MONROVIA – President George Weah has ordered an immediate halt to the issuance of diplomatic passports following a FrontPageAfrica report that a Liberian diplomatic passport was discovered in the home of Sheik Bassirou Kante following his arrest for money laundering conspiracy by FBI agents in the United States. It remains unclear how Mr. Kante obtained the diplomatic passport as he is not an employee of the government of Liberia nor is he known to be a representative of the government at any of Liberia’s Foreign Missions. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dee-Maxwell Kemeyah has been instructed by the President to submit a full report detailing a review of how Liberian diplomatic passports are issued. On Monday, Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor distanced herself from helping Bassirou obtain the diplomatic passport, despite acknowledging knowing him. Agents that their search of the defendant’s email unveiled that he had “close personal relationship” with the Vice President of Liberia.

Source: Front Page Africa May 10, 2022 17:49 UTC