This paper has independently verified that at no point in time did Labor Minister Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah appoint Henry McGill as the Assistant Director for Operations of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Task Force as previously reported.
Our investigation uncovered that Mr. McGill had not been employed by Minister Kruah, but rather, the Labor Minister was reviewing his educational documents presented to him for employment to said post when it was reported in the media that he had been employed to the position.
Recently, it was reported in the media that Minister Kruah’s nomination to the U.S. Executive Seminar was rejected as Anti-Trafficking Official, haven’t been charged with Human Trafficking.
Among other things, the media report quoted a police report, which said Mr. McGill had been charged with trafficking in persons and theft of property in violation of Section 15.51 of the Penal Law of Liberia.
However, the report runs contrary to credible information available to this paper that Mr. McGill was appointed by Minister McGill as the Assistant Director for Operations of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Task Force.
The investigation also found out that the Labor Minister had no prior information that Mr. McGill had been allegedly charged with trafficking in persons and other crimes before receiving documents from him for possible employment.
‘‘Had it been so, Minister Kruah would not have accepted any document from Mr. McGill for employment because the Minister is a strong anti- advocate of human trafficking,’’ a high profiled and respected diplomat said this on anonymity.
At the same time, this paper established that the alleged crimes of Mr. McGill cannot be put on Minister Kruah’s head as crime is not transferable according to the Liberian Laws. Therefore, the Labor Minister is exonerated from the claims as reported in the media. Minister Kruah has since rejected the claims, describing them as false and misleading. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour, through the Liberian Government, has taken steps to address the U.S. State Department’s Concerns on TIP.
The Ministry of Labour has announced several steps aimed at addressing the United States Department of State’s concerns about Liberia’s fight against human trafficking.
The Labor Minister, who is the Chairman of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, has “acknowledged the findings of the U.S. Department of State’s 2023-2924 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report, which downgraded Liberia from Tier 2 to Tier 2 Watch List. ”
Minister Kruah said, “Since the inception of this administration, Liberia has remained steadfast in addressing the root causes and consequences of trafficking in persons,” outlining several measures initiated by the government to “make Liberia a safe and secure country, free from exploitation and abuse.”
According to Labour Minister Kruah, these steps include: high level dialogue meeting that brought together heads of government line ministries and agencies to discuss Liberia’s TIP intervention strategies, as well as strengthening the National Referral Mechanism and standard Operations procedures in coordination among members of The National Anti-Human Trafficking Task force.
The Labour Minister further emphasized that as part of the government’s strategies in the fight against TIP, a mid-year review of the 2019-2924 National Action Plan was conducted, focusing on four pillars: prevention, protection, prosecution and partnership.
The government’s official response to the United States Department of State’s concerns over TIP also includes specialized training for judges, magistrates, and judicial actors to enhance prosecution efforts.
Labour Minister Kruah is further quoted as revealing in the report that the government, in collaboration with partners, has increased efforts to provide repatriation and reintegration packages for trafficking victims and would not encourage anyone, least to talk of a staff member, to be allegedly involved with trafficking.
The National Trafficking Task Force Chairman Kruah has stressed Liberia’s continuous close working relationship with international partners, including the United States Government.
