The List: Meet Witnesses That Could Decide Fate of Liberian Officials Accused of Bribery

Monrovia - The long-anticipated bribery scandal trial spurred by a 2016 report by the London-based watchdog group, Global Witness (GW) kicked off this week in Liberia, ending months of back-and-forth legal wrangles between government prosecutors and the accused officials named in the GW investigative findings.

Deciphering the figures and personalities, which could make or break the Latest high profile corruption saga in Liberia  - See Witness List

The Global Witness exposé  uncovered more than US$950,000 in bribes and other suspicious payments by UK mining firm Sable Mining and its Cllr. Varney Sherman, former head of the ruling Unity Party.
The report, dubbed The Deceivers  showed how in 2010 Sable hired Sherman in an effort to secure one of Liberia’s last large mining assets, the Wologizi iron ore concession in northern Liberia.
Sherman told Sable that in order to obtain the contract the company must first get Liberia’s concessions law changed by bribing senior officials, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
The account is backed up by leaked emails and company documents seen by Global Witness.
Besides Cllr. Sherman, several former and current officials of both the executive and legislative branches of government are named. A few have been forced to resign their position as a result of the saga which is being ranked among the major scandals in recent Liberian history.
Alex Tyler was the influential speaker of the House of Representatives until he was forced out.
The report claimed that Tyler received US$75,000 in consultancy fees.
Willie Belleh, Chair of the Public Procurement Concessions Commission, also accused of receiving US$10,000 in consultancy fees, also recently announced his resignation in the aftermath of the scandal.
Richard Tolbert, a former chair of the National Investment Commission(NIC) reportedly received US$50,000 while Senator Morris Saytumah is said to have received US$50,000 also in consultancy fees. Tolbert is also listed as receiving US$20,000 as a donation to the Invincible XI football team for which is president.
Mr. Sumo Kupee, Managing Director of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company(LPRC) is pinned down for receiving US$5000 as was former Grand Kru Senator Cletus Wotorson.
Ernest CB Jones, a former Deputy Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy is pinned down for US$4,500 in addition to a separate amount of US$500,000 along with his former boss, Dr. Eugene Shannon, who have been identified as Big Boy I and Big Boy II.
Nearly all have been charged with Criminal facilitation, criminal solicitation, criminal conspiracy and economic sabotage.
On Thursday, all pleaded not guilty.
The defendants Senator H. Varney G. Sherman (UP, Grand Cape Mount); Rep. Alex Tyler(Bomi); Richard Tolbert, Christopher Hayes Onanauga, Senator Morris Saytumah, Eugene Shannon and E.C.B. Jones - in one accord responded "Not Guilty", marking their second full appearance in court.
The court reluctantly granted the defendants resistance to no jury trial. Judge Yarmie Gbeisay denied the state request for jury trial. It is a bench trial which is the judge will serve as jury and judge
The start of the trial this week answered one of the important questions many have been trying to decipher: How will the government of Liberia prove the case against the accused? But most importantly who are the witnesses behind the bombshell report expected to bring down some of the most powerful officials in Liberia today.
A copy of the witness list submitted by prosecutors this week, obtained by FrontPageAfrica showed that some 25 persons have been identified as potential witnesses.
Among them, former officials of Sable Mining, a British Journalist, a local Liberian economist with past ties to Sable as well as several officials from local, auditing, investigative and anti-graft agencies.
A FrontPageAfrica investigative report runs down the list submitted by government prosecutors to the court and gathers insight into who the witnesses are and what court-watchers and legal observers can expect in the coming weeks of what is expected to be a complicated case of intrigue and legal maneuvers.
Van Niekerk Heads Witness List
Perhaps the most crucial of all the witnesses may be Heine Van Niekerk. The former CEO of Delta Mining Consolidated (DMC) who had a long partnership with Andrew Grove, Chief Executive Officer of Sable Mining until the pair fell out.
Groves has repeatedly expressed no wrong doing and claims that th