By Elbie Sebleh
MONROVIA: Liberia’s National Port Authority (NPA) has termed as diabolical lies, baselessly unfounded media reports linking the Authority to conflict of interest in the amount of US$ 53,000.
On Thursday, June 27, 2024, local media reports indicated that the Management of the National Port Authority, headed by Mr. Sekou Dukuly, was involved conflict of interest.
According to the report, two checks, one for US$38,500 and the other for US$15,000, were issued to Labor Minister, Cllr. Cooper Kruah’s Henries, Kruah & Associate Law Firm, totaling US$53,000 for “court-related matters.”
The funds were compensation for defending the NPA in a case involving 10 employees dismissed by Mr. Dukuly, who had filed for “unlawful dismissals” at the Sixth Judicial Circuit Law Court at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia on March 29, 2024.
However, the reports suggested that this action, involving a government employee, violates professional standards.
But, responding to the local media’s alleged conflict of interest report, the Deputy Communication Director in the office of the NPA Managing Director, Mr. Jusu Kamara, termed the allegation as false and misleading, adding that it has no iota of truth in it.
Providing what he described as the fact, he said that the legal service relationship between the National Port Authority and Henris, Krauh, and Associates backdates as far as 2021.
According to him, this relationship came into being during the administration of the former Managing Director of the NPA, now Senator of Rivercess, Mr. Bill Tweahway, at which time the firm was hired for legal services through consultancy.
“This is what I have to say to these allegations. The allegations against the NPA concerning the Institution’s engagement in an alleged conflict of interest lack facts and are baselessly unfounded.
With the quality of the information provided above, it’s clear that what they are doing is just selfish and intended to tarnish the good working of the Managing Director, Mr. Dukuly, and the team ” Kamara added.
He further indicated that the Henries, Kruah, and Associates is a partnership that involves over four lawyers of which Cllr. Cooper Kruah Labor Minister had been one but has since declined his status with the Law Firm upon his nomination and confirmation as Minister of Labour of Liberia.
Mr. Kamara wonders now, how is the current Management Team of the National Port Authority’s decision to continue the legal consultancy of the Henries, Kruah and Associates Law Firm to the NPA construed as a” Conflict of Interest”
“Cllr. Kruah is not the sole owner of the Henries, Krauh, and Associates Law Firm, and as such, the NPA hiring the Firm for Legal Consultancy doesn’t in any way contravene the laws of the country. It is our sincere wish that those doing that will prioritize in-depth investigations before sharing Sensational News” he concluded.
Mr. Sekou Dukuly, the managing director of the National Port Authority (NPA), is widely regarded among members of the ruling Unity Party as an advocate of good governance, openness, and transparency.
