Criminal Court ‘C’ at the Temple of Justice has completed the selection of a 15-member jury to hear the case involving 13 defendants accused of misappropriating rice donated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Liberia for disaster victims.
The jury selection began on Monday, August 17, and was completed on Tuesday, August 18. The selected jurors have been placed under sequestration at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia.
Following the selection, presiding Judge Osuman F. Feikai instructed the clerk of court to read the indictment to the jury.
The defendants are charged with theft of property, economic sabotage involving the misuse of public money, property or records, theft and illegal disbursement or expenditure of public money, misapplication of entrusted property, abuse of office, and criminal conspiracy. All 13 defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The defendants include former Foreign Affairs Minister Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, former Internal Affairs Minister Varney A. Sirleaf, former Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister for Administration Thelma Sawyer, and officials and former officials of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) and the General Services Agency (GSA).
They are Augustine Kollie, Director for Disaster Victims at the NDMA; former NDMA Executive Director Henry O. Williams; NDMA employee Edward S. Konneh; NDMA Communications Director Archievego M. Doe; former GSA Deputy Director for Operations Edris Bility; GSA Assistant Director Mamie Davies; former Deputy Internal Affairs Minister for Administration Momolu Johnson; NDMA Logistics Officer Rosetta L. Gbassay Bowah; Wayfa Ciapha, identified in the indictment as the purported CEO of Group of Seventy-Seven; and Warehouse Manager Evelyn Gbee.
The case stems from a donation of 29,412 bags of 25-kilogram rice valued at approximately US$500,000, which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia donated to the Liberian government in April 2023.
The rice was intended for distribution to communities and people affected by disasters across Liberia. It was stored in warehouses managed by relevant government institutions pending distribution.
An investigation by the Assets Recovery and Property Retrieval Taskforce (AREPT) subsequently led to the indictment of the defendants in 2025.
According to the indictment, 25,054 bags of the donated rice, valued at approximately US$425,918, were allegedly stolen, misapplied or improperly distributed.
Prosecutors allege that the handling of the rice deprived disaster victims and the Liberian government of the intended benefit of the Saudi donation.
The trial follows an August 11, 2026 ruling by Criminal Court ‘C’ directing that the case proceed after the completion of pretrial proceedings and discovery.
The court had scheduled the trial to begin at 9 a.m. on Monday, August 17.
With jury selection now completed, the prosecution is expected to present its evidence, while the defendants will have the opportunity to challenge the allegations and present their defenses.
AREPT has said the case forms part of its efforts to recover public assets and pursue cases arising from its investigations through the courts.
The taskforce has also stressed the importance of due process, the rights of the defendants and the independence of the Judiciary throughout the proceedings.
The case has drawn public attention because of the number of defendants and the involvement of several former senior government officials.
The trial is continuing before Criminal Court ‘C’ at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia.
