Top: Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh whispers to an African Finch Logging Limited executive at a program in Numopoh District, Sinoe County. File picture/Anonymous

By Varney Kamara

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a series on Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh’s involvement with a Sinoe County community forest contract.

NUMOPOH – Sinoe County Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh allegedly bribed locals in Sinoe County to sign a community forest contract with a UAE-based company he appears to co-own. A DayLight investigation also found that the forest was unlawfully extended amid Quioh’s decades-long friendship with the FDA’s Managing Director Rudolph Merab.

Several residents and local officials said Quioh gave thousands of Liberian dollars to Numopoh Community Forest’s leaders, who then distributed the money to community members to endorse African Finch Logging Limited. One person alleged they received the money directly from the lawmaker.

“After the people refused to sign the MoU, then, he (Quioh) carried the [the community forest leaders] behind the house, and we saw them coming back with a black plastic bag filled with money,” said Numopoh’s Commissioner Alfred Harwood. “From this point, the chiefs and other people started signing the document.

“I was sick and did not attend the meeting that day, but afterward, Quioh visited my house and gave me LD5,000, and said I should buy soap,” said Christiana Neoh, Paramount chief of Doboe Chiefdom.

“He also encouraged me to support the company’s entry into our community [forest],” added Neoh.

The residents signed the document the same day it was introduced without making any input. Emmanuel Dapoe, a resident of Kilo Town, said he had to leave the signing ceremony due to his dissent. 

Others said Quioh had promised to bring African Finch to the Numopoh when he campaigned for the district’s seat in 2023, which Quioh would clinch after defeating eight other candidates.   

“This whole thing is part of that big promise he made to the community during the campaign,” said Alex Sanwon, a prominent Numopoh citizen, in Johnny Town.

The allegations were confirmed by Darius Nagbe, the Superintendent of Kpayan District, where Numopoh falls. In February, Nagbe wrote the Ministry of Internal Affairs, complaining Quioh.

“Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh… singularly took a logging company to the district…,” Nagbe said. He said he was unaware of the company’s presence, and asked Minister of Internal Affairs Sakila Nyumalin to investigate.     

A statutory member of Numuoph’s community forest leadership, a representative scrutinizes a logging company wanting to operate there, not negotiate on its behalf. Also, a representative has oversight over the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), which enforces the sector’s laws and regulations.

An official’s involvement with a company or in bribery violates the  Code of Conduct for Public Officials, which prohibits inducement and conflict of interest. The code defines bribery as anything promised, offered, given, accepted, or received by a public official for favors in the execution of official duties, including “cold water” or “eating.” It defines conflict of interest as “when a public official, contrary to official obligations and duties to act for the benefit of the public, exploits a relationship for personal benefit.”

Moreover, any inducement or intimidation violates the locals’ right to consent, guaranteed in several national and international laws, including the Land Rights Act and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These instruments provide that local people must be free to accept or reject a contract.  

Quioh did not respond to the bribery claim and other allegations. In a phone interview, he appeared to accuse The DayLight of blackmail while ranting at this reporter.

“You cannot teach me forestry. You don’t know me. I am one of the longest-serving foresters in this country,” said Quioh.

“I know my rights, I know what I did. I’m not a kid.”

“Publish your story in the sky,” he added, hanging up the phone.

Sam Kandie, Numopoh’s chairman, who had celebrated the African Finch deal in a previous interview, did not respond to The DayLight queries.

‘Speak to the Hon.’

The allegation that Quioh led African Finch’s negotiation with Numopoh appears to be backed by photographs of the signing ceremony. In one photograph, the lawmaker is seen whispering to an African Finch representative sitting next to him. Another shows the two men sitting and watching as the ceremony unfolded.

Due to his alleged involvement with African Finch, locals believe Quioh co-owns African Finch. Kwadjo Asabre, African Finch’s CEO, appeared to corroborate that claim when he recommended that The DayLight contact Quioh on company matters. “Speak to [the] Hon..,” Asabre wrote in a WhatsApp interview.

Meanwhile, African Finch’s legal documents do not rule out the possibility that Quoih is its owner. Established last year, African Finch is a subsidiary of Finch General Trading FZE, located in Ajman, UAE, according to its article of incorporation. Finch General Trading primarily focuses on mining, engineering, and agricultural products.. However, the Liberia Business Registry has no record of African Finch’s beneficial owners.

Such a shady ownership structure violates Liberia’s Beneficial Ownership Regulation and renders African Finch ineligible to do business in Liberia. The 2023 regulation requires Liberia-registered businesses to declare their beneficial owners—the person or people who own them. This rule safeguards against transnational crimes such as money laundering, terrorist financing, and tax evasion.

The DayLight has written the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and the Liberia Business Registry about African Finch’s unlawful registration. The Registry is obligated to reject companies with hidden shareholders, while the Ministry supervises the Registry’s functions.

‘Rudolph is my friend’

But the hidden ownership is not the only violation associated with the African Finch deal.

July last year, Numopoh asked the FDA to cancel its agreement with Delta Timber Corporation, which had previously illegally operated in the forest. About two months later, the FDA granted the request and advised the community to select a new investor.

Numopoh did, but this time, the FDA expanded its size from 7,220 hectares to over 18,000 hectares without the participation of neighboring communities. The company has even started checking trees for possible harvesting. 

“I only got to know about the expansion from the signed MoU when somebody posted it on social media,” said Kwankon Saytue of Tartweh-Drapoh Community Forest.

The  2017 Community Rights Regulation guarantees neighboring communities the right to participate in the demarcation and mapping of community forests. There is even a handbook that the USAID funded for that.

Land and forest rights campaigners criticized the extension.

“These are forest communities that were already created by metes and bounds. Their exclusion is not only impractical but also illegal,” said Borwen Sayon of The Nature Compact, a Montserrado-based NGO involved with natural resource management and development.

The illegal expansion could heighten tension in that area. Numopoh and the Do-Wolee township currently have an unresolved boundary dispute that has stalled Golden Veroleum Liberia’s palm plantation there for years.

In all, it appears African Finch is exploiting Quioh’s relationship with the FDA Managing Director, Rudolph Merab.  Quioh and Merab have been friends for decades. “When I come to the FDA, I feel at home away from home. FDA is my baby,” Quioh said at Merab’s induction in February last year. Rudolph and myself have 36 years of relationship. I am happy to be here as a friend of Rudolph.”

Not just the Liberia Business Registry, the FDA is also under legal obligation to check a forestry company’s eligibility. The Regulation on Bidder Qualifications requires the agency to reject any company whose owner is a lawmaker. This cannot be done with a company whose owners are unknown.

The FDA did not answer questions on the Numopoh extension and the African Finch’s owners. Last month, The DayLight asked the FDA for information on the Numopoh-African Finch contract, as the information was not on the FDA’s website as required by law.  However, that request was denied.

CORRECTION: This version of the story corrects a previous version that named African Finch as Africa Finch.