“I Did Not Appoint McGill As Official Of Anti-Trafficking In Persons Task Force” …Minister Kruah Clarify

Labour Minister Cooper W. Kruah

A painstaking investigation conducted by this paper has revealed that at no point in time did Labor Minister, Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah, appoint Henry McGill as the Assistant Director for Operations of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Task Force as allegedly reported. According to  this paper investigation, Mr. McGill had not been employed by Minister Kruah, but rather, the Labor Minister was reviewing Mr. McGill’s educational documents presented to him for employment to said post when it was reported in the media that he had been employed to the position.  It can be recalled that recently, it was reported in the media that Minister Kruah’s nomination to the U.S. Executive Seminar was rejected as Anti-Trafficking Official, who was supposedly charged with Human Trafficking. Among other things, the media report quoted a police report, which said Mr.  McGill has been charged with trafficking in persons and theft of property in violation of Section 15.51 of the Penal Law of Liberia. However, the media report runs contrary to credible information available to this paper that Mr. McGill was appointed by Minister McGill as the Assistant Director for Operations of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Task Force. The investigation also found out that the Labor Minister had no prior information that Mr. McGill had been allegedly charged with trafficking in persons and other crimes before receiving documents from him for possible employment.  ‘‘Had it been so, Minister Kruah would not have accepted any document from Mr. McGill for employment because the Minister is a strong anti- advocate of human trafficking,’’ a high profiled and respected diplomat said this on anonymity.

At the same time, this paper established that the alleged crimes of Mr. McGill cannot be put on Minister Kruah’s head as crime is not transferable according to the Liberian Laws. Therefore, the Labor Minister is exonerated from the claims as reported in the media. Minister Kruah has since rejected the claims, describing them as false and misleading. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour, through the Liberian Government, has taken steps to address the U.S. State Department’s Concerns On TIP. The GoL, via the Ministry of Labour, has announced several steps aimed at addressing the United States Department of State’s concerns about Liberia’s fight against human trafficking.  The Labor Minister, who is  Chairman on National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, has “acknowledged the findings of the U.S. Department of State’s 2023-2924 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report, which downgraded Liberia from Tier 2 to Tier 2 Watch List. ”  Minister Kruah narrated that “since the inception of this administration, Liberia has remained steadfast in addressing the root causes and consequences of trafficking in persons.”  Minister Kruah outlined several measures initiated by the government to “make Liberia a safe and secure country, free from exploitation and abuse.”  According to him, these steps include: high level dialogue meeting that brought together heads of government line ministries and agencies to discuss Liberia’s TIP intervention strategies, as well as strengthening the National Referral Mechanism and standard Operations procedures in coordination among members of The National Anti-Human Trafficking Task force.  The Labour Minister further emphasized as part of Government’s strategies in the fight against TIP, a mid-year review of the 2019-2924 National Action Plan was conducted, focusing on four pillars:  prevention, protection, prosecution and partnership. The government’s official response to the United States Department of State’s concerns over TIP also includes specialized training for judges, magistrates, and judicial actors to enhance prosecution efforts. Labour Minister Kruah is further quoted as revealing in the report that Government, in collaboration with partners, has increased efforts to provide repatriation and reintegration packages for trafficking victims and would not encourage anyone, least of a staff member to be allegedly involved with trafficking. The National Trafficking Task Force Chairman Kruah has stressed Liberia’s continuous close working relationship with international partners, including the United States Government,