In the wake of recent calls for the President
of Liberia to either lead or resign, many of her sternest supporters are
battling the idea. Some called it an attempt to provoke another civil war in
Liberia while others believe that a change in leadership will cause Liberians
more harm than good. Even though there is no evidence to substantiate such
claims, social media, especially Liberian Facebook chat-rooms have seen a surge in
attack from proponents of the president and those calling for her immediate
resignation.
Earlier today, Mr. Israel Akinsanya, executive
of the Liberty Party, joined the call for the President to lead or resign. In a
full page article posting on his Facebook page, Mr. Akinsanya further
buttressed earlier call by Mr. Abraham Darius Dillon, who also asked the
President to lead or resign.
Excerpt from Mr. Akinsanya post:
The
call by Partisan Dillon is on point! For the last few years, I have been one of
the most critical voices against the call of any President to step down from
office. I have expressed that this President should finish her term, and we
must see the democratic process stay its course. Partisan Dillon has always,
since 2011 supported this same position. We, Liberians, have demanded for the
removal of one too many presidents from office unconstitutional. He has also
over the years tried to provide guidance on the way forward on the many issues
he listed in his letter. All, to deaf ears!
His
call had a list of issues that need to be addressed. Liberians love a Strong
leader. When the President decides to lead on corruption, we will praise and
support her. When she decides to lead on the issues raised in his letter, we
will support her! The issues raised are not belly-driven; they are real bread
and butter issue. Partisan Dillon’s position is clear, start behaving like the
leader he voted for.
During Tmz Liberia Magazine's interview
with residents from around Liberia, many expressed dissatisfaction in the
President handling of the Ebola crisis and her inability to adopt a proactive
approach to issues that affect them.
Other believed that the rampant corruption in her government and culture
of impunity has caused them to loose confident in their government.
Some loyal Unity Party partisans expressed the
same sentiment to RAM. They stated that
the President runs the country along with her cronies and pays little attention
to their plight. One Unity Party executive, who asked to remain anonymous,
cited a case where the candidate who won the party’s primary Ali Sylla was
sidelined by the president in order for her son and trusted adviser Robert
Sirleaf to run for the Senate in Monserrado. Our attempt to get a response from
Mr. Sylla was unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, another disturbing letter has
surfaced from the Mr. Lawrence Randall, media consultant at the Ministry of
Finance. Mr. Randall cited the Microscope Newspaper as the source of his
information. The letter alleged that some eminent opposition members and
ordinary Liberians are planning a mass riot under the banner “Better Liberia
Campaign.”
According to the article, a group of Liberians
in the United States and Europe has raised $250,000, to sponsor mass protest
actions in Monrovia and throughout the country to destabilize Liberia as the
government deal with the Ebola virus.
The article alleged that Mr. Isaac Vah Tukpah,
Chairman of the opposition party CDC is the ringleader of the movement. It also
claimed that he is being aided by other well know Liberians. Some of the alleged members of the group
include George Fahnbulleh, brother of National Security Advisor to the
President Boimah Fahnbulleh, John Brownell, Cyrus Gray, Isaac Zawolo, Mike
Mueller, Bobby Whitefiled, Arthur Zakama, Emmett Watson, Piso Tarr, among
others.
While Mr. Tukpah has not dismissed the entire
allegation, he maintained that the intention of the group is not to destabilize
the country.
In one of his response to his accusers, he stated “My stance does not change regardless of
what you do. My position is MADAM SIRLEAF SHOULD RESIGN AS SHE HAS FAILED AS A
LEADER. You can cry all you want and describe it any way you want but her
failure is absolute and she needs to exit the stage so VP Boakai can take her
place.
As
bloodthirsty as this government is, do you think anyone will be crazy to ask
people to demonstrate? We already have Morris Kromah and Shaki Kamara. We don't
need any more martyrs.
We
will use international pressure to ask Madam Sirleaf to resign. Madam Sirleaf is
not Liberia. Asking her to resign is not destabilizing Liberia. It's easy to
see that her misrule destabilizes Liberia, and it's further exacerbated by
folks like you.”
In a related development, one of the accused members
of the group Mrs. Jeanine M. Cooper vehemently denied any involvement in the
movement. Her response to the chat-room discussants Jeanine states "I AM APOLITICAL, AND I HAVE NEVER
HEARD OF THIS GROUP AND I AM NOT A MEMBER. PLEASE REMOVE MY NAME FROM YOUR
NONSENSE."
The furious Jeanine tried to defend herself
against other supporters of the President who kept asking her to explain her
role in the movement. Check below for part of the chat-room transcript.
Article By: Al-Hussein
hussein.fadiga@gmail.com