By James T. Brooks
Monrovia — Former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr. testified in court on Monday, asserting that the government transfers at the center of his ongoing prosecution were standard operating procedure. By citing millions of dollars in prior Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) transactions as evidence, Tweah argued that the charges brought against him lack any legitimate legal foundation.
Under direct examination by lead counsel Arthur Johnson, Tweah systematically challenged the primary pillars of the indictment, aiming to expose what the defense characterized as fundamental legal and factual weaknesses. Tweah organized his testimony around six specific observations drawn from the indictment, addressing four of them during Monday’s session: the claim that no request originated from national security actors, the allegation that he lacked lawful authority, the assertion that the transfers through the Central Bank were illegal, and the charge that he conspired with former Acting Justice Minister Nyanti Tuan.
Drawing upon his experience as a former member of the National Security Council, Tweah integrated public finance law with national security governance to provide a detailed explanation of ministerial authority under Liberia’s Public Financial Management framework. A critical component of his testimony involved a direct challenge to the prosecution’s explanation regarding the activation of public funds. Tweah informed the court that for budgeted expenses, the legal trigger is the approval of the national budget rather than a specific payment request. He further explained that for non-budgeted or emergency expenses, the trigger is government consensus in response to urgency, rather than formal documentation. By arguing that requests may or may not exist depending on the specific circumstances, he directly undermined the prosecution’s heavy reliance on the alleged absence of such documentation.
In a significant moment during the hearing, Tweah provided specific examples of previous government direct transfers facilitated through the Central Bank, including over $15 million to the National Elections Commission, $25 million to the World Food Programme for COVID-19 food assistance, and $1 million to the UNFPA for the 2022 National Census. He asserted that these transactions were executed using the same mechanisms that the prosecution now deems illegal, leading the defense to maintain that these actions were not anomalies but rather established government practice.
When the defense moved to subpoena the CBL governor to authenticate the documentary instructions underlying those previous transfers, the prosecution objected on the grounds of irrelevance. Presiding Judge Feika overruled this objection and ordered the subpoena to be issued. Consequently, the governor or a designated representative is expected to appear in court to verify the authenticity of photocopied documents that have already been submitted into evidence. The court is scheduled to resume at 10 a.m., at which time Tweah will continue his testimony.