TWO RECENT missteps have put President Joseph Boakai and his government under the microscope – a controversial trip by the President to Accra, Ghana, and Vice President Jeremiah Koung’s domineering influence and conflict of interest regarding the use of the private plane of a Ghanaian businessman with multiple interests in Liberia.
THE PRESIDENT’S first official trip abroad following his inauguration on January 22nd has been marred by controversy after it emerged that his host, Ghanaian President John Akufo Addo may have not been on the ground to meet him. On Monday, the Executive Mansion announced that President Boakai had left the country for a two-day working visit to Ghana. It stated that while in Ghana, the President will meet and hold consultation with his ‘brother and friend’ President Akufo-Addo on matters if mutual respect.
IN A LETTER TO THE LEGISLATURE, the President informed them that the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Mr. Sylvester M. Grigsby, will chair the Cabinet in close consultation with the Vice President as His Excellency remains in communication via telephone.
THE PRESIDENT’S TRAVEL has been the subject of much scrutiny because the trip was shrouded in secrecy.
THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE has up until now, failed to post photographs of his trip to Ghana, meeting his Ghanaian counterparts and officials.
THIS HAS LED to mounting speculations once more that the President’s trip was for a different reason, most likely health related.
THE PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SECRETARY did not make the trip, which is said to have been comprised of only family members. There were no protocol officers, neither was he accompanied by other government officials.
EVEN MORE CONFUSING, FPA has also gathered that there was no meeting between the two leaders as President Akufo Addo is currently out of his country leading a delegation to international conferences in Munich, Germany and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This was confirmed by a release issued by the Executive Mansion late Tuesday, Feb. 14 announcing the return of the President from Ghana.
SIMILARLY, VICE PRESIDENT JEREMIAH KOUNG, has also been caught with his pants down in his own conflicting situation.
THE VP’S OFFICE posted on social media this week photographs of him getting on a private plane belonging to Ghanaian businessman, Ibrahim Mahama. The VP explained that he was on his way to Nigeria where he is representing President Boakai to attend the Bayesla State Governor Inauguration.
THE VP TOLD FRONTPAGEAFRICA that he had run into Ghanaian billionaire businessman Mahama at a local hotel and mentioned that he was on his way to Nigeria and the Ghanaian millionaire offered him a ride to Accra, from where he departed for Nigeria on Monday.
MAHAMA IS THE founder of Engineers and Planners, a West African indigenous-owned mining company, who owns several other businesses in Ghana, including Dzata Cement Limited. He is the younger brother of John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana from 2012 to 2017. Dzata is the name written on the plane which VP Koung accompanied Mahama to Accra.
WHAT IS EVEN MORE ALARMING is the fact that FrontPageAfrica has now learned that the VP also used Mahama’s plane to travel to the Parliamentary Conference on South-South Cooperation in Rabat, Morocco. The conference held under the High patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, kicked off Thursday in Rabat, under the theme “Role of National Parliaments and Regional and Continental Parliamentary Unions in Africa, the Arab World, and Latin America in Enhancing.
THIS IS SO WRONG FOR MANY REASONS.
IN THE SPACE OF ONE WEEK, VP KOUNG has used the private Jet – first to Ghana, and now, Rabat, Morocco – owned by the billionaire Mahama who is already doing business in Liberia and is looking to expand his Liberia interests through the recent deal in which U.S. firm High Power Exploration Inc (HPX), founded by mining billionaire Robert Friedland, signed a letter of intent with Liberia’s government and Guma Africa Group to develop rail and road projects linking it with Guinea. The infrastructure projects, known as the Liberty Corridor, are expected to support the West African region’s connection to world markets and are estimated to cost between $3 billion to $5 billion.
THIS HAS ALL THE MARKINGS of serious conflict of interests both Mr. Boakai and his VP frowned on during the government it succeeded, the George Weah-led Coalition for Democratic Change.
THE VICE PRESIDENT’S office posted photographs with him along with Mr. Morley P. Kamara, Senior Economic Adviser to the President, Jake Kabakollie, Officer in Charge at the National Oil Company of Liberia, Senator Alex Tyler (Bomi), a former controversial speaker of the House of Representatives and representatives and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila
FRONTPAGEAFRICA HAS BEEN INFORMED that NOCAL’s former Chief of Staff, Kabakollie and Senator Tyler are reportedly working through a group in Nigeria in a Government to Government deal similar to Kuwaiti Oil in hopes of securing a deal for oil block allocation. In December 2012, the Sirleaf administration announced the signing an oil agreement with the government of Kuwait. During the same time, the LPRC disclosed that it had discussions with the Kuwaiti Petroleum Company (KPC) for the supply of petroleum products at concessionary price.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE that NOCAL cannot sign any agreements with any company or country without a board which has not been named by President Boakai. In 2021, President Weah wrote to his counterpart, President Buhari, requesting allocation for crude oil. This subsequently led to NOCAL and NNPC meeting, and subsequently, NOCAL was placed on the list for allocation.
THE LACK OF ATTENTION to the little details by both President Boakai and his President Koung has given rise to speculations. It also raises questions about the new ruling party’s commitment and pledge to lead a government of transparency and accountability.
INTERESTINGLY, the official release from the Vice President’s office made no mention of a trip to Rabat, Morocco. In a statement, the VP office said, he was going to represent the President at Baysa State Governor Inauguration. The VP’s office said while on the trip, he would be meeting several leaders of the West African Nation (Nigeria) and was expected to depart from Accra to Lagos on Monday, February 12,2024.
PRESIDENT BOAKAI and his Unity Party led government must understand that these little inconsistences and conflicting accounts of public functions give rise to distrusts. Previous governments were held under the microscope for similar issues now showing face in the current government.
PRESIDENT BOAKAI WAS CLEAR IN HIS inaugural message that he would restore transparency and accountability to government – and we will hold him to that.
SAID PRESIDENT BOAKAI: “Let us now recalibrate, let us “restore the years the locusts have eaten” by accentuating the positive about our country and about our fellow citizens. As we think, love, and build Liberia, let us take this state of mind to the business of national healing and reconciliation, both the old and new emerging social cleavages. Let us restore inclusivity, transparency, and accountability to governance at all levels of our society, including government. We must discourage the culture of unfinished business, doing things in a haphazard and unserious manner. We must restore hope to ourselves, individually, and as a collectivity. We must also restore dignity and integrity to public service – livable remuneration and pension schemes to civil servants and foreign service government workers. We must restore respect for the rule of law, and respect for officers of the law across our three branches of government.”
IT IS TIME THE PRESIDENT do what he says he would do and lead by the examples he professed on the campaign trail.
LIBERIA CANNOT AFFORD another government that operates in the dark. The people must know what their government is doing at all times. Failure on the government to do this will lead to more speculations which is not good for any civilized but vulnerable society.