Anonymous Bombshell Targets ArcelorMittal

A fiery and confrontational statement now circulating in Liberia has launched one of the harshest public attacks yet against ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML), accusing the mining giant of political manipulation, institutional capture, media propaganda, and deliberate efforts to undermine fair competition in the country’s mining sector.

The statement, signed by unnamed individuals claiming insider knowledge of AML’s operations, declares the company’s recent setbacks a decisive loss, asserting that Liberia has finally pushed back against what it describes as years of corporate dominance and “strong-arm tactics” designed to control public infrastructure and policy outcomes.

According to the authors, ArcelorMittal allegedly sought to bend state institutions to its will through an elaborate web of influence, including the targeting of key government ministries, regulatory bodies, and advisory structures. 

The statement claims that senior officials were pressured, sidelined, or allegedly compromised to advance AML’s agenda, particularly around rail access and concession amendments.

The anonymous authors further allege that AML worked to frustrate rival investments by exploiting bureaucratic delays and leaking confidential documents, all in an effort to maintain exclusive control over rail infrastructure that the statement insists is public property. 

These efforts, the authors claim, backfired when presidential intervention reversed unauthorized decisions and exposed the scheme to public scrutiny.

Media manipulation features prominently in the accusations. The statement alleges that ArcelorMittal poured resources into shaping public narratives by sponsoring misleading reports, planting stories through paid intermediaries, and leveraging compromised voices to attack competitors and pressure policymakers. These efforts are described as a calculated campaign to manufacture consent and suppress dissent.

The authors also accuse the company of deploying an army of consultants and lobbyists, both local and foreign, to provide intellectual cover for what they describe as a fundamentally one-sided and unconstitutional Third Amendment to its Mineral Development Agreement (MDA). One such effort, they claim, failed to gain traction even within the Senate, despite heavy promotion.

A turning point, according to the statement, came after a high-profile presidential trip abroad. The authors allege that intense lobbying efforts aimed at securing executive approval collapsed when the President, upon reviewing the substance of the proposed amendment, rejected it outright.

Now, the statement says, ArcelorMittal’s own agreement signed in late October 2025 has stalled at the Inter-Ministerial Concession Committee (IMCC), where its provisions have been laid bare before the public. The authors claim the deal’s clauses are constitutionally flawed, excessively tilted in the company’s favor, and incompatible with Liberia’s national interest.

At the center of the confrontation is rail access. The statement declares that Liberia has embraced a new direction: multi-user rail access under an independent operator. The authors accuse AML of refusing to coexist under this policy, insisting on monopoly control over infrastructure it did not build and which, they argue, belongs to the Liberian people.

The statement goes further, raising serious concerns about AML’s safety record by alleging multiple deaths and injuries, and accusing the company of failing to pay its fair share into government revenue coffers. These claims are presented as further evidence, the authors say, of a pattern of corporate disregard for both human life and national obligations.

Looking ahead, the authors warn that the Legislature will soon debate AML’s proposed amendment in full view of the public and that past lobbying tactics will no longer work. They predict a far more hostile and informed legislative environment, one prepared to reject the amendment again if fairness, transparency, and public benefit are not guaranteed.

Signed simply as “people in your own midst who know exactly what you did and how you did it,” the statement has ignited intense public discussion and sharpened scrutiny of ArcelorMittal’s role in Liberia. 

While the company has yet to formally respond, the message resonating across political and civic spaces is unmistakable: the era of unchecked corporate influence in Liberia’s mining sector is being openly challenged, and the outcome could redefine the balance between foreign investors and national sovereignty.