Published: October 7, 2026
MONROVIA – Stanton Witherspoon, the Spoon Talk host who joined the media pressure that preceded Amin Modad’s 2024 resignation as commerce minister, now says Unity Party insiders “staged a coup” against Modad and that some of them were caught “on recording” plotting to have him fired. He is urging President Joseph Boakai’s government to bring Modad back.
By Lennart Dodoo
“Some of you guys, you guys are on recording. Gossiping about Amin that you need to be fired,” Witherspoon said on a recent Spoon Talk broadcast, addressing the party.
He said party figures wanted Modad out so they could install someone of their own at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
“Like we saw the document, you know the party people wanted Amin out?” Witherspoon said. “Who are that own person? I don’t know.”
Witherspoon did not name the people he says are on the recordings or describe the document, and he did not release either. The Liberian Investigator has not heard the recordings or seen the document.
Witherspoon did not walk back his earlier criticism of Modad. He said Modad “made a mistake” in the vehicle purchase, and he acknowledged his own part in the pressure that led to the resignation, saying, “We all contributed to it; I did.” He also disclosed on air that he has had business dealings with Modad.
“I’m a friend to Amin; we did a lot of business together,” he said. “But I beat on Amin when the story came up.”
He argued, though, that Modad had paid enough. Witherspoon said Modad was never charged or jailed, that he left the vehicle with the ministry when he resigned, and that he raised almost $2 million for the government during his short tenure. Witherspoon did not say how that money was raised.
“He’s not a criminal. He’s not a bad guy,” Witherspoon said, urging the party to “dig Amin from the grave and bring Amin back.”
He also said bringing Modad back would restore discipline to a government he described as lacking structure.
Modad resigned in 2024 amid public criticism over a vehicle bought for his use as minister. In a recent Facebook post titled “Accusations Are Not Evidence or Facts: A Lesson from My Experience,” Modad said false allegations had damaged his reputation and pushed him out before the facts were examined.
“I was condemned by the very public I was diligently serving and pushed to honorably resign,” Modad wrote.
Modad said the vehicle was bought for the ministry by the Liberia Revenue Authority, which paid the vendor directly. He said it was registered to the ministry. The LRA said in a Sept. 23, 2024, statement that it had bought the vehicle.
Modad disputed public descriptions of it as a US$150,000 bulletproof car. He said documents presented at a 2024 Senate hearing showed it cost about US$88,000 before taxes and was an off-road vehicle meant for rural work. Witherspoon put the cost at $95,000.
Modad said a review of his assets by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission and the Senate process cleared him.
“We must demand evidence, hear both sides, allow due process to work, and give investigations the time and space necessary to establish the truth,” he wrote.
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