08/22/2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STATEMENT FROM THE OFFICE OF FORMER VICE PRESIDENT JEWEL HOWARD-TAYLOR
MONROVIA, LIBERIA — August 22, 2026
The Office of Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor categorically rejects and denies, in the strongest possible terms, all charges read against Her Excellency by the Minister of Justice in which she was accused of drug trafficking and other related offences. These allegations are baseless, unfounded, and without merit, and Her Excellency will not accept a single word of them.
What happened to Her Excellency on August 19 is deeply troubling and raises serious questions about how state power is being used in Liberia today. She was stopped from leaving Roberts International Airport en route to deliver a keynote address in Accra, Ghana — with no prior notice that she was under investigation and no summons for questioning. The Office subsequently learned that authorities were attempting to connect her to individuals allegedly under investigation for transnational criminal activity, based solely on official engagements carried out during her tenure as Vice President.
Let us be absolutely clear that contacts and engagemements carried out in the course of executing her official duties are not evidence of participation in anyone’s alleged crimes.
Former Vice President Howard-Taylor did not participate in, facilitate, finance, conceal, or knowingly associate herself with any drug-trafficking operation or criminal network, and she categorically rejects any suggestion to the contrary.
Equally disturbing is how this matter has unfolded.
Her Excellency made clear at the airport that she was prepared to voluntarily report to Police Headquarters with her lawyers. Yet while traveling to meet her legal team, her vehicle was intercepted on the Congo Town Back-road and she was escorted to police headquarters, where she was charged in the presence of her lawyers. This is not how a former Vice President who has expressed her full willingness to cooperate should have been treated.
The Office has also been made aware of plans by elements within the government to doctor and create audio and visual recordings, using artificial intelligence, to generate fabricated evidence against Her Excellency. This is an extremely serious and alarming development. It speaks to the lengths to which state actors may be prepared to go to construct a false narrative, and any such manufactured material will be met with independent forensic scrutiny.
Her Excellency will not be intimidated, bullied into accepting guilt by association, or used to let legitimate law-enforcement concerns be turned into a political weapon. The timing, manner, and circumstances of this case raise serious questions about whether this is an honest pursuit of justice or a political campaign to discredit and silence a former Vice President. She considers it a politically motivated witch-hunt and an abuse of state power — and the Liberian people deserve to know whether state institutions are being used impartially.
Let there be no mistake about her response: she will fight this through the law, confront every allegation, and defend her name, record, and integrity. She remains confident the truth will prevail, and welcomes a fair, transparent investigation based on evidence — not insinuation, political pressure, or manufactured narratives.
We call on the Government to respect the rule of law and due process, and to let the courts — not political interests — determine the facts. We call on the Liberian people to remain calm: calm does not mean silence, and respect for the law does not mean surrendering the right to demand justice. Let the Government present its evidence. Let the courts do their work. Let the truth be tested in the open.
Her Excellency Jewel Howard-Taylor has served Liberia at the highest levels of government. She has nothing to hide and will not run from the law — but neither will she allow her name to be dragged through the mud for political purposes.
She will stand. She will fight. And she will defend the truth.
Further verified information will be released as appropriate.
Office of Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor
Monrovia, Liberia
