Top: Lofa authorities have stopped collecting L$1,000 on trucks transporting planks within and out of the county following a DayLight series. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By Mason Kollie

VIONJAMA – There is evidence an illegal toll system for planks transported within and out of Lofa County, introduced by former Superintendent William Tamba Kamba, has been abolished.

Kamba announced scrapping the so-called Superintendent toll last year, following a DayLight investigation, admitting to its illegality. Yet, Lofa County Accountant Garmai Kennedy, one of the scheme’s masterminds, continued to collect the fees up to May.

But that has changed since another DayLight investigation exposed Kennedy. Interviews with key players in the chainsaw milling subindustry in the county and months of observation show the collections have been halted.

“Immediately we got the publication from your newspaper, we stopped the process,” said Superintendent Lavala Massaquoi in a DayLight interview.

“No more toll collection in Lofa County for now,” said Sekou Kamara, the chairman of the Lofa County’s branch of the Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union (LICSATDUN).

Between May and now, this reporter observed Kennedy no longer collected L$1,000 for a truckload of planks. Kennedy has also stopped enforcing the illegal payment at plank posts in Voinjama.

This reporter did not find collectors previously posted at a Forestry Development Authority (FDA) checkpoint in Voinjama. Inquiries at checkpoints in Zorzor and Salayea showed the same result.

“As for me, I [don’t] want lie, the way the woman and her agents used to run behind us from checkpoint to checkpoint and all in the corners, I [don’t] see them again,” Selekie Turay, a trucker.

“Only the FDA fee I can pay to the checkpoint. I traveled more than two times and nobody can collect superintendent fees from me,” Turay added.

Only the FDA and LICSATDUN collect fees on each plank transported within the country, per the Chainsaw Milling Regulation.

Counties can levy fees on planks under the Local Government Act. However, that power lies in the county council, a governance body that comprises chiefs, the youth and the disabled community.

Kennedy denies any wrongdoing. She claims she used the fees to buy a flag and underwrote senior staff’s travel costs, presenting no evidence.

Massaquoi said the county was investigating to confirm that claim. “‘No business as usual,’” he said, referencing the Boakai administration’s anti-corruption slogan. “If she is guilty, the law will punish her.”

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