Monrovia – The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) is not going to comment or condemn the action of Mohammed Sambola, one of its employees, who allegedly published a secretly recorded sex tape of a young female partner.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
“The Ministry cannot speak on such a matter because even if it was Sambola, he was not on official duty that thing happened.”
“It was not at the ministry the incident happened so the ministry cannot comment on it.”
The video shows Sambola encouraging the female to record a video which only shows her face and not his, is drawing criticisms from the Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection as well as the Unity Party of which he is a member.
While the MFDP is somewhat shielding Sambola, the University of Liberia, where he lectures, has issued a statement suspending him from the faculty based on their adopted code of conduct.
But the Finance Ministry says, the video as published does not prove that Sambola was involved though the Unity Party has confirmed that the tape was first posted by him in one of their social media chat rooms.
The Party condemned the action and said they were conducting an investigation into the matter.
Speaking to FrontPageAfrica Thursday evening, the communications director at MFDP said, the ministry would not get itself involved in the saga because Sambola was not on official duty when the incident occurred, neither did it occur at the ministry.
“The ministry cannot speak on such a matter because even if it was Sambola, he was not on a function or duty of the ministry.”
“The incident never occurred at the ministry, so under no circumstance can the ministry speak on it or even comment on it.
“Granted he is an employee of the ministry provided it is proven that he was the one that committed the act because the female’s face was seen, but man – not at all and he has not spoken officially on the issue.
“It is not proven that it is Sambola and even if it was Sambola, he has his own activities to handle. We have no fish to fry in this,” Waritey told FrontPageAfrica.
According to Waritay, the ministry will also not take any administrative action against him unless it becomes a legal matter and the intervention of the ministry is sought during the legal process.
Suspended By UL
While the MFDP is shying away from taking a strong stand against the indecent act, Atty. Norris Tweah, Vice President, University Relations in a reaction to Sombala’s alleged action told FrontPageAfrica – “I can say is that the UL’s Faculty-Senate recent approved a Code of Conduct affecting Faculty and Staff and anyone found in breach of said Code could be suspended, dismissed, prosecuted, etc, depending on the nature of the breach.
“The UL demands the highest level of professionalism and integrity from both its full time and part faculty, and the Code is unambiguously clear on this.”
His suspension by the faculty came after the University of Liberia Student Union (ULSU) called for his dismissal.
ULSU President, Jerome Bernard, said Sambola is disdainful and has brought the image of the University to public disrepute.
Bernard said the act on the part of the instructor does not represent the true image of someone who is imparting knowledge into Liberia’s future generation.
He said the act perpetrated damages womanhood and could further infect other faculty members and students of the UL if punitive action is not taken against Sambola.
Condemned By Gender Ministry
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has condemned the act.
An official of the ministry told this paper that the case has not been officially brought before them as they are waiting for investigation report from the women and children protection section of the Liberia National Police.
The Women and Children Protection Section informed FPA late Thursday evening that they were investigating the incident and it was likely that they could turn it over to the Ministry of Gender for further action.
However, the ministry in an earlier release said preliminary investigation gathered that the recording was done long ago, but was released recently when the two reportedly engaged in a misunderstanding.
The Ministry sees the recording and subsequent exposure of said video as devilish, embarrassing and malicious.
“It is a serious violation of the privacy of womanhood,” the release said.
The ministry indicated that the recording has the propensity to further present a negative picture of the dignity of Liberian women, and that such act must never be tolerated. “No woman should be treated in such form and manner, no matter what the circumstances.”
The statement added: “The dignity of a woman should be protected at all times in-spite of what condition that woman finds herself.”
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP) is encouraging the Female Lawyers Association, Female Journalist Association of Liberia (FeJAL) and all civil society actors to join efforts in exposing the perpetrator of such wicked, damaging and abusive act.
At the same time, the ministry is calling on the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to immediately intervene by apprehending the alleged perpetrator who is reportedly in the employ of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) and the University of Liberia respectively.
Unity Party Distances Itself
The Unity Party of which Sambola is a member has distanced itself from his alleged action.
The sex tape was first posted in a social media chat room administered by some members of the party.
Mo Ali, the party’s spokesman, said they were investigating how the video which Sambola claimed was mistakenly posted in the chat room, leaked out of the chat room.
Mr. Ali:
“In the early morning hours of June 27, 2017 a video involving two adults in sexual acts was circulated on social media.
It is alleged that the video was released by the male in the UP chat room that is not officially sanctioned by the leadership of the party).
Some people have unscrupulously linked this act to the Unity Party.
The party is reacting to this because the posting of the video was allegedly done in a chat room that bore the name “Unity Party”.
Firstly, the UP strongly condemns this act and any other act that involves the posting or leaking of videos and/or photos that have sexually explicit contents including nudity of anyone.
The party seriously caution all (including its members and sympathizers) to disengage from such behavior and will drastically penalize any of its partisan caught in such disgraceful act.
Secondly, the party is conducting an investigation to ascertain as to whether the male involved in the posting of the video is a partisan of the party and the reasons behind posting such video. Once the investigation is concluded and recommendations are made, the UP will take appropriate steps to implement the recommendations that will be made in the report.
Lastly, we from the UP empathize with the lady in the video and will do all in our powers to preserve her dignity and protect her womanhood. We are also kindly appealing to members of the general public to stop sharing this video as the sharing only further brings the lady to public ridicule and embarrassment.”
Asked why the party did not include the accused in the press statement when the girl’s photograph and the video of the act is being shared around the social media, Mr. Ali later told FrontPageAfrica that the party is investigating Mr. Sambollah’s affiliation with the party.
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