MONROVIA – A cattle deal has become the sharpest test yet of accountability at the Ministry of Agriculture. Nimba County District #5 Representative Kortor S. Kwagrue says the ministry paid for 200 cows but received only 47. Some of those, he says, are dead or dying. He also questions fertilizer bought at up to US$760 a bag and seed rice from farmers no one can locate. Agriculture Minister Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah calls the claims false and misleading. Yet he concedes some of the lawmaker’s contract documents are genuine. That shifts the fight from whether the paperwork exists to what it proves. The questions Liberians need answered about their money remain open. THE ANALYST reports.
Nimba County Electoral District #5 Representative Kortor S. Kwagrue has accused Liberia’s Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) of widespread corruption, citing an undelivered cattle purchase and questionable spending on rice and fertilizer. Agriculture Minister Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah rejects the allegations and says the lawmaker is working from incomplete information. The exchange leaves central questions about public money unanswered.
The Lawmaker’s Allegations
In a communication to the House Plenary on Thursday, Kwagrue said the ministry received US$200,000 (L$36.47 million) to buy 200 cows at US$1,000 each. Only 47 were delivered, he said, and the remaining 157 animals, worth US$157,000, have not arrived. He added that some of the delivered cattle have died and others are dying.
Kwagrue also questioned the quality and price of the animals. He said the cattle were old and suited for slaughter rather than breeding, while young, productive cows sell for about US$450 each.
“You see the corruption,” he said, asking why old animals were bought at more than double that price.
On rice and fertilizer, the Nimba County lawmaker said the ministry reported buying seed rice from farmers for a total of US$160,829.05 and asked where those farmers and farms are. He also challenged the ministry’s reported fertilizer price of US$760 per bag, asking where in Liberia a bag sells for that amount.
The ministry reportedly spent US$240,920 on fertilizer at that price and bought another 280 bags at US$700 each. Kwagrue asked who received the seed rice and fertilizer.
The lawmaker further accused the ministry of directing public money to cooperatives set up by officials’ relatives, saying the cooperatives exist to “steal from the Liberian people.”
He said he holds receipts and other evidence in his possession and called on the President to set up an investigative committee. He also invited the minister to appear and account for the funds.
Kwagrue framed the issue around food security. He said Liberia’s soil is richer than that of Guinea, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, and that farmers growing rubber and food crops are suffering.
“I am supporting this government,” he said, “but I will not support acts of corruption.”
The Minister’s Response
Speaking to reporters at his Congo Town office, however, Minister Nuetah called the allegations “false, misleading and far from the truth” and challenged the lawmaker to provide evidence.
He said he was disheartened that a legislator, who should understand government processes, would make such claims.
Nuetah dismissed the accusation that the ministry buys rice and re-bags it. “It’s one of the cheapest things I have ever heard,” he said.
He maintained that the ministry never abandoned local farmers and never awarded a contract to any company outside Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) procedures.
He also suggested that people with ulterior motives may have given the lawmaker incomplete information to damage his reputation.
A Significant Concession
The minister acknowledged that some contract documents in Kwagrue’s possession are genuine.
He argued only that the lawmaker lacks the context to interpret them, a position that moves the dispute from whether the paperwork exists to what it shows, and from a flat denial to a defense of process.
The minister’s reported remarks do not address several of the lawmaker’s specific questions.
They do not explain why only 47 of 200 cows reportedly arrived and where the remaining animals are, or why cattle were bought at US$1,000 each when the lawmaker says breeding stock costs US$450.
Nor do they explain why some of the delivered animals have died, how fertilizer prices of US$700 to US$760 per bag were justified, or which farmers and cooperatives received the seed rice and fertilizer and how those cooperatives were selected.
What the Figures Show
The lawmaker’s figures do not fully reconcile. Two hundred cows at US$1,000 equals US$200,000, and 157 undelivered cows at that price equals US$157,000; however, 47 delivered and 157 undelivered animals add up to 204, not 200, meaning one of the two counts as reported is off by four.
The fertilizer total divides evenly: US$240,920 at US$760 per bag works out to exactly 317 bags. At US$700 per bag, the further 280 bags would add US$196,000, though the account does not make clear whether that purchase is part of the quoted total.
If the lawmaker’s price comparison is right, the gap is large. At US$450 per cow, the 47 delivered animals would cost about US$21,150 rather than US$47,000.
These are illustrative calculations from the lawmaker’s own figures, not findings, as prices can vary with breed, age, transport and import costs, and the ministry has not said what it paid or why.
The House Plenary is expected to review Kwagrue’s communication, and several developments will show how seriously the matter is taken.
The dispute comes as food security remains a central national concern, and it raises fresh questions about transparency in agricultural contracts and the criteria the government uses to distribute support to farmers across Liberia.