CAPITOL HILL, MONROVIA – The Executive Chairperson of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), Cllr. Alexandra Zoe, informed the House of Representatives’ plenary that asset declaration forms belonging to former President George Weah and four officials from his administration were leaked to former LACC executive chairperson, Cllr. James Verdier, at the end of his tenure in 2019, a situation she described as unprecedented.
By Gerald C. Koinyeneh – [email protected]
Cllr. Zoe disclosed this during her appearance before the House of Representatives, accompanied by her immediate predecessor, Cllr. Edwin Kla Martin. They were summoned by the House to explain how President Weah’s asset declaration documents, submitted to the LACC, were made public without his consent.
The Plenary’s decision to summon them followed a request from Rep. Frank Saah Foko (District #9, Montserrado County), urging the House to seek explanations on the leakage of the ex-president’s asset declaration documents.
Rep. Foko stated that while the National Code of Conduct mandates public officials to declare their assets, it does not mandate public disclosure; rather, it encourages voluntary declarations. Rep. Foko emphasized that making President Weah’s declared assets public without his consent violates the law, specifically breaching the LACC’s confidentiality clause.
During her testimony on Tuesday, Cllr. Zoe stated that upon the House’s invitation, the LACC Board of Commissioners initiated an investigation, which revealed that former chairman Verdier had accessed the former president and four other officials’ documents.
“…We called on the asset declaration officers currently seated at the LACC and it was established that indeed there was an issue of leakage of asset declaration some two to three years ago involving the former Chairperson, not commissioner Martin, but Commissioner [James] Verdier. The investigation revealed that indeed the former chairperson requested asset declaration for five former officials of government.”
She further revealed that a review of email exchanges between Verdier and the asset declaration department indicated that Verdier had requested the documents for asset verification purposes.
She said the other four officials whose information were leaked to Cllr. Verdier include Madam Jewel Howard Taylor former vice president of, former minister of state for presidential affairs Nathaniel McGill (now Senator of Margibi County), Samuel Tweah, Jr., former minister of finance and development planning and Jefferson Koijee, former mayor of Monrovia.
When questioned by House Speaker Fonati Koffa regarding the legality of requesting asset declaration forms that had already been filed, Cllr. Zoe clarified that the LACC is prohibited from disclosing asset declarations unless ordered by the court. She informed the plenary that as part of the ongoing investigation, the LACC intends to request Cllr. Verdier’s explanation for his actions.
“We are in the process of communicating with our former chairperson to understand why he requested and retained the declaration forms. We assumed office in September 2023, and the investigation was conducted subsequently,” Cllr. Zoe added.
However, when contacted, Cllr. Verdier told FrontPage Africa that in 2018 when he was still head of the LACC, he requested the declarations of officials of government who were claiming they had file. He made the request through the LACC communication channel and the purpose was to verify if these officials were indeed filling their asset declarations.
According to him, he acted in his capacity as the Chairman of the LACC.
Cllr. Verdier: “We were quite aware of the law that LACC could not on its own publish asset declaration except through a court mandate. However, I am not the only person who had access to these documents. Any member of the current or past Board of Commissioners and other staff working in the Asset Declaration Unit could/can access those documents.
Why would individuals be conceited and ill-advised to point accusing fingers to me? They did not conduct a credible investigation and I think they should be ashamed of themselves.”
He said the current officials of the LACC cannot see an email requesting the declarations and conclude their investigation that I leaked the documents.
“I did not depart the LACC with any property of the Commission. Therefore, I could not and would not be the one leaking any asset declaration of any past official. I don’t have access to those documents and if I did, I have no motive at this time,” Cllr. Verdier added.
Cllr. Martin, a central figure in Rep. Foko’s communication to the plenary, also testified, denying any knowledge of the leaked documents.
During cross-examination by lawmakers, including Rep. Musa Hassan Bility (District #7, Nimba County), Cllr. Martin reiterated that he was unaware of President Weah’s asset declaration during his tenure at the LACC. Some lawmakers including Reps. Dixon Seboe (District #16, Montserrado County) and Romeo Quioh (District #1, Sinoe County) expressed skepticism about his statements, while others including Speaker Koffa and Rep. Rep. Nyan Flomo (District #2, Nimba County) defended him, citing the confidentiality clause that would have prevented him from accessing the president’s records.
Following the testimonies, plenary, through a majority vote, authorized the Committees on Judiciary, National Security, and Good Governance to collaborate with the LACC in investigating the leaked documents and report their findings within two weeks.