Monrovia – Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) will have no right when Senator Prince Johnson becomes President of Liberia, the Nimba County Senator has said in the announcement of his presidential bid.
Report by Henry Karmo – [email protected]
“The government, under our watch, will never and ever accept gay rights. Liberia is not Sodom or Gomorrah!
We will never accept that here, I want the west to take note of this and get me clearly,” he told a crowd of supporters and sympathizers of his new Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction.
During his declaration of intent for the presidency, he promised to rule over a united Liberia with every religion having the freedom to practice without prohibition or intolerance.
He said his presidency would discourage Christian or Islamic State establishment in the country.
“We are one people and we have coexisted for the past 200 years plus to now. Let no one or group of people put knife between our unity and peace,” he added.
Like President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2005, he promised that his government will intensify the fight against corruption which, he said, has grown into a “modern Mount Everest”.
“The mountain must fall! We shall not tolerate any micro inch of corruption; anyone caught will be drastically dealt with within the framework of the laws of Liberia”, he vowed.
“We will set a clear deterrent and send a message to all public servants to conduct themselves in the light of day in order to keep their jobs because I will not hesitate to fire and prosecute you if you steal,” he stated.
He promised to improve the health and education sectors by improving the salary of health workers and teachers, saying he will build state of the art centers in all parts of Liberia and improve the learning environment of students.
War was unfortunate
Senator Johnson, a major actor in the Liberian civil crisis, has called for pardon from families who are broken as a consequence of the war and called for collective efforts saying “let bygone be bygone”.
“The war was unfortunate but we had to fight to survive as a people and nation under the laws of Liberia and under God.”
“Today, I still regret the fact that we had to fight among ourselves. We have learned our lessons well and we must jealously guard the peace and make sure that Liberia studies war no more,” he said.
The Nimba County lawmaker is serving his second term. In 2011, he ran for the presidency and ranked third to winner President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of the Unity (UP) second to Cllr. Winston Tubman of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC).
He contested on the ticket of the National Union for Democratic Progress (NUDP) and obtained 136,610 of the total vote counts or 11.8 percent of the total valid votes.