Monrovia — Former Minister of Finance Samuel Tweah Denounces Government Indictment as "Total Witch Hunt"
Former Minister of Finance and Development Planning Samuel Tweah has termed the government's indictment against him as a "total witch hunt."
On Monday, Tweah and several former top officials of the Weah-Taylor administration were indicted on charges of economic sabotage, theft, and illegal disbursement of funds.
Officials indicted alongside Tweah include former National Security Advisor Jefferson Karmoh, former Solicitor General Cllr. Nyenati Tuan, ex-Comptroller of the Financial Intelligence Unit (now FIA) D. Moses P. Cooper, and former Director General of the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) Stanley Ford.
Cllr. Tuan, Karmoh, and Cooper were imprisoned after failing to present a criminal appearance bond, as they could not afford the amount required for economic sabotage. Judge Ben Barcon denied their request for a personal recognizance bond, despite their prominence.
Tweah, another defendant, is reportedly out of the country, in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire. No account has been given for Ford.
Writing on his Facebook page, Tweah described the charges and subsequent arrest of his co-defendants as a "total witch hunt."
He said over the last six years, he has been a major political target and has faced "falsely devilish accusations, spanning from a so-called 25 million mop-up propaganda through the 16 billion concoction to so many other fabrications intended to besmirch my reputation and derail my political institution."
He pointed out that the ruling Unity Party is facing massive allegations of ongoing corruption, including a UP government-sanctioned CBL payment of US$8 million of Liberia's reserve money to SIB Bank, which funded the UP campaign.
His statement referred to a FrontPage Africa (FPA) story from July 29, 2024. FPA reported a controversial decision by the Central Bank of Liberia to guarantee loans to two struggling banks under the guise of bolstering financial sector stability.
Tweah said the Unity Party-led government was "shamelessly" turning a blind eye to mountains of audit reports detailing the gutting of the Liberian Treasury under its 12-year rule and, experiencing very low public ratings due to its six-month failures as a government, has decided to politically witch-hunt him and former officials of the CDC.
He vowed to vindicate himself in court. "Working with my lawyers and others, I stand ready to defeat this witch-hunt and vindicate my reputation through the justice system," Tweah said. "In the end, I will emerge stronger and my enemies will be put to shame!"
