IPNEWS: The Ministry of Justice is taken aback by recent social media posts by Martin K. N. Kollie linking the official vehicle being used by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Cllr. N. Oswald Tweh, bearing Government plate 0-13 to an alleged gift from drug cartels through the Inspector General of the Liberia National Police (LNP).
The Ministry in a statement categorically rejects this claim as false and unsupported by the facts.
The Justice Ministry statement further clarifies that since the inception of the current administration, the Government of Liberia has prioritized the mobility of law enforcement institutions, including the Liberia National Police, Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, Liberia Immigration Service, and the Liberia National Fire Service. The Ministry of Justice itself inherited very limited and aging vehicles, leaving some senior officials to use their personal vehicles while others relied on old Government vehicles that frequently broke down.
“Against this background, and with no budgetary allotment at the time for the purchase of a new vehicle for the Minister, the Ministry formally wrote the Inspector General of Police on November 10, 2025, requesting the assignment of a suitable vehicle for the Minister’s official use.
The LNP subsequently assigned a white Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, bearing LNP identification/marking GSA-LNP-03-14, from a fleet of vehicles procured by the Government of Liberia from Dutch Health BV for the LNP. The procured fleet of vehicles valued at 1.5 million included pickups, jeeps, motorbikes and ambulances. The jeeps included ten units of Toyota Land Cruiser Prado.
The vehicle assigned to the Minister is therefore Government property, purchased with Government funds and assigned through an agency under the Ministry of Justice. It was not purchased for or presented to the Minister by a drug cartel, alleged cartel member, private individual, or criminal suspect. The vehicle remains Government property and is used solely in the discharge of the Minister’s official duties.
The vehicle is also not a personal gift from the IG, and it would be unfathomable for anyone to think that after the Ministry made the request for vehicle to the IG, he secured funds from drug cartel, purchased the vehicle, took it to GSA for official government marking, and turn it over to the Minister of Justice to use as his official car.
This is also not the first instance in which an LNP vehicle has been assigned for use within the Ministry. Other officials have similarly used LNP-marked Government vehicles, including vehicles assigned during the previous administrations.” The Ministry of Justice statement read.
The Ministry therefore urges the public to exercise caution in treating social media “revelations” as established facts. No individual commentator is the arbiter of truth, and information obtained from unnamed sources can be incomplete, inaccurate, or deliberately misleading. Claims of this nature should be subjected to proper verification before being presented to the public as fact. The Ministry will not be distracted by unsubstantiated allegations, social media commentary, or publications intended to divert attention from its work. Its focus remains on the ongoing fight against illicit drugs and dismantling criminal drug networks operating in Liberia.
