Former BSE boss threatens NEW DAWN Reporter

A staff of the NEW DAWN has received a death threat here from an ex-official of the government over a corruption allegation.

By Emmanuel wise Jipoh

Monrovia, March 26, 2024: The former director of the Bureau of State Enterprises, Jamoil P. Cummings, threatens to shoot down NEW DAWN Reporter for querying him about alleged corruption at the Bureau during his administration.

Mr. Cummings denied allegations of corruption during his administration, including the alleged withdrawal of half a million United States Dollars from the entity’s account.

Mr. Cummings described the information as “laudable, untrue and fabricated lies,” stating that such a large amount of money has never been in the Bureau’s account in its entire history.

The former director, who became aggressive on the phone, instead directed this writer to verify with the Central Bank of Liberia and the Ministry of Finance.

But when pressed further, he threatened to shoot down the reporter if he wrote anything funny about him, saying, “Hello, my brother. It is a lie, and you know what I will tell you: If you write about my name in your paper, I will shoot you down.”

The threat against our staff was in response to this paper’s effort to verify the allegation made by the Procurement Director at the Bureau of State Enterprises (BSE), Mr. Wilton D. Sesay, that Mr. Cummings’ administration at the Bureau was clouded with irregularities and corruption.   

Sesay accused Mr. Cummings and his surrogates, including Mr. Charles R. Kennedy, Director of Maintenance at BSE, of several irregularities.

He has demanded an audit of the BSE because US$600,000 allegedly remitted from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has not been accounted for to date.

Sesay, who has been accused of double-dipping two separate jobs, argued that he held the position of Rep. Barry’s Chief of Office Staff because he had allegedly faced threats from former director general Jamoil P. Cummings.

He said he held onto the CoS job as a fallback in case Mr. Cummings had dismissed him for his stance against corruption at the entity.

“I was trying to seek a safe Haven, a rescue area, just in case Mr. Cummings dismissed me upon his return. Nothing was going to come out of it,” he claimed.

However, according to him, he has resigned as Chief of Office Staff to Montserrado County Electoral District #1 Representative Rugie Barry.

He disclosed his resignation to clarify the allegation that he had been double-dipping as a BSE official and, at the same time, Chief of Staff to Rep. Barry.

“Yes, I’ve indeed served as Chief of Office Staff to Hon. Barry,” assisting with her office operations, but not as a civil servant in Central Administration at Capitol Building,” he told reporters Saturday, 23 March 2024.

“But the reality is that I’ve resigned from that post as Chief of Office Staff to Representative Rugie Barry ever since, and the documents are visible,” he said. Editing by Jonathan Browne