Alfred Togbah, Publisher of the People’s Newspaper, has detected and raised concerns over what he described as alleged financial and procurement irregularities involving the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) and the management of the country’s international gateway monitoring system, calling for an independent investigation into the handling of millions of dollars generated under the arrangement.
Speaking on the issue, Alfred Togbah expressed disappointment over what he characterized as the failure of government officials to adhere to due process, emphasizing that public officials should serve with integrity and transparency.
According to him, the controversy dates back to 2018 when the administration of former President George Weah entered into a contractual agreement with Telecom International Alliance (TIA) to monitor Liberia’s international telecommunications gateway. Under that arrangement, he said, the LTA received a percentage of the revenue collected by TIA.
Togbah further alleged that in 2022, after recognizing the venture’s profitability, the Weah administration allegedly altered the arrangement by seeking a full concession agreement through the Legislature instead of restructuring the original contract.
He claimed that following the inauguration of President Joseph Boakai’s administration, an audit conducted by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) reportedly uncovered serious financial improprieties and operational deficiencies in the concession awarded to TIA.
According to him, the audit recommended that the agreement either be renegotiated to comply with Liberian law or awarded to another company.
Togbah said President Boakai subsequently suspended the TIA contract in October 2025, after which the LTA assumed responsibility for monitoring the international gateway. He alleged that during that transition period, millions of dollars in revenue were generated and deposited into a transitional account managed by the authority.
The publisher further alleged that the LTA later engaged NUMTel LLC, which he described as a company with “no operational record,” to handle the gateway monitoring process.
“We have not seen any procurement process up to now,” Togbah claimed, adding that he believes the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) should make available any records relating to the company’s selection.
He further alleged that funds generated during the period the LTA managed the gateway monitoring process were transferred to the company, despite his claim that it did not perform any operational work.
According to Togbah, efforts by his newspaper to obtain the LTA’s response before publication were unsuccessful.
He said the newspaper repeatedly contacted LTA Board Chairman Clarence Massaquoi through phone calls and text messages without receiving a response. Similar attempts to reach Commissioner Ben Fofana, he added, also proved unsuccessful.
Togbah further claimed that journalists were unable to locate the headquarters of NomTell LLC despite efforts to verify the company’s operations.
“This is not the reason we campaigned to remove one corrupt government only to replace it with another corrupt administration,” Togbah asserted. “If that is the case, then the country is going nowhere.”
He disclosed that the People’s Newspaper has formally written the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) requesting an investigation into the matter and expects the commission to engage the LTA.
He said the newspaper also intends to write the LTA Board of Commissioners and subsequently petition President Boakai to request board members to step aside while an investigation is conducted, similar to actions previously taken in other public corruption cases.
While acknowledging President Boakai’s public record on accountability, Togbah expressed disappointment over what he described as the government’s reluctance to aggressively pursue corruption cases.
“Are we making new rogues to forgive previous rogues? That’s the question Liberian people are asking,” he said.
Togbah called for a forensic audit of the transitional account used during the period the LTA directly managed the gateway monitoring process.
“We are asking that the transitional account be audited to determine what happened to all the money generated during the period the gateway monitoring contract was under the LTA’s control,” he said.
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