Published: September 17, 2025
MONROVIA – A detailed investigation by The Liberian Investigator has uncovered multiple claims of corruption at the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), with top leaders, including Managing Director Rudolph Merab, Deputy Managing Director for Administration and Finance Victor W. Kpesiah, and Deputy Managing Director Gertrude Korvayan Nyaley, allegedly complicit in questionable dealings.
Alleged Misappropriation
Employees assigned to the Legality Verification Department (LVD) accuse FDA management of refusing to pay them monthly allowances of $300 each. According to the aggrieved workers, management has provided no explanation for why the payments stopped, even though they continue to work in forests — some of which they described as life-threatening zones.
“We are not receiving our money. When SGS was in charge, we received the amount of $300 each, regularly paid at the end of every month. But it declined during the era of C. Mike Doyen to about $200, although irregularly. Today, under Rudolph Merab and his deputies, we are no longer receiving the money,” one aggrieved staffer told The Liberian Investigator.
The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) continues to allocate $1,469,310 annually to the FDA for the LVD “chain of custody” project, meant to facilitate socioeconomic development. However, FDA has allegedly diverted the funding to other priorities with little or no accountability.
FDA response: Merab told The Liberian Investigator in January 2025 that LVD money is used at management’s discretion. He failed to provide documents to support the claim. In the same month, the LRA insisted the money was strictly for the LVD. Employees are now calling on the LRA to commission an audit by the General Auditing Commission (GAC).
SGS Responds on LVD Funding
Theodore Aimé Nna, Forest Project Manager at SGS, told The Liberian Investigator that his company handed over the LVD project to the FDA in 2019. He outlined how SGS operated:
“We are an international private company. As we avail ourselves to help governments manage projects, we ensure funds are used wisely and benefit workers and those served. That is why we gave the $300 allowance to FDA employees in the chain of custody project. Their lives are at risk in the forest, and they have no insurance at FDA. We felt it was necessary for them to get some financial support for themselves and their families.”
Nna added that whenever FDA staff under the project fell sick or were injured, they bore the cost themselves because they lacked insurance. He stressed that communication and respect for employees were central to SGS management.
SGS is a Swiss multinational headquartered in Geneva, providing inspection, verification, testing, and certification services.
Salary Disparity and Nepotism
Employees allege that a select few unqualified individuals have been hired and paid salaries far above what their roles merit, while longer-serving, qualified staff are marginalized.
Deputy Managing Director Kpesiah is accused of employing relatives and close associates, approving inflated salaries. Two such employees are Ruth W. Yormie (manager for health and safety) and Onie Torkpor (supervisor for nursing). According to FDA payroll records obtained by The Liberian Investigator, Ruth earns a staggering $1,200 monthly and Onie $800. By comparison, no government-employed nurse in Liberia earns anywhere near these amounts.
Onie’s brother, Romeo Torkpor, works as a ranger, earning $470 while others in the same role earn $200.
Drivers also complain of sharp disparities: drivers for Merab, Nyaley, and Kpesiah earn $360, while those traveling deep into logging zones receive just $170. A few “favored” drivers reportedly earn $300.
“This is the suffering we are going through,” one driver said. “We go deep in the forests but our pay is nothing. Our daily sustenance allowance is reduced — one day allowance for two days. Our $300 allowance has stopped with no explanation.”
Lack of a Merit-Based System
Several employees allege FDA leadership disregards merit in hiring, prioritizing friends and romantic partners instead. One staffer alleged that Yormie, the health manager, is Kpesiah’s concubine:
“She is his lover. We know the story here. He brought her in, put her in that position, and pays her a salary she cannot justify in any merit-based workplace.”
A Conflicted Board of Directors
The 1976 Act creating the FDA stipulates that the Minister of Agriculture should chair the board. Instead, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai appointed Philip C. Parker Jr. III, owner of NAS Inter-Global Liberia, an IT company. Agriculture Minister Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah serves only as a statutory member.
Other members include Labor Minister Cllr. Cooper Kruah, J. Adams Manoba Sr., Dr. Christian N. Allison, FDA Managing Director Merab, and Loretha Pope Kai, a civil society actor accused of conflicts of interest. Staff allege she has collected per diems both as an FDA board member and as head of her organization during the same events.
Board absenteeism: Isaac Grisgby, brother of the late Minister of State Sylvester Grisgby, reportedly resides in the U.S. yet collects board fees and benefits through a proxy.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, who disburses FDA funds, is not on the board, contrary to the Act. Other statutory members, such as the Minister of Internal Affairs and the president of LBDI, were also left out.
Critics say Merab himself is unqualified: the FDA charter requires the managing director to be professionally trained in forestry. “He is a logger, not a forester,” one deputy minister told investigators.
Alleged Conflicts of Interest in Logging
Merab is accused of having business ties with Euro-Liberia Logging Company, operating in Grand Gedeh and River Gee counties. FDA employees claim he shields the company from regulatory enforcement.
Meanwhile, Deputy MD Nyaley is accused of compromising her role due to her husband’s logging activities in Grand Bassa County.
All accused officials were contacted for comment, however, only Getrude Nyaley responded: “Good afternoon, Menjor. Thanks for reaching out to me. As it relates to conflict of interest, I am not in any conflict of interest in any way ,except you have something to share with me that I could respond to. Please. Have a blessed evening. Wish you well.”
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