Boakai suspends LTA Chair Kamara over corruption allegations

MONROVIA – President Joseph Boakai on Monday suspended Abdullah Kamara, Acting Chairman of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), barely nine months after his company, TAMMA Corporation, was flagged in a damning GAC audit for receiving questionable payments from the very LTA he was later appointed to lead.

The suspension, confirmed to The Liberian Investigator by sources within the Executive Mansion, is for administrative reasons and will remain in place until Kamara clears himself with the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC).

Though Kamara was not part of the LTA leadership when the transactions occurred, the revelation that his private company benefited from unauthorized disbursements totaling more than L$178 million and US$440,000 has cast a shadow over his role as regulator. His suspension marks the latest twist in an ongoing scandal surrounding the Liberia Digital Transformation Project (LDTP), a government-backed initiative meant to modernize the country’s digital infrastructure.

Damning Audit, Rising Suspicion

The General Auditing Commission’s report, released in September 2024, was commissioned by President Boakai shortly after taking office. The audit exposed a network of irregular payments from the LTA to two entities—TAMMA Corporation, owned by Kamara, and 231 Data Incorporated, linked to U.S.-based Liberian Niahson K. Porte—without any trace of contracts, procurement records, or proof of deliverables.

Between July and November 2023, the GAC said the LTA disbursed L$262,844,500 and US$450,000 to both companies. The payments occurred during the final months of the Weah administration and spilled over into the transition period before the Unity Party government took office.

The report further revealed that Kamara, then operating solely as CEO of TAMMA Corporation, was a signatory to the LDTP account, raising serious conflict-of-interest concerns. The other signatory was the then-LTA Chairperson, Edwina Zarkpah.

“There was no evidence of how TAMMA Corporation and 231 Data Incorporated were selected,” the GAC report stated. “There were no contracts, no procurement processes, and no accountability mechanisms in place.”

Suspended Board, Controversial Promotion

Following the report, President Boakai in late 2024 suspended the entire five-member LTA Board of Commissioners, which included Israel Akinsanya, Zotawon Titus, Cllr. Osborne Diggs, James Gbarwea, and Chairperson Zarkpah. The decision was intended to restore integrity to the embattled institution.

However, in a surprising move that sparked sharp criticism from civil society and political observers, Kamara—whose company was one of the beneficiaries of the unauthorized payments—was appointed Acting Chairman of the new LTA board.

That appointment drew further backlash when the four previously suspended commissioners issued a joint statement disavowing any knowledge of the payments or the project itself.

“The Board can therefore not provide justification for facilitating disbursement of monies to both TAMMA Corporation and 231 Data Incorporated,” they wrote. “The Board knows nothing about the project.”

LACC Closes In

Sources within the LACC confirmed that Mr. Kamara has been invited for questioning and is considered a person of interest in the commission’s ongoing probe into the mismanagement of the LDTP funds.

“The LACC’s concern is that a company received millions of Liberian dollars in public funds without any legal agreement or accountability,” a senior LACC investigator told The Liberian Investigator.

Presidency Responds to Pressure

Kamara’s suspension comes as President Boakai faces growing criticism over his administration’s handling of corruption cases. Though he campaigned on a reform agenda promising to end impunity and restore public trust, critics say his tolerance of Kamara’s leadership at the LTA undermined those pledges.