Had former Foreign Minister, D. Maxwell Saah Kemayah, and others known what lied ahead, they wouldn’t have risked their reputations by misdirecting several thousand bags of Saudi-donated rice intended for disaster victims.

Found guilty on three counts in the high profile Saudi-donated rice case, what has befallen Mr. Kemayah and others following the guilty verdict, has ruined their professional careers and political future.

Kemayah was also held for hung verdict for theft of property and criminal conspiracy.

The verdict marks a major development in the closely watched corruption trial involving the alleged misappropriation of rice donated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support humanitarian and disaster relief efforts in Liberia.

Mr. Kemayah was among several former government officials prosecuted over the handling, storage and distribution of the donated rice.

The prosecution alleged that a substantial quantity of the rice was diverted or could not be accounted for, resulting in an estimated disputed value of approximately US$425,918.

The indictment centered on the distribution and tracking of 29,412 bags of 25-kilogram rice, with prosecutors maintaining that 25,054 bags were allegedly misappropriated or distributed outside authorized channels.

The case was prosecuted before Criminal Court “C,” where the State presented witnesses and documentary evidence concerning the movement of the rice between the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) and the General Services Agency (GSA), as well as its subsequent distribution.

Throughout the proceedings, Kemayah denied stealing or unlawfully diverting the donated rice.

Testifying in his own defense, the former minister maintained that his involvement was primarily connected to facilitating the donation through Liberia’s diplomatic relationship with Saudi Arabia.

He argued that the subsequent storage and distribution of the commodity involved other government agencies responsible for managing and safeguarding the rice.