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MONROVIA \u2013 Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh of Sinoe County\u2019s Electoral District-1 has admitted his connection to a shady logging company, while denying it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quioh was reacting to a recent DayLight investigation<\/a>, citing allegations by locals that he co-owned African Finch Logging Limited, a UAE-based firm that has a logging MoU with the Numopoh Community Forest in Sinoe\u2019s Kpayan District. Locals, including county officials, accused Quioh of bribing and intimidating chiefs and elders into signing the document the same day he introduced it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs a duly elected lawmaker and a member of the advisory board of directors of the African Finch\u2026, my involvement in forestry-related matters is strictly in the confines of legislative oversight,\u201d Quioh said in a Facebook post<\/a> last Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy position on the advisory board of the forest management committee of the district and a non-voting member of the advisory board of the African Finch…,\u201d Quioh added. He followed up that post with a press conference<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quioh\u2019s confession to his African Finch role confirms at least one of the allegations locals made. The investigation cited people who accused the lawmaker of co-owning the company, based on his part in the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By his admission, Quioh is liable for multiple conflicts of interest. First, as a representative, he is a statutory member of Numopoh\u2019s forest leadership. Also, as a lawmaker, he has oversight over the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), which governs the logging sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means that Quioh is caught between performing his duties as a lawmaker and his responsibilities as the director of African Finch\u2019s board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Code of Conduct for Public Officials<\/a> prohibits such conflicts of interest. \u201cNo Public official or employee of government should use an official position to pursue private interests that may result in a conflict of interest,\u201d it says. Breaking the code constitutes a penalty, including a reprimand, a fine, or removal from office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quioh\u2019s conflicts of interest nullify Numopoh\u2019s contract with African Finch. The National Forestry Reform Law<\/a> bars Quioh and other officials from playing such a role in a private company. It bars \u201ca person associated through investment, ownership, effective control, or other similar means.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Board of directors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n African Finch\u2019s article of incorporation shows it is a subsidiary of Finch General Trading Limited FZE, another UAE-based company. However, the article does not show the persons who own African Finch or Finch General, a violation of the Beneficial Ownership Regulation<\/a>. The regulation requires companies to declare their human owners, not just parent companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such shadowy ownership neither denies nor confirms the locals\u2019 allegation that Quioh co-owns the company, The DayLight reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kwadjo Asabre, an African Finch executive, fueled the local people\u2019s allegation. When contacted for the company\u2019s side of the story, Asabre told this reporter to \u201cSpeak to [the] Hon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quioh appears to lessen his role in African Finch by falsely suggesting it has an advisory board, instead of a board of directors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A board of directors differs sharply from an advisory board, according to Black\u2019s Law Dictionary<\/a>, a leading global reference for legal definitions. A board of directors is a governing body that supervises a company\u2019s activities with legally binding decisions. In contrast, an advisory board provides expert advice and recommendations that are not legally binding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Accordingly, Quioh plays a much crucial role in African Finch than he has admitted. This likely explains why Asabre referred this reporter to a lawmaker when the newspaper sought an interview with the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quioh claims the newspaper published its story \u201cwithout [a] proper engagement with his office.\u201d However, the evidence contradicts that claim. The DayLight did contact Quioh and published its article nearly a month later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On March 20, DayLight reached out to Quioh via WhatsApp with its queries. The next day, in a phone interview, Quioh failed to respond to the queries. Instead, he boasted about his wartime logging experience, ranting at this reporter and hanging up the phone. <\/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, who served as an FDA deputy managing director during Liberia\u2019s deadly civil conflict. He continued the bragging in his press conference and WhatsApp messages to the newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But wartime foresters are not glorified as Quioh suggests, as they are synonymous with forestry\u2019s darkest era. Logging companies used timber resources to fund warring factions, including forces loyal to the Liberian government. Thus, the phrases \u201cblood timber\u201d and conflict timber\u201d were born, leading to United Nations sanctions<\/a> in 2003. The sanctions were lifted following rigorous reforms<\/a> that partially bar wartime loggers<\/a> from conducting any forestry activities. However, the provision is not being enforced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Top: Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh of Sinoe County\u2019s Electoral District-1 sits next to an executive of African Finch Logging Limited, a company whose board of directors he admits to being on. Picture credit\/Anonymous By Varney Kamara MONROVIA \u2013 Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh of Sinoe County\u2019s Electoral District-1 has admitted his connection to a shady logging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6002,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[123,107],"class_list":["post-6000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-investigations","tag-forestry-development-authority","tag-liberia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Lawmaker Admits Link to Illegal Logging Company","description":"MONROVIA \u2013 Representative Thomas Romeo Quioh of Sinoe County\u2019s Electoral District-1 has admitted his connection to a shady logging company, while denying it.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2025\/04\/20\/lawmaker-admits-link-to-illegal-logging-company\/","robots":"noindex, nofollow, max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"msvalidate.01":"CA6BD2F84653EA44942A55ABC0B35372","miscellaneous":""},"schema":null,"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"The DayLight - The DayLight is a nonprofit, environmental news website. Our evidence-based, independent and quality news contents tell you all the happenings across nature\u2019s frontiers and the extractive sector in Liberia. From forestry and fisheries to wildlife conservation and climate change, from renewable energy and land rights to oil\/gas and oil palm, we bring you news on everything about the environment you need to know. 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