The Vanguard Student Unification Party (SUP) at the University of Liberia has responded to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) to probe the Liberia Football Association (LFA) on corruption allegations.
SUP’s response was delivered by Emmanuel Nya Polay, who chairs the bureau of propaganda, research and guidance, at the LACC headquarters in Old Road on 28 May.
“While we understand the LACC’s adherence to Section 10.9 of the amended and restated Act of 2022 regarding confidentiality of investigative reports before indictment, the Student Unification Party categorically reaffirms her unwavering position that the allegations of corruption against Mr. Mustapha Raji and the LFA are substantive and demand decisive action,” said Polay.
Receiving the statement, program manager Vivian Akoto, who is also executive assistant to LACC chairperson Alexandra Zoe, said the LACC is apolitical and will make its finding public at the appropriate time.
The LACC announced a full-scale investigation at the LFA on 19 May following a SUP petition on 4 April.
In its petition carried live on several online platforms, SUP accused the LFA of lack of transparency and accountability, including a full disclosure of its headquarters and a report on the disqualification of the men’s under-17 team from the West African Union (WAFU) Zone ‘A’ tournament in October 2022.
SUP also cited a 2023 audit report, which gave the LFA a qualified opinion, which finally put the headquarters at US$1.89 million as was previously confirmed by former LFA secretary-generals Isaac Montgomery (who served from December 2018 to December 2022) and Atty. Kollie A. Dorko (who served from December 2022 to April 2024).
It drew the LACC to grants and subsidies from FIFA and CAF, lack of full disclosure on budgetary support from the government, sponsorship and contract agreements and gate intakes.
SUP wrote a May 19 letter to the LACC to inquire “the current status of the petition and subsequent investigation/review and steps taken by the LACC since reviewing the petition”.
In a response to SUP chairman Sylvester Wheeler, Cllr. Zoe said the request was approved by the board of commissioners for a full-scale investigation.
She said the investigation is currently ongoing and may last up to the end of the second quarter in 2025 depending on the availability of persons of interest and pieces of evidence.
“Currently, we can’t provide you with any preliminary findings to be made public because our investigation reports remain confidential and can’t be disclosed until an indictment has been formally issued.
“This public disclosure restriction is in keeping with section 10.9 of our amended and restated act of 2022 to protect the presumption of innocence of an accused person, the integrity of ongoing investigation and to ensure due process.
“We appreciate your interest in this matter and assure you that, should an indictment be filed, the relevant information will be made available in accordance with the law,” Cllr. Zoe wrote on 19 May.
Montgomery has repeatedly said he should be called as a person of interest.
SUP has been advocating for greater transparency and accountability at the LFA with another petition to the Liberia Immigration Service to investigate Raji’s nationality.
It alleged Raji, who was born to a Nigerian father, didn’t take an oath of affirmation and has fraudulently acquired Liberian passports and drew comparisons to former LACC chairperson Ndubuisi Nwabudike.
Nwabudike, born to a Nigerian father, was rejected by the Senate after several frauds were discovered during a confirmation hearing regarding his citizenship when he was nominated by then President George Weah as chairman of the National Elections Commission.
Several supporters of the LFA, including deputy secretary general Mohammed Sheriff and BBC news correspondent Moses Kollie Garzeawu, termed the letter as faked but Vivian confirmed to Prime FM on 21 May that the letter to SUP came from the LACC.
But Raji told a news conference that the LFA hasn’t received any letter from the LACC and will be open to any and all investigations.
“Unfortunately, we have not received any communication. I think I also read [about] it online that there is an investigation. Maybe they know how they are doing it.
“But I will be very happy that the LACC will come to the Liberia Football Association to investigate on the claims by group of individuals that claimed that I am involved with corrupt activities.
“I will be happy to open all of our books from 2018 to show those who were involved in the Wafu tournament all the way in terms of the use of the FIFA Forwards Funds to 2025, those who took money for beach soccer and used it, those who were involved in taking money from the system,” on 21 May.
The LACC was established in 2008 and reestablished in July 2022 “to investigate all acts of corruption discovered or reported to have occurred in the public, private and civil society sectors of Liberia with the aim of identifying the person(s) and extent of the loss of or damage to any public and or private property as a result of such act of corruption”.
