THE MINISTRY OF GENDER, Children and Social Protection in Liberia and the Human Rights Commission have in the past few days been challenging FrontPageAfrica to lead the way in finding the victim of an alleged rape and impregnation by Representative Morias Waylee, (Unity Party –District 2, Grand Gedeh).
SINCE THE FRONTPAGEAFRICA revelation, based on an initial tip-off by a family member of the victim, Mr. Waylee has denied the allegation despite a family source revealing that Rep. Waylee has taken responsibility for the child and has been supporting the teen-ager and her family.
THE SAGA prompted children and youth activists to demand Rep. Waylee’s resignation and recusal from proceedings in the lower house of the national legislature.
A DEFIANT WAYLEE has maintained his innocence, even challenging the press and the activists protesting the saga, to produce the victim.
THE LAWMAKER went as far as filing a complaint against child advocate Abraham Keita. But after mounting pressure, the contempt charge was dismissed by the Stipendiary Magistrate Kennedy Peabody of the Monrovia City Court at the Temple of Justice on Tuesday, May 30, 2017.
THE COURT ON MAY 23, 2017 charged Keita with criminal coercion after Waylee sued him on grounds of the child rights advocate organizing a protest at the Capitol, where he asked the lawmaker’s colleagues to have him investigated over report that he has allegedly raped a 13-year old girl.
WHILE MR. KEITA still has to answer to another charge of criminal coercion pending against him before the Monrovia City Court, the ongoing controversy is poised to deter many more victims of rape and sexual-based violence from coming forward and telling their stories.
THIS IS WHY we are recommending again, that the government of Liberia, including the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches do all they can to penalize parents of victims who go out of their way to shield predators for monetary or financial gains.
FRONTPAGEAFRICA, as a media institution is not obligated to provide proof of any of its stories to authorities. We are only obligated to providing to our readers, fair and objective stories supporting by facts and credible sources.
NEVERTHELESS, because of the controversy surrounding this case, we dispatch a reporter to Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County in search of the victim.
IRONICALLY, the Ministry of Gender had earlier claimed it had problems identifying the location of the victim or making contact with the relative of the victim who first informed FrontPageAfrica of the alleged rape.
OUR REPORTER, Bettie Johnson-Mbayo, 52 hours from Monrovia to Zwedry, the the rural town of Billabo, a 16-hour motorbike ride from Zwedru, in search of the victim.
THE TEEN-AGE GIRL lived with Rep. Waylee at his home in Monrovia in Fendell where Waylee allegedly had sex with her. The baby was delivered by C-section at the Martha Tubman Hospital in Grand Gedeh Zwedru City.
FRONTPAGEAFRICA HAS BEEN informed that following the operation, the teen–ager began defecating through her vagina, a symptom of fistula, the ‘’pepee pupu’’ sickness that is common among young victims of rape and women who go through delivery without adequate medical care.
IN HER OWN WORDS, the victim lamented how her parents tried to shield her agony from public. ‘’My father and my mother told me not to talk to anyone about what happened,’’ the teen-ager said last week, holding her chin in her hands.
IN THE WAKE of these new developments, we feel strongly that it is important for the Ministry of Gender and the government to go beyond what we have reported, simply because they have more resources than we do. More importantly, they have the laws, the order and the political might to ensure that a strong and clear message is sent to others that such despicable acts will never again be tolerated.
WE ALSO called on Rep. Waylee to do all he can to clear his name.
WE DESPISED a government position and repeated assertions that because no one has come forward to file a complaint, there is nothing that can be done.
SUCH LAZY assertions threaten to discourage other victims and further encourage predators to continue raping and stealing adolescence from the future leaders of this country.