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Editor\u2019s Note: This is the first of a series on Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh\u2019s involvement with a Sinoe County community forest contract.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n NUMOPOH \u2013 Sinoe County Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh<\/a> allegedly bribed locals in Sinoe County to sign a community forest contract with a UAE-based company he appears to co-own. A DayLight investigation also found that the forest was unlawfully extended amid Quioh\u2019s decades-long friendship with the FDA\u2019s Managing Director Rudolph Merab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several residents and local officials said Quioh gave thousands of Liberian dollars to Numopoh Community Forest\u2019s leaders, who then distributed the money to community members to endorse African Finch Logging Limited. One person alleged they received the money directly from the lawmaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter the people refused to sign the MoU, then, he (Quioh) carried the [the community forest leaders] behind the house, and we saw them coming back with a black plastic bag filled with money,\u201d said Numopoh\u2019s Commissioner Alfred Harwood. \u201cFrom this point, the chiefs and other people started signing the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was sick and did not attend the meeting that day, but afterward, Quioh visited my house and gave me LD5,000, and said I should buy soap,\u201d said Christiana Neoh, Paramount chief of Doboe Chiefdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe also encouraged me to support the company\u2019s entry into our community [forest],\u201d added Neoh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The residents signed the document the same day it was introduced without making any input. Emmanuel Dapoe, a resident of Kilo Town, said he had to leave the signing ceremony due to his dissent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Others said Quioh had promised to bring African Finch to the Numopoh when he campaigned for the district\u2019s seat in 2023, which Quioh would clinch after defeating eight other candidates<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis whole thing is part of that big promise he made to the community during the campaign,\u201d said Alex Sanwon, a prominent Numopoh citizen, in Johnny Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The allegations were confirmed by Darius Nagbe, the Superintendent of Kpayan District, where Numopoh falls. In February, Nagbe wrote the Ministry of Internal Affairs, complaining Quioh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRepresentative Thomas Romeo Quioh\u2026 singularly took a logging company to the district\u2026,\u201d Nagbe said. He said he was unaware of the company\u2019s presence, and asked Minister of Internal Affairs Sakila Nyumalin to investigate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A statutory member of Numuoph\u2019s community forest leadership, a representative scrutinizes a logging company wanting to operate there, not negotiate on its behalf. Also, a representative has oversight over the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), which enforces the sector\u2019s laws and regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An official\u2019s involvement with a company or in bribery violates the Code of Conduct for Public Officials<\/a>, which prohibits inducement and conflict of interest. The code defines bribery as anything promised, offered, given, accepted, or received by a public official for favors in the execution of official duties, including \u201ccold water\u201d or \u201ceating.\u201d It defines conflict of interest as \u201cwhen a public official, contrary to official obligations and duties to act for the benefit of the public, exploits a relationship for personal benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, any inducement or intimidation violates the locals\u2019 right to consent, guaranteed in several national and international laws, including the Land Rights Act and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights<\/a>. These instruments provide that local people must be free to accept or reject a contract. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Quioh did not respond to the bribery claim and other allegations. In a phone interview, he appeared to accuse The DayLight of blackmail while ranting at this reporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou cannot teach me forestry. You don\u2019t know me. I am one of the longest-serving foresters in this country,\u201d said Quioh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know my rights, I know what I did. I\u2019m not a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPublish your story in the sky,\u201d he added, hanging up the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sam Kandie, Numopoh\u2019s chairman, who had celebrated<\/a> the African Finch deal in a previous interview, did not respond to The DayLight queries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Speak to the Hon.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The allegation that Quioh led African Finch\u2019s negotiation with Numopoh appears to be backed by photographs of the signing ceremony. In one photograph, the lawmaker is seen whispering to an African Finch representative sitting next to him. Another shows the two men sitting and watching as the ceremony unfolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to his alleged involvement with African Finch, locals believe Quioh co-owns African Finch. Kwadjo Asabre, African Finch\u2019s CEO, appeared to corroborate that claim when he recommended that The DayLight contact Quioh on company matters. \u201cSpeak to [the] Hon..,\u201d Asabre wrote in a WhatsApp interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, African Finch\u2019s legal documents do not rule out the possibility that Quoih is its owner. Established last year, African Finch is a subsidiary of Finch General Trading FZE, located in Ajman, UAE, according to its article of incorporation. Finch General Trading primarily focuses on mining, engineering, and agricultural products.. However, the Liberia Business Registry has no record of African Finch’s beneficial owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such a shady ownership structure violates Liberia\u2019s Beneficial Ownership Regulation and renders African Finch ineligible to do business in Liberia. The 2023 regulation requires Liberia-registered businesses to declare their beneficial owners\u2014the person or people who own them. This rule safeguards against transnational crimes such as money laundering, terrorist financing, and tax evasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The DayLight has written the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and the Liberia Business Registry about African Finch\u2019s unlawful registration. The Registry is obligated to reject companies with hidden shareholders, while the Ministry supervises the Registry\u2019s functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Rudolph is my friend\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But the hidden ownership is not the only violation associated with the African Finch deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n July last year, Numopoh asked the FDA to cancel its agreement with Delta Timber Corporation, which had previously illegally operated<\/a> in the forest. About two months later, the FDA granted<\/a> the request and advised the community to select a new investor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Numopoh did, but this time, the FDA expanded its size from 7,220 hectares to over 18,000 hectares without the participation of neighboring communities. The company has even started checking trees for possible harvesting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI only got to know about the expansion from the signed MoU when somebody posted it on social media,\u201d said Kwankon Saytue of Tartweh-Drapoh Community Forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2017 Community Rights Regulation<\/a> guarantees neighboring communities the right to participate in the demarcation and mapping of community forests. There is even a handbook<\/a> that the USAID funded for that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Land and forest rights campaigners criticized the extension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese are forest communities that were already created by metes and bounds. Their exclusion is not only impractical but also illegal,\u201d said Borwen Sayon of The Nature Compact<\/a>, a Montserrado-based NGO involved with natural resource management and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The illegal expansion could heighten tension in that area. Numopoh and the Do-Wolee township currently have an unresolved boundary dispute that has stalled Golden Veroleum Liberia\u2019s palm plantation<\/a> there for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In all, it appears African Finch is exploiting Quioh\u2019s relationship with the FDA Managing Director, Rudolph Merab. \u00a0Quioh and Merab have been friends for decades. \u201cWhen I come to the FDA, I feel at home away from home. FDA is my baby,\u201d Quioh said at Merab\u2019s induction in February last year. Rudolph and myself have 36 years of relationship. I am happy to be here as a friend of Rudolph.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not just the Liberia Business Registry, the FDA is also under legal obligation to check a forestry company\u2019s eligibility. The Regulation on Bidder Qualifications<\/a> requires the agency to reject any company whose owner is a lawmaker. This cannot be done with a company whose owners are unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The FDA did not answer questions on the Numopoh extension and the African Finch\u2019s owners. Last month, The DayLight asked the FDA<\/a> for information on the Numopoh-African Finch contract, as the information was not on the FDA\u2019s website<\/a> as required by law.\u00a0 However, that request was denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CORRECTION: This version of the story corrects a previous version that named African Finch as Africa Finch. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Top: Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh whispers to an African Finch Logging Limited executive at a program in Numopoh District, Sinoe County. File picture\/Anonymous By Varney Kamara Editor\u2019s Note: This is the first of a series on Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh\u2019s involvement with a Sinoe County community forest contract. 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