MONROVIA, LIBERIA-The Minister of Post and Telecommunication has denied holding shares in the Universal Forestry Corporation (UFC).
In its June 30, 2022, edition, the Daily Observer Newspaper reported that Cllr. Cooper Kruah holds five-percent share in the logging company operating in Nimba and Grand Bassa Counties.
But at a news conference over the weekend, Minister Kruah said he relinquished his shares with the company, since his appointment in Government in January 2019.
“I want to use this medium to set the record straight, that there has been an amended Articles of Incorporation to the Universal Forestry Corporation and I relinquished my share to my son who is also a counselor-at-law,” he said.
The amended record titled “shareholder’s resolution of Universal Forestry Corporation in the possession states, “Be it resolved, that in keeping with the powers vested in the shareholders of the Universal Forestry Corporation, as in keeping with its Article of Incorporation, the shareholders of the Corporation have agreed and adopted the following”
The legal instrument further concluded “That effective as of the signing of this Resolution, Article I of the precious amendment of these article of Incorporation shall be amended to reflect the following: the number of shares and the percentage of share each subscriber subscribed to shall be as follows.
Mr. Ji S. Kyung 70%, Mr. Prince M. Kruah 15 %, Mr. Edward N. Slanger 10%, and Narayan I Vaswani I5%.
He partially addressed the issue of conflict of interest, saying, assuming but not admitting he was involved, he is working as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications and is not involved with mining or forestry operations, so he wondered why the writer of the purported story calls it “conflict of Interest”.
He emphasized that the relevant issue on hand is the false allegation that he owns a share currently with the company. “This amendment of the Article of Incorporation is the best evidence for the public,” he stated
Post and Tele communication Minister Cooper Kruah clarified that he acquired the share from the Universal Forestry Corporation after he began pro viding counsel to the company.
By: J’. Byepu