Published: June 14, 2025
KAKATA, Margibi County – The Chair of the Unity Party (UP) in Margibi County, Cecelia Doe, has confirmed receiving L$1.4 million from the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) as part of a women’s empowerment initiative, dismissing months-long rumors that she received L$2 million meant for Unity Party women.
Doe told The Liberian Investigator that the money was disbursed in December 2024 after she received a call from Boakai Jaleiba, NOCAL’s Vice President for Administration, requesting that she identify legally registered grassroots women’s organizations. She said she quickly assembled a coalition of 24 groups that ultimately received the funds.
A photocopy of a check issued by NOCAL, numbered 000020218 from SIB Bank, was made available, showing payment in the name of “Real Women of Substance,” which reportedly served as the umbrella group for the selected organizations.
Doe firmly denied that the money was directed to the Unity Party or its women’s wing, saying that any UP-targeted funding would have gone through official party channels.
“If the money was intended for Unity Party women, it would have gone through the ranks and files of the party before reaching the county,” she said.
The speculation intensified after suspended NOCAL CEO Rustalyn Suacoco recently claimed that the company provided L$2 million to Lofa County during a presidential visit for women’s empowerment, along with an additional L$2 million to Margibi County specifically for the Unity Party Women’s Organization. Suacoco also mentioned more than L$1 million in funding to Grand Cape Mount County.
In response, NOCAL’s Jaleiba denied that the Margibi allocation was politically motivated or facilitated through Doe. He clarified that the “Real Women of Substance” is an independent organization led by Harrisona Grimes, legally incorporated in January 2019.
“Let it be clear that I have never met the Unity Party’s Margibi Chair,” Jaleiba stated. “NOCAL does not provide financial support to political parties or affiliates. We have no policy endorsing political engagements.”
He added that the December 2024 disbursements were part of NOCAL’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program aimed at empowering non-political, registered women’s groups in Margibi, Lofa, and Grand Cape Mount counties.
Contacted for comment, Grimes declined to speak on the matter by phone. However, an investigation by The Liberian Investigator confirmed that she has known political ties, having served as the Unity Party’s women’s chair in District #2 during the 2023 election. Grimes was also appointed to the board of Margibi University by President Joseph Boakai.
The funding has stirred controversy among local women’s organizations in Margibi, with some alleging they received little or no benefit. Several of the 24 organizations named remain unverified. One woman, requesting anonymity, said her group received just L$20,000, while others reportedly got as little as L$1,000.
“My son, our group only received L$20,000 from that money, and some people carried L$1,000 as their share,” she said.
Meanwhile, The Liberian Investigator has confirmed that Grand Cape Women Incorporated in Sinje, Grand Cape Mount County, and After the Rain Multi-Purpose Farmers’ Cooperative Society in Mbabahun, Lofa County, were among the verified beneficiaries of NOCAL’s empowerment grants.
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