Monrovia – The revelation of the identities of the much talked about “Big Boy 1” and “Big Boy 2” has been met with mixed reactions from some members of opposition political parties.
Report by Henry Karmo – [email protected]
Some have welcomed the news and hope due process would prevail, while others doubt that the names revealed could be the real identities of “Big Boy 1&2” mentioned in the report.
FrontPageAfrica reported Wednesday that former Lands, Mines and Energy (LME) Minister, Eugene Shannon and his Deputy Minister of Operations, E.C. B Jones are the mystery men behind the nomenclature “Big Boy 1” and “Big Boy 2”.
The pair was allegedly at the center of the conspiracy to scrupulously change the country’s Public Procurement Concession Commission law by tweaking the law in favor of the UK-based company, Sable Mining, according to Global Witness.
In obedience to the court’s order to provide evidence in its possession within 10 days as of December 23, 2016, the prosecution team headed by Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, submitted the 517 pages of evidence including the disclosure of “Big Boy 1 & 2” late Tuesday evening to the court.
Oppositions’ Mix Views
Opposition political parties have different views about the revelation. Mr. Nathaniel McGill, chair of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), now the Coalition for Democratic Change told FPA in an interview that mentioning the names is an act of “scapegoating by government”.
McGill believes if the names mentioned were the real identities of “Big boy 1&2”, why were they mentioned in the Global witness report.
“It is not possible that their identities were disclosed in the Global Witness report and in the same report, they are referred to as Big boy 1&2, why didn’t they just named them rather than calling them Big boy 1&2,” McGill asked rhetorically.
The CDC Chairman, despite his doubts, could not say who he thinks the real Big Boy 1 &2 are.
The CDC has been a strong voice in calling for the prosecution of all those involve in the report while the party has spoken loudly requesting the identity of the real Big Boy 1&2.
Prior to the revelation of the true identities “Big Boy 1&2”, some officials of the CDC including Representative Acarous Gray (CDC-District #8 Montserrado County) had accused President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Vice President Joseph Boakai of being the real “Big Boy 1&2”.
The Alternative National Congress (ANC), through its deputy secretary general for media and public affairs, Jonathan Dolakeh, the revelation is a welcoming news but said, the ANC believes in due process and would not jump to conclusion that those mentioned are guilty or not.
“The ANC has been clear on the Global Witness report scandal; we have said, we have a zero-tolerance on corruption and we should follow the doctrine of due process and if they are found guilty, they should pay for what they have done,” Dolakeh said.
Asked whether like the CDC, the ANC has doubt about the true identities of those mentioned in the report he said: “The ANC cannot be the one to determine who is or is not “Big Boy 1&2”. We trust the wisdom and integrity of the committee and its head.”
Liberty Party’s Darius Dillon who serves as vice chair for political affairs, said people uphold concepts without understanding its intricacies.
“In our nation today, some people cling onto the way they view things, notwithstanding the presence and availability of the facts.”
“And even when available facts run contrary to their personal views or opinions, it must still be the way they view things, not what the facts as they are,” he said.