Daily Watch, a news website, published an article on November 13, 2023, that the United States has imposed visa registration on some top government officials of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), led by outgoing President George M. Weah.
Those officials named in the article include Finance Minister Samuel Tweah, Lands and Mines Minister Gessler Murray, National Investment Commission (NIC) Chairman Molewuleh Gray, Justice Minister Frank Musa Dean, Deputy Minister of Lands and Mines Emmanuel Sherman, and the Chief of Protocol, Finda Bundo.
According to the outlet, 90% of those listed were the architects of the recent secret sale of Solway Mining Company to Arcelor Mittal that generated US$50 million for the Liberian government.
The publication stated that after the sale, those government officials subsequently dished out the funding (US$50 million).
“Recently, Mr. Alford B. Morgan, the owner of International Logistics (Interlog), secretly crafted a deal with ArcelorMittal UK to sell the property of Solway Mining Inc. without the consent of the majority shareholder of the institution,” the website stated.
The website said, “Reliable information received by this paper reveals that the United States government has imposed visa restrictions and Magniysky on several officials of President George Weah’s government.”
The Global Magnitsky Human Rights and Accountability Act was enacted into law in December 2016. This act gives the President of the United States authority to impose economic sanctions against foreign individuals or entities engaging in human rights violations or corruption.
Since its inception in 2016, several other countries, especially in Europe, have adopted the Magnitsky Act approach to fighting corruption and human rights abuses worldwide. As a result, over 243 individuals and entities from 28 countries have been sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act.
Verification: The Stage Media got in touch with Sean Boda, the Public Information Section head of the US Embassy close to Monrovia, to verify the claim.
According to Boda, the US never previews sanction actions on the listed individual as published by the website.
We also checked the US Department of Treasury’s website and reviewed the August 22, 2022, list of sanctioned Liberian officials, and none of those named in the publication is included.
An analysis of the website using Scam Doc shows that the score is 3 per cent.
The TSM researcher also checked the site on Whois.com and established that the website is owned by Osley Saye Wehyee of Juweh Technology in Paynesville.
According to a review of the Juweh Facebook page, the page was last updated on May 6, 2023. This page’s associated website is not accessible.
Juweh works on a variety of projects, including database development, hardware repair, web development, web hosting, and domain registration.
In conclusion, it is reasonable to conclude that the story published by Daily Watch is untrue based on the response from the US Embassy, the official organization that released the sanctions and restrictions on visas. There is no record proving that Tweah, Bundoo, Gray, Dean, Murray, and Sherman were prohibited from entering certain countries due to the Magnitsky Act.
