The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL) has called on President Joseph N. Boakai to take administrative action on allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement involving officials of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS), including Superintendent James A.S Momoh.
The Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) revealed likely insurance fraud and misappropriation of funds intended for a teachers’ scholarship program.
FIA Officer-in-Charge Mohammed A. Nasser, on April 8, 2025, recommended to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (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.
FIA further reported that it found no business relationship between Dangan and Keita to justify the transactions, and allegations suggest that MCSS administrators charged US$920 per teacher benefitting from a study abroad program in India, which was paid for by the government.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, April 21, 2025, CENTAL Executive Director Anderson Miamen said they cannot conclude that these allegations are true without a formal investigation of 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,” CENTAL boss said.
Miamen said recent manifestations of discontent in the form of protest actions by students and ‘go slow’ by teachers are among reasons why they beseech President Boakai 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.
He said if not adequately investigated and convincingly addressed, these grave allegations will tend to undermine stakeholders’ trust in the system as well as government’s efforts in tackling corruption.
Miamen suggested that it would give an indication of perpetuation of the culture of impunity for corruption and other offenses, which have affected the country for so long.
