By Pewu Y. Sumo
MONROVIA – Mr. B. William M. Yarsiah, a prominent advocate for persons with disabilities, has issued a formal call to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to take decisive action regarding the ongoing leadership crisis at the National Commission on Disability (NCPD).
In an exclusive interview with The Informer Newspaper in Monrovia on Monday, Yarsiah praised the suspension of Executive Director Hon. Samuel S. Dean and Deputy Director Hon. Winifred Paye. While he expressed support for the President’s decision to remove the officials pending an investigation, he emphasized that the delay in auditing the past leadership and the failure to appoint permanent replacements is harming the community the commission is meant to serve.
Concerns Over Corruption and Audit Delays
Yarsiah lauded the Executive Mansion for its initial intervention but raised serious alarms regarding the alleged corruption scandal that triggered the suspensions. He noted that the lack of a full audit remains a major roadblock to transparency.
“Since December of last year, we have not heard anything. The size and workforce of the commission are not large, so auditing it should not take more than a month,” Yarsiah said, addressing the lag in investigating the leadership of former Executive Director Samuel Dean.
Questioning the Interim Leadership
A central point of Yarsiah’s critique focused on the current Acting Executive Director, Hon. Apostle Aaron J. Wright, Sr. The activist questioned whether Wright’s appointment aligns with the legal framework of the commission.
According to Yarsiah, the current Acting Executive Director is not a person with a disability and lacks specific expertise in working with the disability community—factors he claims clearly violate the Act of Legislature that established the commission.
“The Acting Executive Director is not a person with a disability, nor is he a specialist or an advocate for persons with disabilities,” Yarsiah noted.
He argued that for the commission to regain its footing, its leadership must not only be competent but also strictly compliant with its founding statutes.
A History of Unrest
The NCPD is the primary government body responsible for the welfare and rights of Liberia’s disability community. Yarsiah warned that as long as this leadership crisis remains unresolved, critical services and advocacy efforts will continue to stall.
The urgency of the situation follows a turbulent period in late 2025, when corruption allegations under Samuel Dean’s leadership sparked a series of protests. These demonstrations included major roadblocks in Monrovia set up by aggrieved members of the disability community, eventually leading to the administrative actions taken by President Boakai.
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