Indicted former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah, facing charges of economic sabotage, fraud and criminal conspiracy by Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), says allegations against him by the Unity Party-led government are only intended to tarnish his image and humiliate him.
Tweah is being prosecuted for allegedly signing off a disbursement of L$1 billion and US$500,000 to the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA). This is coming after he turned himself in at Criminal Court ‘C’ on September 25, 2024, but was later granted a US$8 million bail with trial scheduled for November 12, 2024.
But speaking at the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) headquarters, former Minister Tweah said the government is not seeking justice but just wanted to see him in handcuffs.
He said corruption charges placed against him by the government through the LACC is a political witch-hunt and their legal actions are designed to damage his reputation rather than address any actual wrongdoing.
“If I do wrong I want to be arrested legally. I’m not afraid of justice when I do something wrong because I love my country, but they wanted to see me in handcuffs to report to their base that they promised to fight corruption and are doing so,” he said.
Mr. Tweah said that he was prepared to be arrested and handcuffed at Robert International Airport (RIA) because that would be an illegal or illegitimate arrest. According to him, the corruption case against him is politically driven because the government knows he hasn’t done anything wrong, but is using false allegations to mislead the public and divert attention from its own failures in governance.
“You people remember that in the 2023 Election Unity Party campaigned on lies, and now, nine months in, they haven’t delivered on their promises. At this time during our government, we were preparing the launch of our development plan but they are still looking for consultants to write their development plans,” Tweah said.
The former Ex-Minister said the past government had a clearer understanding of Liberia’s economic challenges and the strategies necessary to address them.
He disclosed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC government reduced poverty, rice price, and provided jobs for Liberians, saying they used US$2 million for road maintenance while Unity Party used US$ 22million for road maintenance which is a lie.
By Tonita N. Copson
