Liberia’s president has suspended three senior officials from the body organising the return of refugees over allegations of corruption and financial misconduct, his office said.
The Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC) has in recent months overseen the return of more than 1,000 Liberians who had fled the country’s devastating civil wars.
Another more than 2,500 people are due to be repatriated by the end of the year.
Around 750,000 out of a population of around 2.5 million were internally displaced or became refugees during Liberia’s two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, according to the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR.
Many scattered to nearby west African states, including Ivory Coast, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana.
An estimated 250,000 people died during the wars, which were notorious for their brutality and use of child soldiers.
The president’s office said in a statement sent to AFP on Friday that Executive Director Patrick Worzie, Deputy Executive Director for Operations Richard Hoff and Deputy Executive Director for Administration AJ Armah Karneh had been suspended with immediate effect.
An investigation by the anti-corruption commission will be carried out.
The suspensions come after a whistleblower released documents purporting to show irregularities in the use of about $1.5 million.
President Joseph Boakai, who began a six-year term in office in January, has pledged to tackle widespread corruption in Liberia, one of the poorest countries in the world.