Two leaked letters in possession of this paper reveal that the Government of Liberia under ex-President George Weah made a formal request to the Government of Saudi Arabia for a US$2.5 million assistance package.
In 2022, the Saudi Government approved the request and disbursed said amount to Liberia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intended for food aid and the restoration of the foreign ministry’s building.
In two separate letters dated September 22, 2022 and November 14, 2022 respectively, the Saudi Arabian government provided US$500,000 for food aid and US$2 million for the restoration of the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Amid a major scandal of 29,412 bags of rice being allegedly stolen, there is growing public outcry for increased scrutiny and accountability of financial transactions between the Government of Saudi Arabia and the Government of Liberia under the previous administration.
The leaked letter stated, “The Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Abidjan presents its compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Liberia and has the honor to inform it that the requests of Liberia have been approved.”
Further, the letter specifically asserted, “the amount of US$2.500,000 will be disbursed for the government, and divided as follows: The amount of US$500,000 for food aids and US$2,000,000 for the restoration of the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
This paper cannot confirm whether the US$2.5 million provided by Saudi Arabia was used for said projects or not as investigation continues.
