Monrovia – The once untouchable and powerful ‘General’ Mary Tanyonoh Broh during the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf regime was Thursday, July 19, night, visibly seen embarrassed and humiliated by officers of the Presidential guard, Executive Protection Service (EPS).
Report by J. H. Webster Clayeh, [email protected]
According to our reporter, who was on the scene when the one-time powerful ‘General’ Broh was humiliated, said she had gone to attend the 2018 Golden Image Award ceremony, which is part of programs leading to the main Independence Day celebration on July 26, 2018.
Madam Broh, who is the Director-General of the Liberian government’s General Services Agency (GSA), had come when President George Manneh Weah was already seated in the hall and the program was ongoing.
According to Executive Mansion protocol, nobody enters or leaves the hall after the President of the Republic of Liberia is there.
However, this newspaper was told by top brass in the EPS that officers at the main entrance may use their own discretion of who can be allowed to enter in spite of the Chief Executive being in and seated.
In the immediate past regime of former President Sirleaf, Madam Broh would never have been stopped especially at the Monrovia City Hall, where she once served as Acting Mayor of the City of Monrovia before she was assigned to head the GSA.
Our reporter on the scene said even though, the President was in the hall, EPS officers at the entrance still allowed a number government officials to enter the hall but denied Madam Broh.
Madam Broh with a pair of reading glasses placed on her head walked through the main entrance of the Monrovia City Hall.
The GSA boss in no time met and had a chitchat with the Minister of Public Works, Mr. Mobutu Nyenpan.
At the end of their chitchat, FrontPage Africa observed Minister Nyenpan requesting Madam Broh to accompany him into the hall where the event was taking place but the former City Mayor told him that she wanted to catch up with some old friends at the City Hall before coming in. She went to meet with Mohammed Bamba, one of the aids of the present Monrovia City Mayor, Mr. Jefferson Koijee.
She and Bamba met and chatted for a while following which she then went to make an attempt to attend the hall.
Madam Broh, who could enter any gathering anytime and leave anytime during Madam Sirleaf’s regime, was prevented from entering the hall by the EPS.
Inasmuch as Madam Broh, who is a senior official of the government, threatened to complain about the attitude of the EPS officers to the President, she was still denied entry.
She wondered if she had done something wrong to be denied entrance unlike other government officers, who were allowed to enter.
“What did I do, how can he do that to me, am I here to make problem?” Madam Broh asked a female EPS officer, who was trying to console her.
The GSA boss continued: “Thank God people were watching, Minister Mobotu Nyenpan came and he entered but they stopped me.”
While Madam Boss was trying to explain her ordeal to some bystanders in the Monrovia City Hall, our reporter observed that other officials of government including Representative Munah Pelham Youngblood of District #9, Montserrado County, was allowed to enter the hall.
Because of the embarrassment, the GSA boss prematurely exited the building of the Monrovia City Hall using the entrance by the way of the bathroom and not the main entrance she had earlier used when she arrived.
‘General’ Broh was clearly one of the strongest confidants of former President Sirleaf. She moved and shook things thereby earning her the nickname ‘General’ during the Sirleaf regime.
Madam Broh, a respected member of the President’s Cabinet, served in many capacities during the Sirleaf-led government including the Major of the City of Monrovia and the GSA Director-General where she remained until the regime tenure ended and a new one began.