PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CENTAL Proposes Administrative Actions on MCSS Officials Accused of Corruption Pending Probe; Welcomes LACC and FIA Involvement in the Work of the Asset Recovery Task Force.

 Monrovia, Monday, April 21, 2025 - Distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you for always attending to our calls. Your support to our work and the fight against corruption has been nothing short of remarkable. Continue the great job!

Over the last days, Liberian social and traditional media platforms have been awash with allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement involving officials of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS), including Superintendent James A.S Momoh. Based on intelligence gathered by the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), the allegations revealed, amongst many others, a likely insurance fraud scheme and misappropriation of funds intended for scholarship program for teachers. It is reported that on April 8, 2025, FIA Officer-in-Charge Mohammed A. Nasser, recommended to the LACC a full-scale investigation of the MCSS insurance scheme after the FIA found that Sonita Dangan Dangan, an employee of MCSS, received 8.1 million Liberian dollars in checks from Kabineh Keita, a suspected employee of the Sky Insurance company which offers insurance services to the institution.  It is further reported that FIA found no business relationship between Dangan and Keita to justify the transactions. Separate allegations also suggest that MCSS administrators charged US$920 per teacher benefitting from a study abroad program in India, which has already been taken care of by government.

While we cannot conclude that these allegations are true in the absence of a formal investigation into the matter, we view them as being very troubling for an education sector desperately in need of financial and non-financial resources to address infrastructure, staffing, supervision, capacity building, and other gaps that continue to undermine the adequacy, quality, accessibility, and gender responsiveness of educational services to all students, especially persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups. Recent manifestations of discontent in the form of protest actions by students and ‘go slow’ by teachers are among reasons why, we beseech President Joseph Nyuma Boakai Sr. to take timely administrative action by suspending the officials at the center of the alleged scandal and corruption,

pending the outcome of LACC’s independent investigation into the matter. If not adequately investigated and convincingly addressed, these grave allegations will tend to undermine stakeholders’ trust in the system, undermine government’s efforts in tackling corruption, and give an indication of perpetuation of the culture of impunity for corruption and other offenses, which have affected the country for so long.

Extended Mandate of the Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval Taskforce

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, on March 6, 2024, President Joseph N. Boakai issued executive order number 126 establishing the Assets Recovery Taskforce to ensure processes leading to the location, recovery, and retrieval of wrongly acquired public resources and properties, within and outside Liberia. Subsequently, on March 8, 2024, the Executive Mansion named more than 15 individuals and institutions to the taskforce, including representatives of the Liberia National Police, General Services Agency, and Ministry of Justice. The Liberia Anti-corruption Commission (LACC) was excluded from the list, despite having a broad mandate to tackle corruption, which includes identifying and recovering stolen government resources and assets. The exclusion of LACC and inclusion of politically active individuals to the taskforce led to CENTAL’s open call for the dissolution and reconstitution of the taskforce, if it must enjoy the confidence and support of the public and partners, including but not limited to the development community, civil society, and other public integrity institutions. From all indications, the Task Force did not live up to expectations during its first year of operation, in part due to internal wrangling involving the leadership and some members, multiple legal battles; poor start of operation, and limited stakeholders’ engagement and cooperation.

In March 2025, following the expiration of executive order #126, President Boakai moved to extend the mandate of Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval Taskforce. This time, the President corrected some grave mistakes that characterized his 2024 decision, which helped to undermine the work of the institution. Laudably, the President named a 5-member Taskforce, compared to the previous 15-member team that burdened the country financially and posed serious coordination and other issues for the team.