By Festus Poquie
Former Liberian Finance Minister Samuel Tweah has accused President Joseph Boakai’s administration of persecuting political opponents and seeking to overturn his acquittal in a national security trial that lasted nearly two years.
In a letter sent to the United Nations and several international bodies, Tweah, who served as finance minister under former President George Weah, said the Boakai government was engaged in a “persistent pattern of political witch-hunt” disguised as an anti-corruption drive.
He said the case against him and other former officials was politically motivated and unsupported by evidence.
Prosecutors indicted Tweah and other former officials in July 2024 over the alleged misuse of $6.2 million approved for national security purposes during the 2023 elections. A jury later cleared Tweah and one other defendant, while two co-defendants were found guilty on some charges and another received a hung verdict.
Tweah said the government is now attempting to influence post-verdict proceedings in a bid to reverse his acquittal.
He warned that any effort to alter the jury’s decision would set a dangerous precedent in Liberia, where no acquitting verdict has ever been overturned.
“The Government, in a clear witch-hunt garbed under the rubric of fighting corruption, and without any iota of evidence, indicted us,” Tweah wrote in the letter addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and copied to the African Union, ECOWAS, the European Council and U.S. congressional leaders.
The Boakai administration has not publicly responded to Tweah’s latest allegations. The presidency and Ministry of Justice have previously defended the government’s anti-corruption campaign as part of efforts to restore accountability and strengthen institutions.
Tweah’s letter goes beyond his own case, accusing the government of ignoring court rulings and undermining judicial independence. He cited disputes over legislative leadership, the removal of officials with fixed tenure and a separate case tied to the 2024 fire at the Capitol building.
Former House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa was removed from office and charged with multiple crimes, including arson. The case has stalled for nearly two years as prosecutors have struggled to produce evidence linking accused persons to the alleged crimes.
Other prominent Liberians have also accused the administration of political intolerance and targeting.
Prosecutors are seeking to seize the charity of former First Lady Clar Weah. The Boakai administration has targeted the Clar Hope Foundation on suspicion that state resources may have been used in its formation and operation during George Weah’s presidency from 2018 to 2024.
A January court order requiring the foundation to surrender records to the Assets Recovery Taskforce was upheld after the trial judge repeated the directive and warned of contempt if there is no compliance.
Samuel P. Jackson, a 73-year-old political activist and economist, has also been a vocal critic of the Boakai administration. Hours after the death of his wife in Monrovia, he was arrested, detained and charged with manslaughter, negligent homicide and other offenses. His case remains pending as the state has yet to release autopsy results from March, more than three months ago.
“Two hours after my wife’s passing dozens of armed policemen surrounded my house,” Jackson said in a Facebook post Tuesday.
He contrasted that response with the government’s handling of a suspected drug trafficker linked to the June 8 seizure of $19 million worth of cocaine.
“You didn’t surround the house of the drug baron with armed combat troops but you came to the house of a frail 73 year old man with assault rifles.
“We are further devastated by the fact that her body has remained in a mortuary freezer for more than 102 days,” Jackson said.
“The Jackson and Khumalo families have appealed to the relevant authorities through our attorneys and have also made public appeals, all in an effort to obtain custody of the remains of our beloved Toni Khumalo so that she may be accorded a dignified burial in her native South Africa.”
He said the documentation required under South African law to repatriate her remains, including autopsy and toxicology reports, has not been provided by the Liberian government.
“In spite of our numerous efforts, our requests for custody of the body have been met with silence and resistance,” Jackson said.
In April, the House of Representatives expelled Yekeh Kolubah, a lawmaker from Montserrado County’s District 10, over comments he made regarding the disputed border region with Guinea. He was alleged to have said that the disputed land in Liberia’s northern Lofa County belongs to Guinea.
Wilmot Paye, who was removed as minister of mines and energy in late 2025, told online broadcaster Spoon Talk on Tuesday that he was politically targeted by members of the ruling Unity Party because of his nationalist stance on the management of the country’s mineral resources. He said there would be more political exiles if Vice President Jeremiah Koung becomes president of Liberia.
In his letter, Tweah also warned that Liberia’s political stability and investment climate could suffer if the international community remains silent.
“These despotic proclivities, if unchecked, would reverse the solid gains made over the last 20 years in the abolition of autocracy in Liberia,” he wrote.
The former minister said opposition figures, student groups and civil society organizations have condemned the administration’s actions. He pointed to planned protests and criticism from opposition politicians as evidence of growing concern over what he described as selective justice.
Liberia, still shaped by the legacy of civil war and postwar democratic reforms, has received significant support from international partners including the UN, the African Union, ECOWAS, the IMF and the World Bank.
Tweah said that support should now be used to defend Liberia’s democratic institutions. “Prevention is cheaper than resolution,” he wrote.
Democracy Watch: Liberia’s Rule of Law Trends
Liberia recorded a marginal improvement in the World Justice Project’s 2025 Rule of Law Index, though the country showed signs of democratic backsliding, with judges losing ground to executive influence and rising political interference alongside shrinking civil liberties.
The WJP report, which compares rule-of-law performance across 143 countries, ranked Liberia 108th globally and 16th out of 34 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Liberia’s overall score rose by less than 1% in 2025, making it one of a minority of countries to post any gain in a year when global rule-of-law conditions worsened. About 68% of countries declined in the index, up from 57% the previous year.
Beneath that modest improvement, the report highlights structural weaknesses. Liberia is among more than 70% of countries worldwide experiencing a contraction in civic space, with freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of assembly and association and civic participation all declining in 2025, trends the WJP links to rising authoritarianism.
