MONROVIA, Liberia – The Criminal Court “C” at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia on Wednesday took a decisive step in the ongoing corruption trial involving several former government officials, ordering Madam Thalma Sawyer, former Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to report to the court every Wednesday and surrender her passport.
The order, handed down by Judge Osama Feika, followed revelations that Madam Sawyer allegedly misrepresented the period of her medical leave granted earlier this year. Court documents show that the former deputy minister requested and was approved for one month of medical leave in September but reportedly extended her stay by an additional 15 days without authorization.
In response, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval Task Force filed a separate motion to revoke the bail bond previously approved for Sawyer and her co-defendants. Prosecutors argued that the defendants had violated the terms of their release and asked the court to recommit Madam Sawyer to the Monrovia Central Prison.
Madam Sawyer is among several former senior officials linked to the alleged theft and diversion of 25,054 bags of rice, valued at US$425,918, donated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for disaster victims in Liberia.
The case has generated national attention due to its scope and the number of high-ranking officials implicated. The Grand Jury for Montserrado County indicted the following individuals on multiple criminal charges, including economic sabotage, theft of property, and criminal conspiracy:
Mary Broh, former Director General of the General Services Agency (GSA)
Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr., former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Thalma Sawyer, former Deputy Minister for Administration
Henry O. Williams, former Director, National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA)
And others
The defendants were arrested in June 2025 and initially remanded to the Monrovia Central Prison, before being released on human sureties. They were ordered to submit valid Criminal Appearance Bonds by July 4, 2025.
A collective bond worth US$851,840 was later filed by American Underwriter Group, Inc. (AUG) on behalf of Mary Broh, Dee-Maxwell Kemayah, Thalma Sawyer, Edris Bility, Momolu Johnson, and Varney Sirleaf. Judge Feika’s latest ruling tightens court supervision over the defendants and signals a more aggressive approach by prosecutors and the judiciary in handling the high-profile rice scandal, which continues to expose alleged misuse of foreign humanitarian aid intended for Liberia’s disaster victims.
