Liberian News: Tweah Debunks COVID-19 S30M Defamation, Threatens Legal Action

Monrovia-Former Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Tweah has sharply reacted to what he called “political factors, lies, envy, propaganda, dishonesty and shenanigans” often spewed against him and others in the public space for “political reasons.”

Former Minister Tweah, at a press conference held Friday at the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) Headquarters, calculatedly responded to and clarified “blatant falsification being hatched” against him  by Stanton Witherspoon of Spoon Network concerning a COVID-19 $30 million stimulus package provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Whitherspoon, according to Tweah, accused him for the misapplication of the money intended for the population during the plague of COVID-19 by him (Tweah) while serving as Finance and Development Planning Minister.

He said Mr. Whitherspoon has used his Spoon Network to malign individuals including him, Tweah, threatening a lawsuit against Whitherspoon to prove his claims of corruption and misappropriation of the money in question.

“Today’s conference is about initiating that fight; it is about demonstrating how targeting Samuel Tweah and keeping his name in the public even when he has not done nothing wrong appears to be goal of some in our politics and in our media,” the former Minister amidst political battle cries and chants from CDC battle criers.

Mr. Tweah  disclosed that he thought to  expose the “conspiration by Mr. Witherspoon” and others to get him involved in “some false $30 million COVID-19 scandal.”

Whitherspoon claimed, according to Tweah, on his  network on last Thursday, June 26, 2029, that  “I would be arrested”  by government,”  a claim to which he showed  video footage of Mr. Witherspoon’s comments.

Shedding light and providing clarity on the amount in question, he explained “in 2020, the Government of Liberia, through the National Legislature, worked with the International Monetary Fund to secure a $25 million loan to support what was called the COVID-19 Household Food Support Program (COHFSP).”

The ex-Minister indicated that the program was about giving food to Liberian households during COVID-19.

He added: “As part of this arrangement, the Government and the IMF agreed that the money should be deposited directly into the bank account of the World Food Program (WFP) which, according to the Government and the IMF had the best expertise and experience to distribute food on a global and national scale.”

Mr. Tweah said he was happy with the arrangement because it meant no Liberian Government institution would be accused of “stealing $25 million, “since it would be the WFP that would be accounting for the $25 million.”

“I was happy that another $25 million lie would be avoided,” he said in an indirect reference to the $25 million mop-up stimulus package intended to boost and resuscitate the economy.

According to him,  the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning received $25 million from the IMF through the Government revenue account and transferred this this sum in its entirety to the bank account of the WFP.

“I don’t think that money stayed a full day in the Consolidated Account.

Also, the WFP received $5 million from the World Bank through the Smallholders Agriculture Transformation Agribusiness and Revitalization Project (STAR-P),” he asserted.

Former Minister Tweah also stat3d that the $5 million was released directly by the World Bank as monies for donors such as the World Bank do not go to the Government Revenue Account.

Based on the final report of the COHFSP, he said, the WFP received $ 30 from two different sources: MFDP and World Bank/Ministry of Agriculture and Donor.

He went on clarifying, “In July of 2022, the WFP reported that it spent $23.838 million and had a balance of $1.171 million to transfer back to the government through the MFDP,” adding “The WFP similarly had the amount of $857,555 to be returned to the World Bank. So, in total the WFP had a little over $2 million to refund.”

Mr. Tweah disclosed that up to the time the CDC administration left office the WFP had not returned this money.”

He said these informations were recorded in turnover note presented by Deputy Minister Augustus Flomo and his hard-working team for the incoming administration.

“I have the entire copy of our turnover note from the Department of Economic Management which deals with matters of donor funding. But specifically, we have printed out the section on the recommendation,” he stressed.

Further shedding light on the issue and his role, Tweah spoke of a letter dated March 2025  from Finance Minister Mr. Augustine Kpehe Ngafuah requesting results to expect from the $234,350 or 20% of the unutilized COVID-19 food distribution funding he had previously approved for expenditure on school feeding as requested by the WFP.

The latest letter preceded an earlier letter from the Minister in September 2024 reads his denial of a request from the Country Director of the WFP to use $500,000 of the unused funds for school feeding,  he further noted.

“I also have a May 2023 letter from the former Country Director of WFP Mr. Aliou Diongue requesting my approval for said reallocation. Mr. Aliou personally visited me and I told him then I was not in a position to grant such approval,” the formerMinister said.

“Let’s imagine Minister Ngafuah has approved the reallocation and Mr. Tweah is being rumored to be arrested for it. Imagine if Samuel Tweah had approved this fund, the rumor would have been “Tweah used the WFP money for CDC election” and I might have long been arrested,” Mr. Tweah explained.

Based on what he considered as  facts on the COVID-19 $30 million, he wondered why Mr. Witherspoon dragged in the  $30 million issue.

He said he does not care about Witherspoon’s claims that he got  the information from “Government sources”  about his possible arrest, adding “I cared that Liberians have falsely been made to believe I am illegally connected to some $30 million dollars for which the Government is purportedly seeking my arrest as part of its dragnet on former CDC government officials.”

In an effort to clear his name and  for Witherspoon to prove his claims, Tweah has threatened  legal actions, saying that he has consulted his team of lawyers “who believe there are substantial merits in libel lawsuit against Mr. Witherspoon.”

Alphonso Toweh

Has been in the profession for over twenty years. He has worked for many international media outlets  including: West Africa Magazine, Africa Week Magazine, African Observer and  did occasional reporting for CNN, BBC World Service, Sunday Times, NPR, Radio Deutchewells, Radio Netherlands. He is the current correspondent for Reuters 
 He holds first  MA with honors in International  Relations and a  candidate for second master in International Peace studies and Conflict  Resolution from the University of Liberia.