By By: Staff Writer
Monrovia – President Joseph Boakai just fired a dozen top security and port officials over Liberia’s record $336 million cocaine busts. But Senator Amara Konneh says that’s not enough.
Hours after the Executive Mansion announced the dismissals, Konneh welcomed the move but warned it only scratches the surface.
“Removing low-and mid-level officers is just the beginning,” Konneh wrote Thursday.
Boakai’s sweep hit RIA Deputy Director Mark Kuiah, CID/INTERPOL Commissioner Johnny Dean, NSA Deputy Director Patrick Doe, and others linked to the $19M seizure at Roberts Airport and the $317M seizure in VOA Community. Two cops were also fired for allegedly using government vehicles to move drugs.
The government burned all 4,169 plates of cocaine days earlier, calling it the biggest drug destruction in Liberia’s history and proof of “accountability without fear or favor.”
Konneh isn’t buying the finish line.
He says the size of the shipments proves “powerful syndicates protected from the top down” are running Liberia as a transit route to Europe. He called on Boakai to go after “high-level financiers, influential local brokers, and top current officials who have shielded them since January 2024.”
The Senator directly referenced the LNP Inspector General’s statement that current and former high-profile officials are under investigation.
“Justice must be impartial,” Konneh said. “No one, regardless of their position in the current government or ties to the past, should be shielded by political convenience.”
He demanded “full accountability, transparent prosecutions, and the arrest of the real masterminds.”
“More action is needed, and quickly, Mr. President!” Konneh posted, using #PublicEnemyNumberOne and #DrugFreeLiberia.
The question now: Will Boakai’s crackdown stop with the officials fired this week, or will it climb to the names Konneh says are being protected at the top?
