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MONROVIA, Liberia – Former Minister of Information during the regime of ex-president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Dr. Laurence (Larry) Konmla Bropleh, has found his way back in government, this time as Special Envoy and Advisor to President George Weah.
An Executive Mansion statement released Thursday announced Dr. Bropleh’s return to government, indicating that the president’s appointment of the former minister, takes immediate effect.
In November 2006, former president Sirleaf named Dr. Bropleh as Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), replacing Dr. Wesseh McClain. But three years after, he (Dr. Bropleh) was suspended by the Liberian leader pending the outcome of a Ministry of Justice investigation, into an alleged financial scandal at the MICAT.
‘Recalled and suspended’
In October, 2009, while representing Liberia as Vice President of the Steering Committee for the World Expo 2010 in China, Dr. Bropleh’s official assignment was hastily terminated, when he was recalled and suspended indefinitely by then President Sirleaf pending the outcome of a criminal investigation launched by the Ministry of Justice.
Dr. Bropleh was attending the China EXPO-2009, in the capacity of the first African ever to be elected to such position within the history of the World EXPO.
Later recollecting his abrupt recall and indefinite suspension, Dr. Bropleh, in December 2010, described same as an agonizing moment, in which he said he had to wait for fourteen months for his accusers to provide evidence for the allegations levied against him.
An audit report from the country’s supreme auditing firm, the General Auditing Commission (GAC), released in 2009, indicted Dr. Bropleh of allegedly embezzling over US$200,000.
Dr. Bropleh was then subjected to two investigations into allegations that the former minister might have defrauded the Government of Liberia of more than US$300,000.
‘Resignation’
Midway into criminal investigation into allegations that Dr. Bropleh may have embezzled government money, he resigned his post as Minister of Information stating at the time that his resignation did not mean he was guilty of embezzling over US$200,000 as suggested in an audit report by the GAC.
According to the Auditor General’s report Bropleh defrauded government to the tune of about $260,000 through the fraudulent processing and payments of salaries and allowances to several ghost employees.
But Bropleh said at the time that he resigned not because he was guilty but because of what he called nationalism and consideration for President Sirleaf’s efforts to make Liberia a better place.
“This is not a tacit admission of guilt. I resigned because in my spirit there is a strong sense of nationalism and pride for this country and the effort of President Sirleaf thus far to make Liberia a better place,” Dr. Bropleh said.
He averred that if he had continued on as minister of information while the corruption investigation was ongoing, he would have been scarring the president’s image and his own name and integrity.
Dr. Bropleh said he made the decision to have stepped down as minister of information to give himself the latitude to clear his name and prove the Auditor General wrong.
The Auditor General’s report also recommended that the former minister of information makes restitution of the amount he allegedly embezzled and be prosecuted, but Dr. Bropleh countered that he was prepared to go to court in order to clear his name, again accusing Auditor General John Morlu II of incompetence and bias at the time.
“It is not up to the auditor general to say someone should restitute money or someone should be prosecuted. Only after a criminal investigation shall have taken place and it is established that a crime has been committed, then someone can be tried and a verdict given. In this case, none of those things have occurred,” he said.
‘Exonerated’
Howbeit, in late 2010, Dr. Bropleh, having been taken to court for allegedly facilitating the crimes of Theft of Property and Forgery committed by the then Comptroller and Chief Accountant of the Ministry of Information, Joseph Z. Nyamunue, Sr. and Josiah B.S. Gwagee, the former minister was exonerated, with the dismissal of all criminal charges against him by Criminal Court “C” at the Temple of Justice, Monrovia, Liberia.
The court dismissed all charges brought against Dr. Bropleh by the prosecuting team of the Government of Liberia, which on January 29, 2010 charged the former minister with Criminal Facilitation, an allegation he have maintained was untrue.
Speaking of his exoneration at the time, Dr. Bropleh said “since the indictment on January 29, 2010, I have urged the government to kindly take me to court so that I could prove my innocence. Over three consecutive terms of court, I sought and received from the court assignments that were served upon the state prosecutors. However, the State failed to proceed with prosecution. For me, there presented a situation of incongruousness. It was difficult for me to understand why, after an allegation has been alleged against me, the state would not joyously proceed in order to prove its case. The difficulty caused pain and disappointment.”
