Liberia: Boakai Taps Alex Grant for PPCC Amid Land, Degree and County Finance Controversies

What the report says

President Joseph Boakai has nominated Grand Gedeh County Superintendent Alex Chersia Grant to the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission, putting him in line to help oversee government contracting in Liberia. The nomination, reported by The Liberian Investigator and published by AllAfrica, comes as Grant faces renewed scrutiny over his record in county government and over earlier disputes involving his academic credentials.

According to the report, Grant has been accused by the Liberia Land Authority of signing an unauthorized 500-acre land agreement in Grand Gedeh. The deal, tied to a cocoa cultivation project in B'hai Administrative District, was later canceled after officials said community consent had not been properly obtained. The land authority also revoked the related deed. Grant has said the matter was a procedural mistake and that he believed local authorities had already consulted residents.

The article also says the Grand Gedeh County Council has accused Grant of withholding public financial records, while separate reporting has questioned whether money linked to a land dispute was properly handled. In addition, the University of Ibadan has said it never awarded Grant the degree he claimed from the school, a controversy that had already followed him when the Senate confirmed him as superintendent in 2024. Grant has denied wrongdoing and has not been convicted of any crime.

The nomination matters because PPCC commissioners are expected by law to meet a high standard of integrity. Grant’s case now goes to the Senate, which must decide whether his public record is compatible with that role.