{"id":7107,"date":"2026-03-17T17:17:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T17:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/?p=7107"},"modified":"2026-03-17T17:17:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T17:17:31","slug":"community-forests-bank-account-resumes-after-unlawful-freeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2026\/03\/17\/community-forests-bank-account-resumes-after-unlawful-freeze\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Forest\u2019s Bank Account Resumes after Unlawful Freeze"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Top: Isaac Tuker, Chief Officer, Mavasagueh Community Forest, District #2, Grand Bassa County. The DayLight\/Emmanuel Sherman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

By Emmanuel Sherman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

COMPOUND TWO, Grand Bassa County \u2013 A community forest\u2019s account has been unfrozen after a bank, allegedly heeding a lawmaker\u2019s request, froze it nearly a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, the Mavasagueh Community Forest accessed its account at the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) for the first time since it was frozen last March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel a little relieved,\u201d Isaac Tuker, Mavasagueh\u2019s chief officer, said in an interview in Compound Two, Grand Bassa County. \u201cI am happy that the community account has been opened, so we can do what we are supposed to do as a community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuker withdrew US$100 from the forest account, based on a receipt of the transaction, to prove that it was operational. The community has set up committees to begin development initiatives, according to Tuker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unfreezing of the account followed a community resolution that threatened to stop logging activities in the 26,003-hectare forest.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the C&C Corporation signed a logging contract with 39 towns and villages of Mavasagueh. However, a few towns and villages claimed they were sidelined, sparking a protest<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was unclear who authorized the bank to freeze Mavasagueh\u2019s bank account, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarence Banks, the representative of Grand Bassa\u2019s District Two, and Superintendent Kadyue Johnson intervened in the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representative Banks alleged that the Tuker and his team had misapplied US$9,500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuker denies any wrongdoing. He claims that the money was used to purchase a motorbike, pay forest guards, and on health matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banks then wrote C&C, asking it to direct all payments to another account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am asking the C&C Corporations to deposit all financial obligations to the affected communities of the Mavasagueh in the following named account with Account# 001USD42205927202 until the investigation is completed,\u201d read the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Deposit slip of US$45,000, to the Mavasagueh Forest Account by C&C, The DayLight\/Emmanuel Sherman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a result, Mavasagueh could not access the US$45,000 C&C Corporation deposited into the account, stalling local development efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representative Banks did not return interview questions, and LBDI said it could not disclose a customer\u2019s privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe bank is bound by strict customer confidentiality obligations and, as such, is unable to disclose any information relating to customers\u2019 accounts to a third party,\u201d said Cllr. Regina Elliott, LBDI\u2019s corporate secretary and in-house legal counsel, in reply<\/a> to a DayLight inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless, the evidence shows that the account was frozen unlawfully. The Community Rights Regulations, which created community forestry, only empower Tuker to operate the account with the \u00a0Mavasagueh executive committee\u2019s supervision. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representative Banks is only a statutory member of the executive committee, which Abraham Sumo, a townsman, chairs.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers\u2019 restricted role is a product of forestry reform. It breaks away from the periods before and during the Liberian civil wars, where politicians marginalized local communities and mismanaged forest resources, fueling one of West Africa\u2019s deadliest armed conflicts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Top: Isaac Tuker, Chief Officer, Mavasagueh Community Forest, District #2, Grand Bassa County. The DayLight\/Emmanuel Sherman By Emmanuel Sherman COMPOUND TWO, Grand Bassa County \u2013 A community forest\u2019s account has been unfrozen after a bank, allegedly heeding a lawmaker\u2019s request, froze it nearly a year ago. Last month, the Mavasagueh Community Forest accessed its account […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":7110,"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":[54,3],"tags":[123,1410,3206,107,2913,3204],"class_list":["post-7107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-logging","category-rainforest","tag-forestry-development-authority","tag-grand-bassa-county","tag-lbdi","tag-liberia","tag-mavasagueh-community-forest","tag-representative-clarence-banks"],"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":"Community Forest Bank Account Resumes after Unlawful Freeze","description":"Grand Bassa County \u2013 A community forest\u2019s account has been unfrozen after a bank, allegedly heeding a lawmaker\u2019s request, froze it nearly a year ago.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2026\/03\/17\/community-forests-bank-account-resumes-after-unlawful-freeze\/","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. 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