Liberia’s House of Representatives has ordered the arrest of the journalist who broke the news about the alleged disappearance of more than $100m-worth (£76m) of newly printed bank notes intended for the central bank. The notes allegedly vanished from containers in Monrovia’s port and airport – and the government ordered an investigation in September.
Central bank governor Nathaniel Patray denied the money was missing, saying an internal audit found that all the notes, shipped from a Swedish printer between 2016 and 2018, had been accounted for and had been stored in vaults. Journalist Philipbert Browne had been asked to come to parliament on Tuesday to explain why, during a recent radio interview, he had accused some MPs of taking bribes to allow for the unlawful printing of the money.
But he failed to show up, so House Speaker Bhofal Chambers has asked the justice ministry and the police to arrest and produce “the living body” of Mr Browne before the house on Friday.
Mr Browne runs the Hot Pepper newspaper that is known for breaking news about sensitive matters. He was a former assistant defence minister when Charles Taylor was president. His family have been intimidated and he has received death threats since reporting on the alleged missing money.
Credit: News agencies
