Broh: “Missing” Rice Was Distributed, Mayor Siaffa Got 1,050 Bags

Published: September 30, 2026

MONROVIA – Former General Services Agency Director-General Mary T. Broh challenged the state’s claim that 25,054 bags of Saudi-donated rice are unaccounted for, telling jurors that the rice later distributed across the country could not be counted as missing.

By Melvin Jackson

Testifying in her own defense, Broh also disputed the allegation that about 1,050 bags were attributable to her. She said John Sherick Siaffa, whom she identified as the current Monrovia city mayor, requested rice to feed young people taking part in a major cleanup campaign, and that the request was eventually directed through the Internal Affairs Ministry. She said the transaction was part of an official activity, not a diversion for personal benefit.

Prosecutors allege that Broh and her co-defendants jointly stole, misapplied, took or unlawfully carried away 25,054 bags of the donated rice, valued at US$425,918.

Broh questioned how the rice could be treated as missing when rice had been distributed to places including Bokno Gelay and other parts of the country. She said the government’s own records, including transfer documents, gate passes, authorization letters and inventory records, must be examined to establish what happened to it.

She told the court she became involved after then-Foreign Affairs Minister D. Maxwell Saah Kemayah contacted her for help with the distribution, and that Kemayah later instructed that the remaining rice be moved from the National Disaster Management Agency to the GSA for safekeeping. She said she followed the instruction and that the GSA had the statutory capacity to warehouse government assets.

Broh said she learned of the Saudi-funded rice arrangement only later and had no role in organizing it. Had she known earlier, she said, she would have advised the Foreign Affairs Ministry that the GSA was legally equipped to warehouse government property.

She also questioned how the rice was handled while under the disaster agency’s control. She cited conflicting figures for the quantity transferred, 11,200 bags and 13,895 bags, and said both must be verified against the records. She disputed claims that thousands of bags had been pre-positioned at the Gbarnga Hub, saying an NDMA logistics official later denied that any rice was sent there.

Broh said she gave documents to AREPT so investigators would have the records they needed to understand the transactions. If she had taken part in stealing the rice, she argued, she would not have voluntarily handed over documents that could expose it.

She said the indictment had damaged the reputations of those named in it, and that she considered it unfair to describe the defendants as people who stole 25,054 bags because the charge did not adequately reflect the government procedures and documentation surrounding the rice.