Liberia: Boakai Resets Justice Ministry Amid Drug Crisis

What the report says

Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has removed his justice minister and attorney general, N. Oswald Tweh, along with Solicitor General Augustine Fayiah, according to an Executive Mansion statement reported by the Liberian Observer and carried by AllAfrica. The government said the two would be reassigned elsewhere, and named Cllr. Betty M. Lamin-Blamo as the new Minister of Justice and Attorney General, with Cllr. Abrahim Boimah Sillah, Sr. becoming Solicitor General.

The article says the personnel shake-up comes as Liberia faces a major narcotics crackdown and debate over how the state is handling high-profile drug cases. The Justice Ministry has been central to investigations tied to seizures that the report says were valued at about US$19.3 million and US$317 million. Officials have described the probe as targeting an organized network that may have operated in Liberia for years. The government did not give a specific reason for the changes and did not say Tweh was removed for wrongdoing.

The report places the decision in a broader political context, including recent scrutiny of the ministry after questions circulated about Tweh’s official vehicle and after former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor was charged in connection with the drug investigation. In general, changes at the top of a justice ministry during a sensitive criminal probe can be intended to restore public confidence, sharpen prosecutorial coordination, or signal a reset in leadership. The article frames Boakai’s move as significant because it affects the officials overseeing Liberia’s response to one of its most consequential narcotics cases in years.