A Critical Look at Mobile Phone Business in Liberia

On July 13, 2005, a consortium of six human rights and pro-democracy groups operating in Liberia released a press statement entitled: Piercing the veil of corporate conspiracy in Liberia. The press release called on all Liberians to quit using GSM, the world’s dominant mobile phone standard. The Lone Star Communications Company, a mobile-phone outfit in Monrovia, is accused for cheating mobile phone users by inflating service costs, for example, selling Sim Card for $65 and $15 for Scratch Card.

The groups noticed that, with the company’s monopolistic power, the scratch card price was dramatically reduced to $5 following the swift departure of former Liberian president, Charles Taylor in August 2003. In the midst of all this, the groups heavily suspect Taylor and his cronies as business partners with the company, which helped to enrich them and fuel the regime’s war machine for nearly four years. These acts, according to the groups, are nothing short of profiteering and exploitation. Therefore, the Justice Ministry must immediately investigate this latest revelation or else the company would face a possible litigation. If the company were found guilty in the court of law, the groups would then expect the mobile phone company to pay back the alleged overcharges. What is still at stake here is for the company to either publicly deny these allegations or plead its case in the courts of Liberian law.