Monrovia- As the investigation into the alleged bribery by British Mining Company Sable Mining being conducted by the Presidential Task Force continues, there are indications that the probe will widen as FrontPageAfrica has gathered that agents of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation are expected to assist with the probe.
Recently former British Prime Minister David Cameroon promised that Great Britain will cooperate with the corruption probe and is willing to help Liberia fight corruption wherever it is discovered.
FrontPageAfrica has gathered from international sources that the US Department of State has offered to also assist Liberia in the investigation.
“We have been in contact with quite a lot of Liberia’s partners to encourage them to help the investigation because we continue to believe the government is trying to do the right thing” a Global Witness spokesperson told FrontPageAfrica.
The Government of Liberia through the Task Force has been probing the saga and has already indicted a number of individuals including Grand Cape Mount County Senator, Cllr. Varney Sherman, House of Representatives Speaker Alex Tyler, former Chairman of the National Investment Commission, Dr. Richard Tolbert, Sable Mining Company and others.
The case is currently ongoing while the Task Force is still seeking vital information to pursue the case. Recently the Task Force dispatched a team to the United Kingdom to gather more information.
The Task Force increased the number of indictees recently when it indicted Sable Mining, its CEO Andrew Grooves and Mr. Heine van Niekerk who was the COO for Sable in West Africa along with others on multiple criminal charges including economic sabotage, criminal facilitation, bribery, criminal conspiracy, money laundering.
Global Witness alleged in its report the ‘Deceivers’ that Sable paid nearly US$1 million to bribe Liberian government officials to made changes to the Public Procurement and Concession Law of Liberia to grant the mining company the exclusive right to mine the Wologizi Mountain in Lofa County.
Following his indictment, Grooves angrily reacted describing Liberia as a corrupt country, where he said there is no justice, saying the indictment is politically motivated.
“Mr. Groves believes that these allegations are politically motivated ahead of the imminent presidential elections, and are specifically designed to undermine the candidacy of Varney Sherman, one of Liberia’s most respected lawyers, and Alex Tyler, the speaker of parliament and also a presidential candidate. Mr. Sherman is a highly respected and preeminent member of Liberian society and it is beyond comprehension that he would be involved in the matters in question”, stated the Sable CEO.
Grooves declared that the justice system in Liberia is flawed and there can be no transparency.
“It is difficult to see how, in a country with a deeply flawed justice system and an appalling record for corruption, a task force set up only 4 weeks ago can already have undertaken a thorough review of the allegations first raised by Global Witness and then perpetuated in the world’s press. To date, no evidence has been presented to support these allegations against Mr. Groves. During the period in question, Mr. Heine van Niekerk was the COO for Sable in West Africa and was given full responsibility to manage operations in Liberia”, stated Groves.
He outlined that it is difficult to have faith that any inquiry will be transparent or fair given the backdrop of Liberia being one of the world’s most corrupt countries, the task force led by convicted felons and people he referred to as misfits lacking the credentials to mount a legitimate, impartial, fully transparent investigation.
The level of assurances from the international circle to help Liberia with the probe is a sign that the country is pushing hard to get some results from the ongoing investigation.
Samwar S. Fallah, [email protected]