GBARNGA — Residents of Bong County are very good at giving nicknames to things and even humans. The nicknames they give to people are usually as a result of something, maybe an event.
By Selma Lomax
Most of the times, these nicknames eventually replace the real names. During the 90s, they nicknamed former Liberian president Charles Taylor “Red Head Lazard” in reference to his complexion, and although Taylor didn’t like the name initially, he lived with it and even poked fun at events.
Most recently, residents have found a new name for Bong’s District Three lawmaker, Josiah Marvin Cole as “Vladimir Putin”, after the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) lawmaker bragged about ordering the flogging of his Chief Compound neighbor over a land dispute.
The lawmaker, who initially threatened to get at people who call him “Putin”, seemed to have accepted the tag recently when he appeared at a political rally organized in his honor. “Ehn you people call me Putin, yea, I don’t take mess from anyone. So, those contesting against me should know that I will flog them at the ballot box in October,” Rep. Cole said.
A year after nicknaming Nathaniel McGill as the “Messiah” for his frugal spending in the county, residents of the county have now found a new name for the former Minister of State for Presidential Affairs: “Even if I Steal”.
The “Even if I Steal” nickname McGill has earned in Bong County is in reference to his justification in a viral video published by FrontPageAfrica last year in which he is heard defending officials of the CDC government who “steal and bring the money back to develop the country”.
“I hear people saying we are stealing the money, but even if we steal and bring the money back, is that a crime? Others stole and took the money to foreign countries. But we are bringing back what we have taken,” McGill said last year in Gbarnga when he met palm wine sellers to encourage them to support President George Weah’s second term bid.
Two weeks later, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed three Liberian government officials on sanctions, including Nathaniel McGill, Sayma Syrenius Cephus, and Bill Twehway for their involvement in ongoing public corruption in Liberia.
These officials are designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world.
“Through their corruption these officials have undermined democracy in Liberia for their own personal benefit,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Treasury’s designations demonstrate that the United States remains committed to holding corrupt actors accountable and to the continued support of the Liberian people,” a statement from the United States Embassy near Monrovia.
McGill Haunted by Graft Allegations in Bong
During his first official visit to Bong County, McGill invited students of the Dolokelen Gboveh High School and prominent stakeholders in Bong County to sensitize them about the importance of voting President Weah in October, but the “Even if We Steal’ chats from students couldn’t go unnoticed.
After the program, FrontPageAfrica gauged the views of students regarding the new nickname they have found for McGill. “What can “Even if I steal” tell us about President George Weah’s re-election when he admitted to “stealing” but bringing back the money back home to develop Liberia,” 24-year-old Joshua Bedell, a student of the government-run Dolokelen Gboveh High School who attended a one-day meeting with Nathaniel McGill Thursday in Gbarnga.
Bedell said it’s now time to begin questioning public officials who are steal public money at the expense of ordinary Liberians. “As we approach the October presidential and legislative elections, it’s now time we scrutinize public officials running for office and enlighten our people. We thought McGill was a good man until be was sanctioned by the US government for corruption. He doesn’t have any the moral ground to tell us about voting President Weah because doing so would give a sense about what he confessed to doing.”
Cynthia Nyah, a student of the NV. Massaquoi, told FrontPageAfrica. “I used to like the former minister of state, but since he was sanctioned by the US government for corruption, I have lost my feelings for him. Any leader found of corruption isn’t a good leader,” she said. When asked why she attended the program despite corruption allegations against McGill, she replied. “My principal forced us to attend.”
The principal, however, couldn’t be reached for clarity.
Another student, Patricia Payne, claims the corruption allegations levied against the former minister of state could be true, saying it took him less than a year to build a ‘mansion’ in Gbarnga considering his past for the past twelve years.
“If you look at where the former minister came from the last 12 years and the pace at which he completed his house in Gbarnga, more needs to be investigated. I am beginning to think that all the allegations against him about corruption is true.”
The graft allegations against McGill could prove crucial for the CDC during this year’s elections, particularly in Bong County, with key opposition member Senator Prince Moye seemed prepared to enlighten his kinsmen about McGill’s “ill-gotten” wealth.