Theme: “Confronting Drug Trafficking: Strengthening Institutions, Advancing Accountability, and Safeguarding the Rule of Law”Press Union of Liberia Head Office, Warner Avenue, Sinkor, Monrovia, Wednesday, August 26, 2026
President Kanubah, and Officers and Members of the Press Union Of Liberia, Senator Amara M. Konneh, Chairman, Senate Committee on Audits and Public Accounts, Honorable Daniel O. Sando, Deputy Minister for Press and Public Affairs, Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT)
Cllr. F. Juah Lawson, President of the Liberia National Bar Association, Mr. Anderson Miamen, Executive Director, CENTAL, Mr. Aaron Kollie, Chief Executive Officer, Infinity Broadcasting Corporation (Power FM & TV)
Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen:
Let me begin by commending the Press Union of Liberia for reviving the Edward Wilmot Blyden Intellectual Discourse and, more importantly, for choosing a subject that goes to the heart of Liberia’s present struggle: the fight against illicit drugs, the strengthening of our institutions, the demand for accountability, and the defense of the rule of law.
There is profound symbolism in placing this national conversation under the name of Edward Wilmot Blyden. Blyden was not merely a scholar. He was a freedom fighter of the African mind, a Pan-Africanist, diplomat, educator, journalist, public servant, and fearless advocate for the dignity and liberation of African people. Born in St. Thomas in 1832, he experienced racial exclusion in the United States and turned toward Liberia, arriving here in 1851. From Liberia, he helped shape an intellectual and political struggle against the false doctrines of African inferiority and against every system that sought to keep African people dependent, voiceless or mentally colonized.Blyden understood the power of ideas, but he also understood the power of institutions. He served this Republic as Secretary of State, Minister of the Interior, diplomat, professor and President of Liberia College. He was also editor of the Liberian Herald. He used scholarship, public service and the press to challenge prevailing orthodoxies and to insist that Africans must have the courage to define, build and defend their own future. Even when his views were unpopular and when he confronted determined opposition, Blyden did not retreat from the contest of ideas.
That is why this discourse is especially fitting. The fight against drugs is also a fight for the freedom and future of our people. Narcotics do not merely violate our criminal laws. They destroy young lives, weaken families, corrupt institutions, finance criminal networks and threaten the very capacity of the State to govern. A country that allows drugs and drug money to capture its communities and institutions cannot claim to be fully free.
And just as Blyden recognized the importance of the written word and public debate, so too must we recognize the indispensable role of the media. A free, responsible and courageous press is not an enemy of the State. It is one of the institutions that helps the State see what it might otherwise fail to see. The Liberian media has reported drug seizures, exposed public concerns, sustained public debate, questioned officials and kept the national attention focused on a problem that cannot be solved in silence. For this, I extend the appreciation of the Ministry of Justice and the Government of Liberia to journalists and media institutions across our country; we say thank you. Your efforts are not unnoticed; they are remembered and appreciated by the Government.
However, reporting must also be matched by responsibility. In a fight of this magnitude, information must enlighten and not inflame; facts must be distinguished from speculation; and legitimate scrutiny must not become a substitute for evidence. The media has the right, indeed, the duty to ask hard questions. Government, in turn, has the duty to answer those questions honestly and to accept scrutiny. That partnership between accountability and responsibility is essential to safeguarding the rule of law.
Let us therefore speak plainly about the work now being done.
In the first quarter of this year alone, the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency seized more than four hundred kilograms of illegal narcotics and arrested over two hundred suspects. In June, approximately two hundred thirty-seven kilograms of cocaine were intercepted at Roberts International Airport. Thereafter, law enforcement authorities uncovered nearly four tons of cocaine in Duazon, the largest narcotics seizure in the history of our country. At the end of July, more than three hundred thirty-six million United States dollars’ worth of the seized product was destroyed in Margibi County in full public view.
These are not slogans. These are concrete actions. They are the product of the determined and coordinated efforts of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, the Liberia National Police, the Ministry of Justice, prosecutors, investigators, security personnel, and other law enforcement and national security institutions, working with the full direction, support, and political will of the current Administration. Our sleeves are rolled up, and the battle line between the drug cartels and the Liberian State has been clearly drawn. In this battle, there can be no accommodation with criminality and no surrender to those who seek to profit from the destruction of our people. The Government will remain relentless, the institutions of justice will remain engaged, and the law will take its course. In the end, the message must be unmistakable: drug traffickers may challenge the authority of the State, but they will not defeat it. The Republic of Liberia will prevail, not through vengeance or political persecution, but through strong institutions, credible evidence, due process, and the unwavering enforcement of the law.
At the Ministry of Justice, our responsibility is to ensure that seizures are followed by investigations; that investigations are followed by evidence; and that evidence is presented before the courts. Accountability must not stop with the courier, the driver or the low-level dealer while the financiers, facilitators and powerful actors remain beyond scrutiny. If the evidence leads to a customs officer, a security officer, a businessman, a politician or any other person, the law must be allowed to take its course. As Minister of Justice, I assure you that no one will be protected because of influence, friendship, wealth, or political connections; all wrongdoers must account for their actions through the law.
At the same time, no person should be convicted because his or her name is popular on the radio, circulating on social media or politically convenient to accuse. That is not justice. The Government will not fight lawlessness by abandoning the law. Our cases must be built on evidence, tested in court and determined through due process.
This is where I must respectfully address those who have chosen to view every development through the narrow lens of politics. Some critics demand action, but when action is taken, they dismiss it. They ask where the Government is; when drugs are seized, suspects are arrested, investigations are conducted, and prosecutions are pursued, they move the goalpost and pretend nothing has happened. We welcome criticism, but criticism must not become blindness.
The fight against drugs cannot be measured by propaganda, nor can a four-ton seizure be honestly described as government inaction simply because some people have already decided that no achievement of this Administration should be acknowledged. Liberia’s drug problem did not begin with this Government, and it will not disappear overnight. But history will record whether, when confronted with the crisis, this Administration looked away or confronted it. The record of seizures, arrests, investigations and coordinated law-enforcement action speaks for itself.
Yet, we must also have the courage to acknowledge that every major seizure reveals both a success and a vulnerability. If narcotics can move through a chain of handling, screening or transportation, then that chain must be examined and strengthened. That is why the Government’s response cannot end with celebration. We must identify weaknesses, investigate possible facilitation or corruption, strengthen screening and intelligence, improve coordination among law enforcement agencies, and ensure that criminal networks are dismantled rather than merely interrupted. This is the institutional challenge contained in today’s theme. Strong institutions are not institutions that claim perfection. Strong institutions are institutions that can detect failure, correct it, investigate wrongdoing and continue to improve.
The current Administration, through the Ministry of Justice and all relevant law enforcement and security agencies, remains committed to a coordinated and sustained national response. The LDEA will continue to lead in drug interdiction and enforcement. The Liberia National Police and other security institutions will continue to support investigations and public safety. The Ministry of Justice will continue to guide prosecutions and ensure that cases move through the legal process. Our collective responsibility is to follow the evidence upward, outward and wherever it leads.
And to those who may believe that the fight can be weakened through intimidation, misinformation or political noise, let me be equally clear: the law will not be negotiated with traffickers, and the enforcement of the law will not be suspended to satisfy political convenience. Government will accept criticism; it will answer legitimate questions; but it will not abandon its duty because detractors refuse to acknowledge genuine progress.
The rule of law cuts in every direction. It gives the State the authority to investigate and prosecute. It protects the accused from arbitrary action. It protects the journalist who questions the Government. It protects the citizen who demands accountability. If we weaken due process in the name of fighting drugs, we weaken the very Republic we claim to defend. Our obligation, therefore, is not simply to be tough. Our obligation is to be effective, lawful, fair and unwavering.
As we reflect on Edward Wilmot Blyden, let us remember the lesson of his life: nations are not liberated by rhetoric alone. They are strengthened when courageous people build institutions, discipline public power, educate the mind and refuse to surrender their future to forces that diminish them.
Today, the drug trafficker represents one such force. But so does corruption. So does institutional weakness. So does indifference. And so does the deliberate distortion of facts for narrow political advantage. The answer must be a Liberia that sees clearly, speaks truthfully and acts decisively, a Liberia in which the media remains vigilant, institutions remain accountable, law enforcement remains professional, and justice remains grounded in evidence and due process.
We did not choose this threat. But we must choose our response.
And under the leadership of the current Administration, the Ministry of Justice and the law enforcement community have made that choice: Liberia will confront drug trafficking, strengthen its institutions, advance accountability and safeguard the rule of law.
Thank you.
Ministry of Justice – Liberia
Press Union of Liberia
Ministry of Information
