Former Deputy Minister for Youth Development Isaac Doe has questioned the source of funding for the $10 million mansion project in Foya, Lofa County, saying a review of the national budget shows no allocation for the project.
“We have gone through every page of the national budget and we can report that nowhere is the funding for the Foya mansion,” Doe wrote in a post. “This brings the question, who is funding that project?” Doe linked his concerns to recent major cocaine seizures in the country and criticized the government for what he described as silence on how the project is being financed. He suggested the lack of transparency in the midst of drug-related controversies was fueling public suspicion, though he said he could not definitively establish a link.
Doe’s comments come as other political actors have raised similar concerns. The Alternative National Congress (ANC), headed by businessman and politician Alexander Cummings, formally wrote to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) requesting an investigation into the source of funding for the Foya mansion. The LACC is yet to act on or publicly respond to that request. Most recently, prominent human rights lawyer and former presidential candidate Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe also published an opinion on the matter, calling on the government to clarify the funding source for the project in the interest of transparency and accountability.
Both interventions have amplified public calls for the Executive Mansion to disclose whether the project is privately funded, government-funded, or donor-supported. The government has not publicly disclosed the source of funding for the Foya project, which has been widely discussed as a presidential residence or retreat in Foya. Comments attributed to President Joseph Boakai that he was unaware of the start of the project have further fueled speculation, though the Executive Mansion has not issued an official clarification.
The debate is unfolding against the backdrop of major cocaine seizures announced by authorities, including consignments valued at over $19 million and $317 million. While a few individuals are in detention, no high-profile arrests or convictions have been announced. The government has suspended some officials allegedly linked to the trade, a move critics say is insufficient.
