Liberia’s Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR), the very body mandated to defend citizens’ rights, is now itself under siege. What should be a bastion of accountability has fractured into bitter camps, trading accusations of fraud, intimidation, and sexual misconduct in a crisis that threatens the Commission’s credibility at home and abroad.
On August 5, 2026, Acting Chairperson Cllr. Mohammed E. Fahnbulleh announced the dismissal of Executive Director Atty. Urias Teh Pour and Director for Planning Bah wah Brownell. The two had been suspended weeks earlier over allegations of payroll fraud and mishandling of a $20,175 UNICEF grant. Their cases were referred to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), which has yet to release findings.
The Board insisted the firings were not based on the unresolved financial charges but on conduct during suspension. Teh Pour allegedly continued representing the Commission in official communications and even appointed Brownell to a representative role despite his suspension. The Board branded this a “serious breach” of the National Code of Conduct.
Within 24 hours, Teh Pour and Brownell struck back with a blistering joint statement. They denied wrongdoing, stressing that no audit or investigation had formally implicated them. They cited past clean reviews from external auditor Moore Stephens & Co. and the General Auditing Commission as proof the fraud claims were baseless.
Turning defense into offense, they accused Fahnbulleh of lacking proper certification under the 2005 INCHR Act, alleging he was politically installed. They charged him with intimidating colleagues, suppressing a 2022 report on a student protest crackdown, and—most explosively—being found culpable of sexually harassing a female staffer in a civil society probe.
None of these claims have been independently substantiated. The LACC has not published findings on Teh Pour and Brownell, while the sexual harassment allegation against Fahnbulleh rests on an unnamed civil society investigation with no public report. Assertions of political suppression of the 2022 protest report remain undocumented.
What is confirmed is Fahnbulleh’s rapid suspension of multiple staff, including a gender coordinator, within three weeks. Whether this reflects legitimate discipline or a purge is hotly contested.
The turmoil is compounded by the absence of the Commission’s sitting Chairperson, Cllr. Dempster Brown, suspended in late June over separate misconduct allegations. With two top leaders sidelined in quick succession, the INCHR faces a leadership vacuum at the very moment it is expected to safeguard rights and accountability.
Created in 2005 to replace a compromised predecessor, the INCHR was designed to operate free of political entanglements. Today, that independence is in jeopardy. The infighting threatens Liberia’s coveted “A status” accreditation—an international recognition of credibility and autonomy.
Both factions insist they welcome scrutiny: the Board touts its disciplinary process, while Teh Pour and Brownell claim validation through independent audits. Yet until outside authorities weigh in, the public is left with dueling narratives from an institution meant to arbitrate disputes, not embody them.
