Africa-Press – Liberia. More than one month after he declared his intention to recontest the Lofa County Senatorial seat in 2029, former Defense Minister Brownie Samukai has come under fire from his kinsman, questioning his moral standard to contest.
Mr. Samukai won the Lofa County Senatorial Seat in 2020. But his induction was revoked by the National Election Commission (NEC) in 2021 due to findings of fraud.
Samukai, along with two others, was indicted and convicted on multiple charges, including theft of property, criminal conspiracy, and economic sabotage, related to the misapplication of soldiers’ pension funds totaling over US$1.1 million.
However, in an interview on January 8, 2026, the former defense minister declared his intention to recontest the very seat he was barred from taking due to his conviction at the time.
“There is always a future; the future is coming; the future is 2029, and yes, I will contest; yes, I will stand as the Lofa Senatorial Candidate 2029,” Samukai affirmed during the interview.
“Best to my knowledge, the people of Lofa are resolved, they’re yearning for Samukai, and my intention for Lofa is very clear. And I’m not going to that House, not just to sign papers; I’m going there to support the national agenda,” Samukai argued.
But in an extensive article written by one of his kinsmen, Kabaworsinah B.K. Sando alias K.B.K. Sando, urged the people of Lofa County to carefully and objectively analyze that if “Uncle Brownie J. Samuka, Jr. could steal monies that were entrusted to his care; monies that were entrusted to his care for safekeeping; monies that were belonging to the men and women of the Armed Forces of Liberia; what do you think he will do if he were elected to serve your interests in the Liberian Senate.”
In his strongly worded article, K.B.K Sando noted that if the former defense minister could be convicted of stealing funds meant for the men and women of the Armed Forces of Liberia, he could not be a good ambassador of his county.
“As for me, I don’t think that he will be a good ambassador of Lofa County, for the mere fact that he has been convicted of stealing and sentenced. He is a convicted criminal, and I want to assure everyone that that record will never be erased from our country’s official recorded criminal records, as long as we continue to exist as a nation state!” K.B.K continued.
Sando said he considered it an act of total callousness that someone who had stolen monies belonging to his subordinates – men and women of the Armed Forces of Liberia – could have had the nerve to muster the courage, without remorse, to put himself forward as a candidate for an elected position for public office in this country.
“Firstly, when Uncle Brownie J. Samukai, Jr. was indicted for stealing the soldiers’ money, he denied it, saying he didn’t steal any money, and he did so without any remorse. But, when push came to shove, he dramatically changed his statement and said that it was President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who authorized him to take the soldiers’ money. But when the Criminal Court asked Uncle Brown J. Samukai, Jr., to produce evidence that it was President Sirleaf who authorized him to take the soldiers’ money, he failed to produce any; apparently, there may not have been any such evidence. With such inconsistency in his statement before the Criminal Court, I don’t believe that he can even be a little bit trusted to represent the people of Lofa County in the House of the Senate of the Republic of Liberia,” he continued.
He argued that the Liberian Legislature is not a place to entrust someone who has been convicted by the courts on criminal charges for recklessly handling soldiers’ funds.
“In view of the aforesaid, I would like to issue this caveat to Unity Party and its collaborating “Political Partners,” severally referred to as the “Rescue Team,” that they should not be misled into thinking that just because Uncle Brownie J. Samuka, Jr. is said to have won a convincing victory in Lofa County in 2020, and so, he can still win hands down in 2029,” he added.
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