NEC Disgraced Over Debt Non-payment -Doors Shut, Operations Seized

MONROVIA – In a move that has got tongues wagging in and out of Liberia, the Commercial Court in Monrovia on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 ordered the seizure and sale of properties belonging to the National Elections Commission (NEC) to account for a debt of more than US$171,000 owed to the M-Tosh Prints Media, Inc for electoral services rendered to the Commission.

According to the writ of execution dated August 12, 2025, a copy of which is in possession of this paper, the court commanded Acting Sheriff Emmanuel Morris to seize and sell assets of the NEC, represented by Executive Chairperson Davidetta Browne Lansanah and the Board of Commissioners.

The Court’s verdict comes in the wake of a June 3 ruling in favor of M-Tosh Prints Media, which sued NEC for unsettled arrears.

The court further ordered that if sufficient assets could not be found, the sheriff must expose NEC’s real properties for sale until the amount of US$171,105.00 is raised. The money is to be paid to M-Tosh Prints Media, represented in court by Varney A. Fahnbulleh of Monrovia.

The writ, signed by Clerk J. Amos F. Gbobuah and approved by Associate Judge Chan-Chan A. Paegar, authorizes the seizure and further mandates that any funds raised cover the judgment and related court costs.

Public reaction

The NEC’s property closure and seizure action has left many Liberians pondering over recent statements from former Finance Minister Samuel Tweah to the effect that the Commission received excess budgetary allotments for the 2023 elections.

Tweah’s statement, many believed, was a face-saving excuse to exonerate him from charges of state plundering.

Surprisingly however, current Finance Minister Augustine Ngafuan would later admit being knowledgeable about the excess budgetary allotment bequeathed from the erstwhile Weah government.

“Why would this government allow the doors of the electoral house to be barricaded for debt, when they should have settled this money before making a trip to Japan with an entourage of nearly 30 persons?” wondered Sampson Dweh of New Georgia.

“These are the people criticizing the opposition for not paying their rental arrears, yet they refuse to pay service providers for the work they did. This is a result of poor fiscal planning,” says Cassandra Konneh of Bushrod Island.