By Staff Reporter
East International Construction Company, once a little-known building materials supplier, has become one of Liberia’s most controversial public works contractors as scrutiny intensifies over the US$100-plus million Roberts International Airport (RIA) Highway project.
Report says the audit has been long-awaited, but GAC had delayed.
Henceforth, public pressure has mounted for the release of the audit, amid unverified claims from sources within the GAC, and the Ministry of Public Works that the report contains damaging findings.
Some of the claims further alleged that the current Minister of Public Works, Roland Layfette Giddings, is attempting to delay or suppress the report due to a past consultancy relationship with East International.
Giddings is yet to respond to the allegation.
Up to press time late last night, the allegation remained unconfirmed, because Giddings has not publicly responded.
On Tuesday, this newspaper sent a text to him . He’s yet to respond to the inquiry.
In 2020, government awarded East International Group Incorporated the contract to upgrade and pave the 45-kilometer ELWA/RIA highway.
The main civil works were valued between US$94 million and US$101 million, with additional costs of approximately US$7.5 million for design and about US$7 million for engineering supervision. Former President George Weah officially launched the project in February, 2020.
Analysts say the controversy surrounding East International and the RIA Highway reflects deeper structural weaknesses in infrastructure governance. The company, also known as East International Construction Company, was registered in the early 2010s, and reportedly begang operations as a building materials supplier before moving into civil works and road construction.
Publicly available information on the company’s capitalization, ownership, and governance remains limited.
Media reports over the years have identified individuals named Jakona (also reported as Sakona) and Kelvin Buima as senior managers.
The Report described the firm as having joint Liberian-Chinese participation.
However, no official registry filings detailing shareholders, board composition, or audited financial statements are available in the public domain.
Despite this opacity, East International secured major government contracts. Concerns about the firm’s technical and financial capacity predate the RIA Highway project. Investigative reporting between 2016, and 2017, linked the company to several troubled road projects, including works in Gbarnga City, the PHP community, the Clay–Tubmanburg corridor, and various feeder roads, where poor works and substandard materials were allegedly used.
Some of those projects reportedly required corrective intervention by other contractors.
From the outset, the RIA contract award attracted criticism over procurement transparency and contractor qualification. Engineer groups, lawmakers, and analysts questioned whether a competitive bidding process was followed and whether standard pre-qualification requirements—such as prove of financial capacity, engineering competence, and feasibility studies—were properly met or disclosed.
Media reports also highlighted claims that East International lacked a proven track record in large-scale highway construction prior to securing the RIA contract, fueling speculation about political influence within the Ministry of Public Works and broader government circles.
Following the award, the project encountered persistent operational challenges.
Lawmakers and stakeholders raised concerns about slow progress, limited equipment on site, and delays relative to the original 36-month completion scheduled. Media reports further documented hazardous conditions along parts of the corridor, with inadequate signage and safety measures.
Some of the senators and independent observers openly questioned the company’s technical capacity to meet contractual engineering standards.
Notably, at the time of contract award, senior government officials (not named), publicly acknowledged concerns about East International’s limited equipment base, technical depth, and financing capacity.
These concerns, widely reported at the time, did not prevent the company from being entrusted with one of most expensive road projects.
The ELWA/RIA Highway was envisioned as a transformational four-lane corridor linking Monrovia to the main international airport.
Valued between US$100 million and US$116 million, the project was initially slated for completion in 2024.
East International served as the primary contractor, working in association with China Railways Construction Corporation. The civil works component alone was estimated at about US$80 million, excluding design, supervision, resettlement, and ancillary costs.
By late 2025, the project had become a focal point of public frustration. Observers noted that visible.