IPNEWS-Monrovia: In the wake of the arrest of a popular Liberian businessman, Sheik Bassirou Kante in the United States, for wire fraud amounting to over US$7 million, and who was also found with a Liberian Diplomatic Passport, an exiled Liberian political activist, Martin K.N. Kollie has disclosed based on a communication he reportedly received from an inside source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia, that Liberian passports are being sold cheaply to foreigners, including Nigerians and Ghanaians.

In a post on his Official Facebook Page posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2022, Martin wrote that he received a communication from what he disclosed as “a 100% topnotch source at MOFA wrote me this morning and said:”

“Martin, I trust you because you’ve never exposed your source. You’ve been very confidential. But here’s what going on at our ministry. They are selling passports again to foreign nationals in huge quantity. This time around mostly to Nigerians and Ghanaians. They are even selling diplomatic passports. I have a lot of proofs but let me just share these few with you. Something has to be done about this.”

According to exiled activist Kollie, those who are allegedly selling these Liberian passports to foreigners cheaply, “Fellow Liberians, they are not just selling your passports but they are selling your sovereignty and self-worth. The GbehzohngarGate is still fresh on our minds. No one was handcuffed and jailed. So, the ‘passport banjo’ continues.”

Kollie further writes “Our passport has lost value because it has been used to facilitate money laundering and terrorist financing. There are limits on our travel freedom because of such scam. SAD times indeed.”

In the post, activist Kollie posted photos of four Liberian passports bearing names with Nigerian origin. The first photo of the Liberia Type ‘P’ Passport he posted bears the number: PP0083589 and the name of EZE, EMMANUEL CHIBUEZE. The Sex is Male. According to the passport, Emmanuel was born in Monrovia, Liberia on 20 December 1989. His passport was issued on 24 February 2021 and expires on 24 February 2026. According to the photo, the passport was issued under the Authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The photo of the second passport which is a Liberia Type ‘P’ passport bears the number: PP0073888 and the name: AJOGWU, CHUKWEDUBEM GOODLUCK. The Sex is Male. According to the passport, Chukwedubem was born in Monrovia, Liberia on 14 February 1990. His passport was issued on 24 February 2021 and expires on 24 February 2026. According to the photo, the passport was issued under the Authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The photo of the third passport which is a Liberia Type ‘P’ passports bears the number: PP004186 and the name: JOSEPH, PAUL OKOYE. The Sex is Male. According to the passport, Paul was born in Monrovia, Liberia on 29 September 1988. His passport was issued on 24 February 2021 and expires on 24 February 2026. According to the photo, the passport was issued under the Authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The photo of the fourth passport which is Liberia Type ‘P’ passports bears the number: PP004186 and the name: OKAFOR, ABUCHI CELESTINE. The Sex is Male. According to the passport, Abuchi was born in Monrovia, Liberia on 07 June 2001. His passport was issued on 24 February 2021 and expires on 24 February 2026. According to the photo, the passport was issued under the Authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Meanwhile, the exile Liberian political activist has cautioned his fellow countrymen, to vote out in 2023 those who continue to bring embarrassment and disgrace to the country.

It can be recalled in 2020, the United States homeland security denied Liberia’s former Director of Passport, Mr. Andrew Wonplo and his family entry into the United States over alleged corruption and passport fraud.

Mr. Wonplo, however, later in an audio recording by him, implicated the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gbehzohngar Findley and President George Weah in the passport fraud.

Wonplo was accused of selling blank passports and alleged most of the passport he issued was directly under the instruction of Minister Findley at the time and President Weah.

Also a few days ago, a popular Liberian businessman Sheik Bassirou Kante who was arrested in the US by FBI was found with a Diplomatic Liberia passport.

The Judge at the same time emphasized that Bassirou, alias Royal Gold, possessed multiple passports from various countries as well as fraudulent identification documents. He had unexplained assets and sources of large amounts of money and had close ties to government governments – particularly, the government of Liberia.

“The Defendant’s ties to Liberia, moreover, are especially deep. The email search warrant production revealed that the Defendant has a close personal relationship with the Vice President of Liberia. Moreover, during the execution of the search warrant at the Defendant’s residence on April 20, 2022, agents discovered that the Defendant was in possession of a Diplomatic Liberian passport. That the Defendant, who occupies no formal diplomatic position within the Liberian government (a fact the Defendant admitted at the detention hearing), was nonetheless in possession of a Diplomatic Liberian passport is powerful evidence of the strength of the Defendant’s connections to the highest levels of the Liberian government. The Defendant is, after all, a citizen of Liberia, not the United States. A connection like this, therefore, only enhances the Defendant’s already elevated risk of nonappearance,” Judge Sullivan noted.

It has not been established how Royal Gold who is not an employee of the Liberian government and neither does he work for any of Liberia’s foreign missions obtained a Liberian diplomatic passport.

In the Diplomatic Passport the FBI found in the possession of Mr. Kante it had an inscription that he is the Chief of Office Staff in the Office of Montserrado County District #14 Representative, Vamuyan Konneh, but the lawmaker and his staff say they do not know Mr. Kante and neither is he the Chief of Office Staff in the Office of the Montserrado County lawmaker.

It is also not clear what the U.S. authorities meant by Bassirou had “close personal relationship with the vice president of Liberia.” This, according to them, was discovered after they obtained a warrant to search his email.

On Monday, May 9, 2022, the Office of Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor denied ever recommending or obtaining a Diplomatic Passport for Mr. Sheik Bassirou Kante who is arrested and undergoing investigation in the United States of America.

The Office categorically states at no time did it apply or recommend the issuance of said Diplomatic Passport to Mr. Kante, though Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor has interacted with him before.

The Office of the Vice President notes while the Vice President has so many friends across all sectors of society in her political sojourn, it will be travesty to logic to suggest that the Vice President is aware of the personal dealings of anyone she may have interacted with at any level.

As a champion for ensuring the actualization for rule of law, enhancing Democracy and encouraging Social Corporate responsibility for All well-meaning Liberians; the Vice President is of the opinion that the Rule of Law provides the opportunity for all allegations of wrongdoings to be adjudicated, the statement says.

Also it can be recalled in June 2021, a FrontPage Africa investigation uncovered an alleged passport scandal involving staff of the ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Legislature which led to their dismissals.

FrontPage Africa discovered that a protocol staff of the House of Representatives, Nyumah Siafia, and a staff to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Henry Fahnbulleh, Roland Stephen solicited cash from a Liberian (name undisclosed) with a promise to issue him diplomatic passport.

Minister Fahnbulleh confirmed the information and said the staff involved, Roland Stephen, was dismissed. According to the Deputy Foreign Minister, Stephen and Siafia received US$700.00 from an individual introduced to them by Representative P. Mike Jurry of Maryland County.

“I sanctioned the investigation and he’s been dismissed. Nobody can acquire diplomatic passport by bribing their way through,” Minister Fahnbulleh said in June 2021.

According to sources, the incident was reported to Foreign Minister Dee-Maxwell Kemeyah who launched an investigation into the matter. His investigation established that the complaint was factual.

At the Legislature, Speaker Bhofal Chambers was also requested to investigate Mr. Siafia, and according to reports he (Siafia) was also dismissed after being found culpable.

This is not the first time reports of Liberian passports falling in wrong hands have come to light. On countless occasions the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reacted to such allegations, and stated that every Liberian passport issued, applicants are vetted properly by professional staff at the Passport Division and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

But with continuous reports of Liberian passports allegedly falling in the wrong hands, pundits are urging for more careful scrutiny of the process that leads to acquiring a Liberian passport to avoid it falling in the hands of foreigners.