committee regarding the district’s large-scale logging concession.

In another instance, Mulbah and Koiwu are supporting Kpandah in Palama’s boundary dispute with Gbarlain, a neighboring clan.

‘Not invited’

In Sehyi, the stakes are even higher. Like Salayea, its forest and those of its neighbors Zor, Gba and Blei are all adjacent to the East Nimba Nature Reserve. The four communities run conservation programs that help protect the reserve’s endangered and endemic species, including chimpanzees and the Nimba toad. However, confusion among community leaders undermines livelihood programs that benefit locals and keep the forest standing.

Yassah Mulbah speaks to The DayLight at the margins of the National Land Conference in September 2024. The DayLight/Harry Browne

“The [community forest] leadership said… they can’t accept to collaborate with us,” says Peter Dolo, Sehyi’s land leadership. “When they are having meetings, [we are] not invited.”

Ericson Flomo, the leader of Sehyi’s forest leadership, denies that accusation. “They have not called us in any of their meetings,” Flomo says. He claims he is the one who has invited Dolo to several meetings.

Dolo refutes Flomo’s comments, saying he has attended Flomo’s meetings as a townsperson, not the land leader.

This crisis has rocked communities outside of Nimba. In River Cess, the leaders of Gbarsaw and Dorbor Community Forest have refused to recognize land leaders of the clan. “They are only there to take care of the land after the loggers have left. They have no authority over the forest,” James Gbordoe, the forest leader of Gbarsaw and Dorbor, said in 2021. “When the logs have been cut from there, they will have the whole land to take care of.”

The intensity of the crisis was displayed at a workshop in Ganta last month. Things got so heated that Silas Siakor, the Country Manager of Dutch NGO IDH, who helped organize the event, had to suspend the topic after a discord of claims and counterclaims from participants. The event was being held to gauge communities’ views on what they would need to manage their forest sustainably.

‘Forerunner’

Campaigners foretold this result. A few months after the passage of the Land Rights Act in 2018, the Margibi-based NGO Sustainable Development Institute published a report, predicting the power struggle.

(R-L) Peter Dolo, the chairman of Sehyi Clan’s community land development and management committee (CLDMC), and Ericson Flomo, the chief officer of Sehyi Ko-doo Community Forest. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

The report argues that “conflicting provisions” in the law, which created the community land leadership, and Community Rights Law…, which established the forest leadership, would escalate tension.

“Our thinking is the crisis will increase because part of the reasons the law was crafted was to address issues of rural marginalization in respect to managing resources in the country but also conflicting, overlapping rights,” Ali Kaba, the then-head of SDI’s community land protection program, said at the time.

“It is a good law. However, there are loopholes, there are gaps and there are contradictions,” added Kaba, who is now a Commissioner at the Liberia Land Authority.

Speaking in 2021 at a conservation event in Monrovia, Cllr. Negbalee Warner, a senior partner at Heritage Partners and Associates (HPA) and one of the laws’ crafters, somehow acknowledged the “overlap” SDI spoke of.

“If there is anything, it is that the provisions of the two laws are in some instances [overlapped], although an argument can be made that the more appropriate term will be ‘reinforcing,’” said Warner. “The [land leadership] is therefore superior to all the structures established by the [Community Rights Law].”

‘Confusion will do nothing’

Bonathan Walaka, the lead facilitator of the National Union of Community Forest Management Body, says that understanding the roles and responsibilities of the two groups is crucial for progress.

The union intends to hold a forum with national stakeholders of the sectors to help ease the tension between community leaders. “The [forest leadership] should know that those who own the land are the community [people] and that they are only managing the forest,” Walaka says.

Augustine Dweh, the chairperson of a network of community land managers, agrees with Walaka, saying education and awareness are crucial to the solution.

An elevated view of the Sehyi Ko-doo Community Forest in Nimba County. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

The same goes for Eddie Beangar, Nimba County’s Land Administrator. “Having both them to understand their roles and to ensure that their involvement impacts the environment positively,” says Beangar.

Back in Sehyi, Dolo and Flomo are willing to work together. Dolo promises to invite Flomo and his team to an impending meeting, hoping to pave the way for a renewed, smooth relationship. The same goes for Flomo

“[Anything] that is better for Sehyi, Sehyi Ko-doo will accept, Flomo tells The DayLight in an interview at an entrance of the mountainous forest. “Confusion will do nothing for us.”

Communities Desire Direct Benefits to Conserve Forests

October 26, 2024

Top: A view of the Sehyi Ko-doo Community Forest in Nimba County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By Varney Kamara

GANTA, Nimba County – Local communities are firm on conserving their forests but they want direct benefits from doing so.

“We’ve noticed that not giving funds directly to communities led to too many bureaucracies with limited social and economic impacts on the communities,” said Anthony Sumo, a community leader in the Proposed Wologizi and Wonegizi Protected Areas in Lofa County. The areas are part of the Wologizi-Wonegizi-Ziama belt, extending Guinea and connecting to Sierra Leone, and home to the critically endangered pigmy hippopotamus.

“Every day we hear about the money coming, but not much of how much development it brought to the community. There is a need to change things around.”

Sumo is one of 41 people from northern and northeastern Liberia who attended a recent meeting in Ganta, Nimba County to identify new ways local people could benefit from keeping their forests standing.

Their views and an emerging report on options Liberia could pursue to generate revenue will be developed into a proposal and turned over to the government and international partners for possible action.

The Community Rights Law… and Land Rights Act grant locals ownership of ancestral territories. Up to 75 percent of Liberia’s land is under customary control, including 1.3 million hectares of community forests and 1 million large-scale logging concessions.

Locals also support Liberia’s commitments to combat climate change, including halving deforestation, restoring a quarter of its degraded forests and reducing gases from forest use. A host of communities run conservation programs and support protected and proposed protected areas, covering 1.14 million hectares.

Yet those communities have not significantly gained from forest resources over the last one and a half decades. Failed logging contracts have left debts, abandoned logs and anger countrywide, while communities have struggled to profit from local conservation efforts.

“Any benefits that come from preserving the forests should go directly to the people, instead of passing through multiple organizations or international people,” said Sumo in an interview with The DayLight. “That’s what we have been asking for.”

Those views were echoed by other community leaders in Salayea, Blei, Sehyi Ko-doo and Zor and Gba.

Robert Mahn, a leader of the Zor Community Forest in the Sanniquellie-Mahn District of Nimba, said direct benefits were necessary for residents to manage and maintain ownership. The mountainous Zor, Gba and Blei are conservation community forests adjacent to the East Nimba Nature Reserve, an 11,538-hectare forest that is home to chimpanzees and the Nimba toad.

Over 40 people and rangers from communities and the East Nimba Nature Reserve discussed local people’s benefits from keeping their forest standing. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

“I feel that direct funding will boost our CLDMC’s involvement in decision-making, helping us use our benefits more effectively,” said Mahn.

“The people depended on these forests from our ancestral days. Now that you want them to manage and protect it in other ways, you need to provide benefits like soap-making, women’s arts, tailoring, village saving loans, animal raring, and more,” said Yassah Mulbah, the chief officer of the Salayea Authorized Forest Community.

Eight thousand two hundred and seventy hectares Lofa County, Salayea, runs a conservation program, focusing on livelihood projects Mulbah mentioned.

But other attendees, including Grace Kotee, a ranger with the East Nimba Nature Reserve, caution against mismanagement. They referenced an instance in the Korninga A Community Forest in Gbarpolu, where townsmen were tried for allegedly misusing US$76,000.

“We think that providing direct benefits to communities is a good idea but we have a little bit of concern about this. There should be a process or system put in place that will make them to be accountable,” said Kotee.

All parties agreed NGOs were crucial to communities’ conservation efforts. However, most frowned on NGOs implementing projects for communities.

Ericson Flomo, the chief officer of Sehyi Ko-doo Authorized Community Forest, called on conservation donors and the government to empower communities.

The community has planted 30,000 indigenous and fruit trees, one of the highest totals in the country. Sehyi Ko-doo has an MoU with ArcelorMittal Liberia in which the company pays a dozen local forest guards a monthly stipend.

“We want to get things done,” Flomo told The DayLight at Sehyi Ko-doo’s border with Gba amid the hooting of chimpanzees. “We just need the right training and resources to succeed.”

Silas Siakor, the Country Manager of Dutch NGO IDH, who was one of the workshop’s facilitators, welcomed the participants’ views.

“By protecting their resources, they can access funds tied to conservation ownership,” said Siakor. “The objective is to identify other sources of economic benefits and revenue that you can use for your own development as a community, as an incentive for you to better manage your forest.

“The idea is to balance conservation with community needs.”

The next discussions will be held in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. After that, Inclusive Development Consultancy will draft the proposal on how communities can benefit from sustainably managing their forest.

ArcelorMittal Yet to Restore Wetland, Violating EPA’s Order

June 25, 2024

Top: One of several sewage lines ArcelorMittal uses to dump feces in a wetland used by local farmers. The DayLight/Franklin Nehyalor

By Franklin Nehyalor

YEKEPA, Nimba County – ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) has not completed an Environmental Protection Agency recommendation to restore a wetland the company degraded and polluted in Yekepa, according to an EPA report.

The steel company was mandated to reinstate 9.33 acres of wetland that it polluted with human feces, according to the report published in March this year but recently obtained by The DayLight.

The EPA investigation was commissioned after residents of Area Q, S1, and Liagbala—three communities mainly affected by the pollution—erected a roadblock in February this year for “the constant habit of (AML) dumping employees’ feces into their communities.”

The investigation corroborated the communities’ accusation. It found that the company’s sewage plant had contaminated groundwater in the area after two tests.

“The result of the analysis shows that iron, phosphate and e-coli were above permissible limits in both ground waters samples,” the EPA report said. E. coli for the Escherichia coli bacterium, iron and phosphate in water cause diarrhea, stomach cramps, occasional fever for people, and low dissolved oxygen for fish.

ArcelorMittal dumps human feces into a wetland in Yekepa, Nimba County, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The DayLight/Franklin Nehyalor

ArcelorMittal continues to violate EPA’s orders.

On April 17, 2024, about a month after the report, police arrested an ArcelorMittal tanker transporting 7,200 gallons of feces from Buchanan, Grand Bassa County to Yekepa, Nimba County.

In a statement seen by The DayLight, Prince Moore, AML’s tanker driver, told police that he was dispatched on April 16 to collect sewage waste from Buchanan to Yekepa by the transport office of ArcelorMittal.

But the EPA, the government agency that authorizes the transport of hazardous wastes or substances in or out of Liberia, said it was unaware of the transport. “The EPA did not give AML any permit to transfer sewage waste from Buchanan to Yekepa,” Danise Dodoo, EPA’s head of media and corporate communications, said in an email reply.

ArcelorMital’s failure to obtain approval to transport the sewage waste violates the Environmental Protection and Management Law of Liberia, punishable by a fine of not more than US$50,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 20 years, or both.

The headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia(EPA). The DayLight/Mark Newa.

The EPA March 6 report was the second of two assessments by the agency regarding ArcelorMittal’s degradation of biodiversity in Nimba. In June 2022, an EPA assessment found the steel company guilty of environmental pollution and soil degradation in three communities in Yekepa after Nimba Mom-Waa, a local advocacy group that represents the affected communities, filed a complaint with the agency. The group had identified alleged environmental pollution and soil degradation and asked the EPA to investigate the matter.

After a thorough assessment, the EPA imposed a four-part fine on ArcelorMittal, totaling US$110,000 for breaking Liberia’s environmental laws.

The 2022 report also outlined six recommendations that should have been completed, including providing compensation packages to all farmers for damages caused to crops, alternative livelihoods for farmers using the polluted portion of the wetland and repair to damaged sewage lines. The recommendations included the construction of a water treatment plant and the provision of at least one treated drinking water source in each of the three affected communities.

But Alex Paye, the executive director of Nimba Mon-Waa, told this paper that the water treatment plant is nonfunctional and AML is yet to provide treated water units in the affected communities.

“The company still buys minerals [water] from an Indian company for its employees while our people suffer,” he said.

Restoration of the wetland should have been completed in a hundred days and the repair of broken sewage pipes from residential and office buildings hosting the company and its workers, in 60 days.

A septic tank that AML uses to dispose of feces in a nearby wetland with tree crops. TheDayLight/Franklin Nehyalor

The March recommendation also included the construction of water treatment units for communities in sixty days, as of the date of the release of the March 6, 2024 report.

Friday, June 21, 2024, makes the count exactly 105 days since the recommendations.

Winston Daryoue, AML’s Communication Manager, said the company is making efforts to address these issues.

“ArcelorMittal Liberia is in conversation with local community members to address their queries in relation to the restoration of the wetland,” Winston wrote via email.

“We are presently carrying out the tendering process to hire a vendor for the construction of two solar water kiosks at Areas Q and S. Construction work will commence in due course.”

ArcelorMittal has implemented some of the recommendations. It paid US$16,583.53 to compensate 25 farmers whose crops were damaged by the pollution. It has also introduced alternative livelihood for those affected by the pollution and contracted a company to repair and maintain its sewage lines.

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

Company Exports Timber Amid Outstanding Community Projects

May 27, 2024

Top: A West Water skidder in District Three B&C Community Forest in Grand Bassa County. The DayLight/Philip Quwebin

By Emmanuel Sherman and Gerald Koinyeneh

Editor’s Note: This is the third part of a series on the Forestry Development Authority’s approval of illegal timber exports.

TONWEIN, Nimba and GAYEPUEWHOE, Grand Bassa – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) authorized a company to cut thousands of logs. However, it did not execute its social agreement with communities, violating a harvesting regulation.

West Water Group (Liberia) Inc. has operated in Blinlon and District Three B&C Community Forests in Nimba and Grand Basaa, respectively. During this time, it harvested 2,782 logs (20,095 cubic meters), according to the FDA.

But West Water has completed just a few out of dozens of mandatory projects for the communities, a DayLight investigation found.

“We will make sure they do that. I just want our people to be patient because these projects have been overdue,” said Eric Dahn, a leader of Blinlon’s community forest leadership.

“So, if it causes us to stop the company from operating until they fulfill all the promises, we will do it,” Dahn added.

This investigation adds to another published earlier this month, which found the FDA violated a payment regulation by approving West Water’s exports amid its indebtedness to the communities. Both payment and harvesting regulations empower local communities to benefit from forest resources.

The villagers’ plight had been thrust into the spotlight after an initial DayLight investigation found the FDA approved the export of West Water’s illegally harvested timber in District Three B&C.

West Water did not respond to questions for comment.

Failed promises

In 2020, West Water, a Chinese-owned company, signed a 15-year contract with Blinlon Community Forest for its 39,409 hectares of forestland in the Yarweh-Mehnsonneh District near the Nimba- River Cess border.

A West Water camp in Tonwein, Nimba County. The DayLight/Gerald Koinyeneh

The company promised the villagers a series of projects across Blinlon including a school, clinic, handpumps, roads and concrete bridges.

Nearly four years on, West Water has only done two out of 14 handpumps and has just started paving mandatory roads, which should have happened at the beginning of the contract. It has not done the school and clinic, which should have commenced in 2021, according to the contract.

The company only jumpstarted the roads after townspeople protested, blocking its workers from entering the forest in March. Both parties later resolved on March 5 to end hostilities.

“We will make sure they fulfill all the promises,” added Dahn.

Protest and Interference

The tension in District Three B&C Community Forest in Grand Bassa is higher. It mirrors a string of controversies, which have marred the community since it obtained community forest status in 2014. (communities own forestlands but must complete legal requirements to sign logging contracts)

At that time, the community forest contracted Renew Forestry Group to operate its 49,728 hectares of forest on the border of Grand Bassa, River Cess and Nimba.

However, a conflict erupted. The forest leadership recognized Renew Forestry Group, while the local and county authorities sided with West Water.

Ultimately, the forest was split between the two logging companies. Renew Forestry Group took Community Forest One, and West Water Community Forest Two.

Then in 2021, West Water signed a 15-year contract with District Three B&C Community Forest of 24,175 hectares of woodland. The company promised to build roads, concrete bridges, a clinic, a school, market tables, town halls and hand pumps.

Like its Blinlon contract, West Water has not lived up to its contract with District Three B&C. It has completed just one out of eight hand pumps, while villagers drink from polluted creeks. Three years into the agreement, it has not done the major roads, bridges, clinics, town halls and market tables. According to the contract, most of these projects should have been completed in two years.

“West Water is not doing anything good for us,” Alex Bonwin, a member of the community leadership said. “If the company is not doing what they’re supposed to do we revoke their document to get out.”

West Water’s failure to honor the contract has led to tension, with three protests already this year. In the latest one, which occurred last week, townspeople stopped seven log-loaded trucks from leaving the community.

Alfred Flomo, the representative of Grand Bassa Electoral District Four, where the community forest lies, interferes in the matter.

Gayepuewhoe Town is one of 14 communities that own the District Three B&C Community Forest. The DayLight/Emmanuel Sherman

In a May 12 meeting, Flomo asked the company to stay off the forest until it addressed issues the villagers raised, according to the meeting’s minutes seen by The Daylight. That was the second time he had taken such action.

Under the community forest law, lawmakers are members of the community assembly, the highest decision-maker, and the executive committee. However, they cannot unilaterally halt a company’s operations.

Flomo and the townspeople’s actions also violate the contract between West Water and the community. Both parties agreed to settle their dispute between themselves or through an arbitration procedure. Flomo did not reply to The DayLight’s emails and text messages for an interview.

The FDA did not respond to queries for comment on this story. However, in a recent interview, Director Rudolph Merab told the Associated Press he would work to scale back regulations. Those comments echoed ones he made during his induction in February, saying forestry reformers created laws “that cannot work.”

[Additional reporting by Philip Quwebin and Derick Snyder]

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

FDA Approves Export of Illegal Timber Valued Nearly US$1M

April 25, 2024

Top: In one of his first acts after being appointed Managing Director of the Forestry Development Authority, Rudolph Merab signed an illegal export of 797 logs for West Water Group (Liberia) Inc. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By James Harding Giahyue

Editor’s Note: This is the first part of a series on the Forestry Development Authority’s approval of illegal timber exports.

MONROVIA – The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) approved the export of 797 logs, valued at an estimated US$923,441, despite being aware that over half of the timber had been illegally harvested. The illegal shipment was one of the first acts of Managing Director Rudolph Merab—a serial logging offender—since he became the unlikely head of the forestry regulator.

The export permit and a National Port Authority reconciliation report show that West Water Group (Liberia) Inc., which operates in Grand Bassa and Nimba Counties, owns the shipment. Merab had approved the export barely two weeks after his appointment in February, according to the permit.

The 4,702.679 cubic meters of logs were loaded onto M/V Tropical Star, a ship flying under the Malaysian flag. The vessel departed the Port of Buchanan on March 16 bound for China. Marine Traffic, which provides information on the movement of ships, reports that the ship is due in China on May 16. Wenzhou Timber Group Co. Ltd, the Chinese state-owned firm that deals in timber and other trades, bought the consignment, according to the permit.

But an analysis of the consignment FDA’s computer system generated by, obtained by The DayLight, identified 401 logs, or 50.3 percent of the consignment as illegal logs. The LiberTrace system tracks logs from their origin to their final destination. Programmed automatically to flag noncompliance, it is a crucial part of forestry reform following years of corruption and mismanagement. SGS, a Swiss verification firm, created LiberTrace in 2014 and turned it over to the FDA five years later.

This pie chart analyzing West Water’s illegal timber export that was approved by the Forestry Development Authority (FDA)

A document from the FDA’s legality verification department (LVD) provides a peep into how Merab approved the export. It reveals Gertrude Nyaley, the Deputy Managing Director for Operations, who headed LVD at the time, endorsed the export.

“[Managing Director Merab], please approve [West Water’s export permit] as per the analysis and payment made,” Nyaley wrote to Merab.

Nyaley appeared to have skipped the red flags LiberTrace raised. “Out of the 797 logs, 50 percent are traceable with red label because of diameter [issues]. Two percent is also traceable relating to species. And 48 percent over tolerance,” Nyaley added.

On the contrary, the analysis shows that the FDA had not authorized the harvest of some of the logs. Others were either immature, originated from different sources or had other issues, violating several forestry statutes.

‘Vulnerable’

The FDA had not approved the harvesting of 180 of the 401 problematic logs, according to the Liber Trace analysis.

Of that 180, 160 logs were ekki wood (Lophira alata) that did not meet the legal diameter ekki wood is listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a UN-recognized body that promotes sustainable use of natural resources. The DayLight manually verified the permit that details each of the logs exported. Some even measured 60 centimeters, 20 centimeters less than the required dimension, known in forestry as the diameter cut limit.

No penalties

Approving the West Water shipment shows Merab, an outspoken critic of forestry regulations, ignored various legal frameworks, and the violations LiberTrace flagged. The main function of LiberTrace is to keep illegal logs from the FDA’s chain of custody system, which covers everything from harvest to export. That, in turn, rids national and international markets of illegal timber and timber products.

Unauthorized harvesting, cutting smaller trees, and false declaration of tree species all carry a fine or a penalty. Unauthorized harvesting, for instance, carries a fine of twice the value of the species of logs unauthorizedly felled, under the Regulation on Confiscated Logs, Timber and Timber Products. Mr. Huiwen, West Water’s owner, did not respond to email and WhatsApp queries for comments.

The Forestry Development Authority authorized the export of 797 logs for a company called West Water barely two weeks after Rudolph Merab was appointed Managing Director of the FDA.

A screengrab of LiberTrace’s analysis of, yellow-highlighting problematic logs in West Water’s consignment

SGS, which comanages LiberTrace alongside the FDA, reviewed the permit but did not disapprove it.

Theodore Aime Nna, SGS’ forestry project manager, did not return questions for comments on this story. Nna said he was “not currently around” and would be available in 18 days for an interview. Nna, who took a swipe at The DayLight in two immediate emails, did not reply to the newspaper even 21 days thereafter.

‘Major traceability errors’

In his response to The DayLight’s queries on Wednesday, Merab said the red flags LiberTrace raised did not “automatically point to traceability or legality issues,” and were, in fact, “normal occurrences.”

A West Water camp in Nimba County. The DayLight/Gerald Koinyeneh

Merab said the 12 logs that were different from the one declared during inventory might have been mistaken. “The logs recorded in that specific export permit are consistent with the approved physical logs,” he said, without any evidence.

On undersized logs, Merab suggested that the logs LiberTrace red-flagged in this category were based on tree inventory data, not the ones that were felled or in West Water’s log yard.

This likely mix-up is commonplace in forestry. However, the details of the logs on the export permit do not support Merab’s explanation. The document repeats the very things LiberTrace identified as a warning or an error. If the log data had been verified as Merab claimed, the changes would have been reflected on the permit’s spec.

Merab offered another broad, textbook justification for the ekki logs LiberTrace picked up as immature.

“This happens because logs have a conic shape with a bottom diameter higher than the top diameter. In the case of a crosscut of that log, the diameter and the length will reduce mainly at the top part of the initial log. Again, these are normal occurrences,” he said.

What Merab referenced is called the diameter at breast height cutting limit or DCL in the Guidelines for Forestry Management Planning. But it only measures a standing tree’s trunk or the tree butt end, not the top end or a crosscut log. It is measured at the height of an adult’s breasts.

Furthermore, the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) which writes the bible for the global wood trade describes ekki logs as cylindrical, not conical.

Merab sidestepped the question regarding the FDA’s disapproval of the felling of a significant amount of West Water’s logs.

A screenshot from LiberTrace detailing the history of the status of West Water’s 797 logs

But, remarkably, The DayLight obtained a LiberTrace screenshot detailing the history of the status of the export permit. It reveals that the FDA approved the export permit less than 48 hours after LiberTrace identified the “major traceability errors.” For an agency perennially plagued by financial, logistical and manpower constraints, that was too short a time to correct hundreds of legality issues surrounding the consignment.

A Serial Forestry Offender

The West Water illegal export has added to Merab’s profile as a serial forestry offender.

His last known illegality was his participation in the infamous Private Use Permit Scandal in which his company Bopolu Development Corporation (BODECO) was illegally awarded 90,527 hectares of forest in Gbarpolu in the 2010s.

Before that, Merab traded “blood timber” alongside former President Charles Taylor, which fueled death and destruction in the Mano River basin between the 1990s and early 2000s, according to British NGO Global Witness.

The Regulation on Bidder Qualifications partially debars Merab and other wartime loggers from conducting forestry activities in Liberia, except if they meet special requirements. It, however, is unclear whether the regulation blocks Merab from heading the FDA.

[Gerald Koinyeneh of FrontPage Africa and our editor-at-large Emmanuel Sherman contributed to this report]

To get the estimated value of logs, The DayLight multiplied the total volume of each species of logs in the consignment by the FDA-approved price and summed up the products.

Boakai’s Justice Minister Pick is A Serial Illegal Logger

February 6, 2024

Top: This cartoon depicts Minister of Justice-designate Cooper Kruah in a conflict of interest when he served as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications. Then Minister Kruah retained his shares in the Universal Forestry Corporation, which ran a forestry contract and held several mining licenses between 2018 and 2023. Illustration by Leslie Lomeh for The DayLight.

By James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – Minister of Justice-designate Cooper Kruah is a repeated forestry offender, with his company involved in illegal logging operations dating back to the Liberian Civil War era.

Kruah’s Universal Forestry Corporation (UFC) was debarred from forestry in 2006, based on the United Nations Security Council’s recommendation

UFC crept its way back into the sector—with assistance from forestry authorities—and continued its illegal activities

UFC was involved in the infamous Private Use Permit Scandal in which it illegally received two permits at the detriment of local communities

Later, UFC signed an agreement with a community forest in Nimba. Then the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Kruah remained one of its shareholders—a violation of the Code of Conduct for Public Officials and forestry’s legal instruments

Kruah presented a fake document, which misspells his son’s name, to cover up his conflict of interest

UFC persisted with its offenses, abusing the rights of local people, conducting illegal harvesting and transport

MONROVIA – Cllr. Cooper Kruah, the Minister of Justice-designate, has a long history of being a forestry offender. His nomination contradicts the role of the Attorney General and undermines President Joseph Boakai’s expressed quest for accountability and the rule of law.

In his Inaugural Address, President Boakai promised to fight corruption and restore Liberia’s lost image in the comity of nations. Boakai restated that in his first State of the Nation Address.

Last month, Boakai appointed Kruah, a stalwart of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction whose support was instrumental in the Unity Party’s victory in last year’s elections.

Kruah is expected to appear before the Liberian Senate for confirmation. If confirmed, his job would be to prosecute individuals for alleged wrongdoings, sign concessions for Liberia and conduct oversight of several government offices.

But desk research, based on official records, United Nations reports and previous investigations by The DayLight reveals that Kruah may not be the right person for the post. It shows Kruah has broken forestry laws repeatedly with impunity, making no efforts to atone for his wrongdoings.

Kruah has refused to grant The DayLight an interview in each of the two times the newspaper contacted him. He preferred not to be recorded on the matter, which goes against The DayLight’s editorial policy.

Wartime logging

Kruah established Universal Forestry Corporation (UFC) in 1986, holding 25 percent of the company’s shares, according to its article of incorporation at the Liberia Business Registry. One Peter Goankeh held 25 percent while the remaining 50 was outstanding.

UFC was active in the early 1990s and early 2000s when Liberia became known for “conflict timber” or “logs of war.” Warring factions traded timber for weapons in two civil wars that killed an estimated 250,000 people.

The trade violated several United Nations arms embargoes on Liberia, leaving the Security Council to impose sanctions on Liberian timber. To lift the sanctions, the Liberian government at the time submitted itself to reform led by the UN and national and international civil society organizations.

Following a review of forestry concessions in 2005, the administration canceled all logging contracts, including UFC’s. The review found that UFC was not compliant with the industry’s laws and that its contract was not even ratified by the Legislature.

As part of the reform agenda, UFC and 69 other companies were expelled from doing logging business in Liberia. That move was further carved in the 2007 Regulation on Bidder Qualifications, which partially debars individuals associated with wartime companies from forestry activities.

An Illegal Return

In 2007, UFC amended its legal documents to add new shareholders. Kruah retained five percent shares in the company and the others were distributed among four other people, including former presidential advisor Edward Slangar and two non-Liberians: Jin S. Kyung and B.J. Kim.

In 2007 and 2008, UFC signed two illegal MoUs with Geetroh in Sinoe and Rock Cess in River Cess for logging rights, respectively, according to a 2018 Global Witness report. The communities had not gotten their community forestry status when the MoUs were signed. A 2009 law gives communities the right to enter into contracts with loggers upon the approval of the FDA.

Three years later, Kruah hustled his way back into the sector. The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) ignored UFC’s wartime activities and its qualification regulation. UFC acquired two private use permits and logging rights granted for private lands.

But a two-year investigation by Global Witness, the Sustainable Development Institute and Save My Future Foundation found UFC and other companies were illegally awarded the permits. It became known as the Private Use Permit (PUP) Scandal.

A government-backed inquest uncovered a lot of irregularities with UFC’s PUPs. It found that UFC did not follow any legal processes, did not obtain an environmental permit and that fraudulent persons had posed to be the landowners of its contract areas.

It also found that UFC made payments into a personal bank account, its Grand Bassa PUP area was larger than the actual land size and the one in Sinoe was issued for communal, not private land.

A UN Security Council report revealed that UFC’s Sinoe permit covered the same area as Atlantic Resources, another company.

For the second time in its history, UFC’s permits were canceled alongside 62 others. The Managing Director of the FDA Moses Wogbeh was dismissed and prosecuted for his involvement in the scandal. A moratorium on the issuance of PUPs remains in force to this day.

Conflict of Interest

There is no public record of UFC’s activities after the PUP Scandal. However, UFC returned in 2020 with an agreement with the Sehzueplay Community Forest.

Kruah was the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications while serving as a shareholder and secretary of UFC’s board of directors when the agreement was signed.

That violated the National Forestry Reform Law of Liberia and the Code of Conduct for Public Officials. Both laws prohibit a government official from conducting logging activities. The violations were the subject of an investigative series by The DayLight in 2022.

Kruah tried to cover up his conflict of interest but ended up committing more wrongdoings. A 2019 document he claimed to be UFC’s amended article of incorporation was not recorded at the business registry as required by law. Also, UFC’s tax history at the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) did not show it paid taxes for the amendment. UFC’s legal document at the business registry still carries Kruah and his five percent shares.

On the left is the real article of incorporation of Universal Forestry Corporation (UFC). On the right is the fake one Justice Minister-designate Cooper Kruah presented in 2022.

Moreover, the content of UFC’s so-called amended article cemented the evidence of the document’s fakeness. The document misspelled the name of Kruah’s son. Instead of “Prince M. Kruah,” it read “Prince M. Kuah.”

Then FDA Managing Director Mike Doryen promised to act but failed to do so. Penalties for forgery in forestry are a fine between US$10,000 and three times the funds Kruah received from UFC, or a prison term of up to 12 months.

But Kruah did not know, or he ignored the fact that he would not have resolved his conflict of interest by transferring his shares to his son. The forestry reform law mandates him to relinquish, or turn over his shares to a blind trust or a person outside of his control.

Illegal harvesting

UFC carried out illegal logging and transport under his shareholdership. An August 2021 industry report found that UFC conducted “massive” illegal harvesting in and around the Sehzueplay Community Forest.

The report revealed that UFC was illegally transporting logs from Nimba to an illegitimate sawmill in Buchanan, Grand Bassa. Investigators suspected that UFC smuggled logs it had felled outside of Sehzueplay to the sawmill.

The DayLight had visited the forest and photographed some of the illegal logs mentioned in that report. It obtained a ranger’s memo to Kyung, UFC manager, informing him about the illegal felling.

“During our recent visit to your concession area, we discovered that you were doing illegal [felling]. You are fallen [trees] without being awarded a [harvesting] certificate,” the memo read, signed by Steve Kromah, the ranger responsible for forest contracts in the Tappita area.

The illegal harvesting was not UFC’s only offense. It unilaterally entered a subcontract with a logging firm. Sehzueplay or the FDA was not aware of the subcontract UFC signed with Ihsaan Logs Company (ILC), a forestry violation.

ILC is ineligible to conduct logging as Mohammed Paasewe, its co-owner, was still paying back funds he embezzled from the Liberian government when he served as Superintendent of Grand Cape Mount County.

The logs The DayLight photographed brandished, “UFC/ILC,” a reference to the unapproved subcontract.

Turns out, towns and villages that own the forest became the biggest victims. As of March 2022, UFC owed locals—and the government—US$155,000, the second-highest in the industry. It had yet to carry out a host of mandatory development projects there. That situation has not changed.

UFC illegally harvested logs in and out of the Sehzueplay Community Forest in Tappita District, Nimba County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Sierra Leoneans Conduct Illegal Logging in Nimba

August 31, 2023

Top: A graphic depicting an illegal logging operation conducted by a group of six Sierra Leonean loggers for a Liberian company called Libfor Forest Corporation. The DayLight/Rebazar Forte

By Mark B. Newa

KARNPLAY – A group of Sierra Leoneans, hired by a Liberian businessman, are conducting an illegal logging operation in a forest in Nimba County, according to documents, interviews and photographs.

With the help of locals, the operations are producing thick timber near the Ivory Coast border in Karnplay, Gbelay-Geh District.

The Sierra Leoneans’ operations violate the Chainsaw Milling Regulation, which bars non-Liberians from working in the subsector, evidence shows. Their products go against the standard measurement for planks, matching a form of logging recently banned by the Forestry Development Authority (FDA).

From Bo to Nimba

In early May, a representative of Libfor Forest Corporation, met Aruna Kamara, Bobson Lusainy, Philip Sungu, Sorie Bangura and two other men in the Sierra Leonean eastern province of Bo. The representative asked them to travel to Liberia and serve as chainsaw operators of Libfor, a small-scale logging company established in 2021.

By May 30, the six men headed to the Liberian border at Bo Waterside. There, the company’s representative arranged for emergency travel certificates for the men, according to the documents seen by The DayLight.

Not long after, the men found themselves in Ganta, some 303 miles away from home. They signed a contract. Tejan Jalloh, a Sierra Leonean who works for Libfor, signed for the company, while Sungu signed for the men.

They agreed to harvest timber, with a payment of L$600 per piece, according to their contract, obtained by The DayLight.

Two of the Sierra Leonean pitsaw operators, Aruna Kamara, Borbor Lusainy caught on the reporter’s camera in Gbehnehylay, near the Ivory Coast border. TheDayLight/Mark B. Newa

The six men were then transported to Trorplay, a village in the Gbeh-Somah Clan, Gborplay Chiefdom.

They cut down trees on the farms of individual farmers between L$1,500 and L$3,000. They have already harvested 460 planks, according to Kamara, the oldest of the men.

“We hauled some on the road and the rest are in the bush,” Kamara, the oldest of the six men, told The DayLight in an interview.

‘Kpokolo’

Our reporter photographed stacks of the illegal timber by roadsides and in several other locations. They match the profile of Iroko, a durable wood species used for shipbuilding, furniture and outdoor construction. Currently, it is selling up to US$390 on the international market.

Community leaders are unhappy with the loggers for three reasons. First, they think the Sierra Leoneans are buying the trees too cheaply. Second, they feared that cutting the trees would make their community vulnerable to rainstorms. Locals use the Iroko trees for herbs.

“The tree can protect our towns and villages from strong wind. Iroko is a very strong wood and it also has a kind of value for traditional herbs,” said Anthony Wopleh, a farmer in Trorplay.

Over 100 pieces of Iroko timber risked shrinking in the sun in Trorplay where the Sierra Leonean loggers are stationed. The DayLight/Mark B. Newa

Some pieces of sewn Iroko packed near the road between Trorplay and Gbehnehylay in Twa River Administrative District in Gbehlay-Geh, near the Ivory Coast border. TheDayLight/Mark B. Newa

“This is a tree that our people use to heal sicknesses like rheumatism and it is very helpful in treating other diseases,” Wopleh added.

“Cutting down the trees and carrying them like that, [with] nothing remaining here for our community is not good. Look at our roads, from here to Karnplay is so bad,” said Samson Zreakpa, a chief in the Gbeh-Somah Clan.

Local chainsaw millers are also upset with the Sierra Leoneans for “undermining” their efforts. “The guys have infringed on our movement and they have entered into the bush, telling our people negative things,” said Emmanuel Gongor, who ran illegal operations in the region exposed earlier this year by The DayLight.

Amara Fofana, the sole owner of Libfor, based on its article of incorporation, denies the allegations. “My power saws are registered with the local chainsaw union, and they know me good,” Fofana told The DayLight via phone.

‘I cannot fight the government’

The accusations against the Sierra Leoneans may be true or not but the illegality of their operations is obvious. Under the Chainsaw Milling Regulation, non-Liberians are debarred from making planks. The subsector, started by ex-combatants following the end of Liberia’s bloody civil wars in 2003, is primarily meant to supply the domestic market and provide jobs for Liberians.

Also, Libfor does not have a chainsaw milling permit and the farmers who are selling to Sierra Leoneans do not have the authorization to do so. However, that level of violation is commonplace in the subindustry. Apart from imposing fees on chainsaw millers, the FDA has failed to regulate the lucrative trade in its 20 years of existence.

Moreover, the size of the wood the Sierra Leoneans are producing is prohibited. Normally, the FDA allows only up to two-inch-thick planks in the subindustry, and not three-inch.

Sorie Bangura, spokesperson for the Sierra Leonean chainsaw operators stands before piles of Iroko sprawling on the sun in Trorplay, the village where they are stationed. TheDayLight/Mark B. Newa

Over the last decade or so, the FDA secretly sanctioned the production of oversized timber, commonly called “Kpokolo.” In February, the agency announced it had “banned” kpokolo, following a series of reports by The DayLight. The agency admitted it had permitted kpokolo producers to supply sawmills across the country but that permit was abused.

In the phone interview, Fofana said he was harvesting Iroko to make furniture at his own sawmill. He said he expected some machines soon.

“I want to make furniture in Caldwell to compete with the Lebanese businessmen in Monrovia,” Fofana, said via phone, revealing he had 20 chainsaws in the Nimba belt.

Fafona added that he had hired Sierra Leoneans because he could not find any Liberian to do the work. Later, he claimed that Liberians were lazy, dishonest and counterproductive to his company’s vision.

“There are no good operators in Liberia,” Fofana claimed. “This is why somebody brought me those guys to work for me.”

Over the debarment of non-Liberians, Fofana argued that the ECOWAS protocol empowered the Sierra Leoneans to work anywhere in Liberia.

That claim is wrong. People from ECOWAS countries are entitled to a 90-day stay in Liberia. However, they are not allowed to work without a residence permit, according to the Aliens and Naturalization Law. If they work without residence permits—as in the case of the Sierra Leoneans—they violate the law. In fact, the Sierra Leoneans should have obtained work permits before felling their first tree, according to the Decent Work Act.

The Emergency Travel Certificate bearing the name, Philip Sungu, a farmer from Sembehun Selinda in Bo District, Sierra Leone. TheDayLight/Mark B. Newa

The signature page of the contract between six Sierra Leonean chainsaw operators and a Liberian-owned company called Libfor Forest Corporation. The DayLight/Mark B. Newa

Apparently conceding, Fofana said he would send the men to Gormahplay in the Bu-Yao District, toward the Ivory Coast border at Butuo.

Further in the interview, Fofana lied that he was not aware his Sierra Leonean workers were harvesting oversized planks. However, The contract his company signed with the Sierra Leoneans exposed him. It clearly obligates the men to harvest timber measuring three inches in thickness, 13 inches in width and 15 feet in length.

Told of the clause of the contract that speaks about the height of the wood, Fofana conceded.

“Actually, I do not know that one,” he told our reporter. “When the wood is above the size required by law, I will reduce it because I cannot fight the government.”

It was easier for Fofana to have said those words than it is done in forestry. Illegal timber harvest is punishable by a fine of three times the industry’s price of the wood and the total cubic meter of the wood in question. Violators could also face a six-month prison term or both fine and imprisonment, according to the Regulation on Confiscated Logs, Timber and Timber Products.

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

Targeting European Markets, Nimba Farmers Eye ‘Organic Cocoa’

June 19, 2023

Top: EU ambassadors pose for a picture with their entourage, a farmer of Monleh Enterprises at a farm in Saclepea, Nimba County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

SACLEPEA, Nimba County – Farmers in Nimba are learning to produce high-quality cocoa beans to trade on markets of European Union (EU) countries.

About 2,500 farmers are now being trained in organic cocoa production, according to Monleh Enterprises, a cooperative based in Saclepea, Nimba County.

“We want to link with markets [in Europe],” said Rachel Mulbah, the CEO of Monleh Enterprises. She was speaking at the tour of the cooperative’s facilities by EU ambassadors and their entourage in Saclepea recently.

“Monleh also wants to export in order for the farmers to get good [a] price,” Mulbah said.

Organic cocoa refers to beans that meet sustainability standards required by the EU. With emphasis on the health of people, the soil and the environment, the organic cocoa are grown without the use of fertilizers and pesticides.

Liberia may not be a powerhouse of cocoa like Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. However, Liberia has a unique variety of the crop, something market experts say is a rarity on the global market.

‘Queen of Liberian Cocoa Beans’

The farmers of Monleh Enterprises understand their niche and are getting there. It finished number one in a trade fair in Cote d’Ivoire, according to Mulbah. It exported 12 metric tons of premium cocoa to Italy earlier this year, which had rejected its consignment last year, she said. Premium cocoa is of the best quality, too, but it does not have a certification program like organic cocoa.

Rachel Mulbah, the CEO of Monleh Enterprises, which has some 3,500 farmers, 2,500 of whom have been trained to produce organic cocoa that can be sold in European Union countries. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Monleh farmers are getting their organic cocoa training from the NGO Grow Liberia as part of a US$6 million project funded by Sweden. They learn good agriculture practices that avoid deforestation and the use of harmful chemicals and bad harvesting methods.

The farmers also learn to make their productions transparent and traceable, a pillar of the certified cocoa scheme of the EU, the world’s largest cocoa market.

Mulbah urged the EU ambassadors to provide more support to the group to achieve its organic paper.

“We want to get modern equipment for farming, which, of course, will reduce child labor in Liberia,” Mulbah said, handling the delegation a memo containing the requests.

“Monleh wants to develop its own nursery. Monleh wants to see farmers’ lives improved,” Mulbah added. Urban Sjöström, the Ambassador of Sweden, called her “the Queen of Liberian Cocoa Beans.”

Dr. Charles Sackey, Grow Liberia’s team leader, said the farmers were already producing organic cocoa, just that they do not have the certificate.

“Working with the farmers in Liberia, we have seen that there is little use of chemicals. So, the farms are, by default, organic,” Sackey said as EU ambassadors viewed a solar drier for cocoa beans, a suspended platform with transparent plastic roof.

“Once you sell on the European market, you want to prove that it is organic, and not by default,” Sackey added.

As it stands, Liberia exported US$38 million cocoa in 2021, the 21^st largest cocoa-exporting country worldwide, according to the World Bank. The Netherlands is the biggest importer of Liberian cocoa, with US$19.2 million in 2021.

The head of the EU Delegation to Liberia Laurent Delahousse urged the farmers to work harder to maintain high standards.

I want to reassure you that your approach is our approach… We are addressing support problems to agriculture as supposed to food systems, and cocoa makes [a] wonderful food,” Delahousse said.

“Liberia will not compete on big volumes of low-quality cocoa. Liberia can only compete on smaller volume of very high-quality cocoa.

“You have a variety in this country that is unique, which gets a premium on the world market but you have to build your value chain from production to …in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Ireland and elsewhere,” Delahousse added.

The other envoys on the tour include Jacob Haselhuber of Germany, Michael Roux of France, and Simon McCormack, the Second Secretary at the Embassy of Ireland.

A portion of a cocoa farm in Saclepea, Nimba County recently toured by European Union ambassadors. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Ex-Minister Leaves Government With A Trail of Illegal Acts

June 15, 2023

Top: Former Minister Cooper Kruah smiling in his office at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications: Facebook/Emmanuel Fred

By Mark B. Newa

Cllr. Cooper Kruah was a shareholder in a logging and mining company while he served as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications

Universal Forestry Corporation (UFC) received nearly a dozen mining licenses and one logging contract while Cooper was a minister
Kruah tried to cover up his conflict of interest by pretending to turn over his shares with an apparently fake company document

With Kruah a shareholder, UFC was involved in an illegal subcontract, illicit logging, and smuggling of logs

Amid evidence of Kruah’s and UFC’s offenses, both the Forestry Development Authority and the Ministry of Mines and Energy did not punish Kruah or UFC

MONROVIA – In May, President George Weah dismissed then Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Cooper Kruah after attending a Unity Party rally, ending the veteran lawyer’s four-year stint in the government.

Kruah’s departure sparked an instant controversy—betrayal versus “political intolerance.” However, he has left a host of irregularities in the logging and mining industries with impunity.

These offenses range from a conflict of interest to an unlawful extraction of minerals and timber in his hometown of Nimba County. The acts violate the Liberian Constitution, the Code of Conduct for Public Officials, the National Forestry Reform Law and the Minerals and Mining Law of 2000.

UFC was established on February 9, 1986. Edward Slangar, a former presidential advisor, holds 10 percent. Jim Kyung follows with 70 percent. Naranyan Vasnani, a foreign national, holds five percent. And Cooper Kruah the remaining five percent, according to the company’s legal documents at the Liberian Business Registry.

President Weah appointed Kruah in February 2018 and was confirmed by the Senate in August 2018. However, Kruah did not relinquish his shares or take other legal actions to avoid a conflict of interest.

UFC would go on to have more than a dozen mining licenses and a logging contract in Nimba and Grand Bassa, while Kruah served as the Postmaster General of the Republic of Liberia.

Cover-up Exposed

The DayLight initially exposed then-Minister Kruah in an investigation last year. After the publication, Kruah lied that UFC amended its article of incorporation in 2019. “This amendment of the article of incorporation is the best evidence for the public,” Kruah said in a statement at the time.

But records of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) show that UFC did not amend its article of incorporation in 2019. Companies pay a fee at the LRA to amend their legal documents. UFC did not make any such payment, official records show.

This new evidence reinforces The DayLight’s previous reports.

Moreover, UFC’s so-called article of incorporation, obtained by The DayLight, physically appears to be fake. The document misspells Kruah son`s name: “Prince M. Kuah” instead of Prince M. Kruah. It also came more than one and a half years since Kruah became a government official.

Conflict of interest aside, evidence points to UFC’s violations of forestry and mining laws while Cooper Kruah was a minister.

Stealing Logs

A high-profile 2021 report found UFC committed a number of offenses. The report said UFC did not declare “massive” harvesting of timber in the Sehzueplay Community Forest, felled trees outside of its contract area, and transported logs to a sawmill without valid documents. The report also found UFC did not pay the community and the government any fees for the logs.

Illegally harvesting timber violates a number of forestry legal frameworks, including Liberia’s Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union. No actions were taken against UFC with then Minister Cooper Kruah as one of its shareholders.

The Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) report for 2019-2020 shows UFC skipped an environmental permit. And The DayLight reported UFC did obtain a harvesting certificate before operating, citing a ranger’s memo.

Logs Universal Forestry Corporation, owned by then Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Cooper Kruah, illegally harvested in Tappita, Nimba County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

As of March 2022, UFC owed both the affected community and the government US$155,000, according to the joint implementation committee of the VPA. This is the second-highest debt owed by a logging company at the time. The FDA did not grant The DayLight’s request for UFC’s updated outstanding payment, another violation of forestry laws.

UFC subcontracted an illegitimate company without the approval of the FDA or the consent of the leadership of Sehzueplay Community Forest. The manager of Ihsaan Logging Company Mohammed Paasawe was dismissed as Superintendent of Grand Cape Mount County for corruption.

The FDA could have avoided all of this, though. It ignored the Regulation on Bidder Qualification, by prequalifying UFC to operate, while then Minister Cooper Kruah remained its shareholder.

The agency did not respond to questions for comments. However, last year, Managing Director Mike Doryen promised to investigate and take appropriate actions against UFC and Cooper Kruah but has not. “I will not protect any official of government who breaks the law,” Doryen said at the time.

Conflict of interest carries a fine between US$10,000 and US$25,000, up to three times the sum Kruah has received from his equity in UFC, or a prison term of up to 12 months, according to the National Forestry Reform Law.

UFC’s Illegal Goldmines

UFC thrived with Kruah a cabinet minister. Between 2018 and last month when he was sacked, the Ministry of Mines and Energy awarded UFC nearly a dozen mining licenses and a dealer license, according to official records. It managed only a few prior to Kruah’s appointment.

Universal Forestry Corporation did not reclaim its mines in Tappita, Nimba County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

That boom is reflected in UFC’s figures. In the 2018-2019 period alone, UFC produced 16.85 kilograms of gold with export valued at US$313.525, according to the LRA payment record. It paid the government US$99,545, one of the highest contributions then, the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) reported.

The ministry unlawfully allowed UFC to operate, despite Kruah’s admitting to a conflict of interest, and did not penalize it amid the evidence.

The ministry declined an interview on the subject in the last 12 months. On both occasions, Minister Gesler Murry referred The DayLight to Deputy Minister Operations Emmanuel Sherman, who evaded an interview.

Like the forestry law, the Mineral and Mining Law requires officials to not hold shares in companies that actively operating. It prescribes a fine of not more than US$25,000, a prison term of up to one year, or both upon conviction in a courthouse.

Kruah declined an interview, the second time he has refused to speak on his connection with UFC. This month, he promised to grant an interview on the matter but—like last year—insisted he did not want the conversation recorded. This reporter rejected that suggestion, as it goes against The DayLight’s editorial policy.

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

12 Page 1 of 2

Tag: Nimba County

Podcasts

ABOUT US

FOLLOW US