THERE’S ONE REASON JUSTICE is blind: because the rule of law is impartial! Hence, LET JUSTICE BE DONE TO MEN!
A COUNTRY LIKE OURS with an ugly past of segregation and tribalism cannot afford to slump back into Furor. And it is the discharge of the rule of law that has the propensity of breaking that thin line between civility and savagery.
SADLY, JUSTICE IS again becoming SELECTIVE in our motherland, seemingly morphing into what appears like a campaign directed against a person or group holding critical views against the “power that be”.
WE THINK THIS IS the case with Montserrado County Representative Yekeh Kolubah versus the Republic of Liberia, an ongoing investigation that bears every trait of a political witch hunt.
EVER SINCE KOLUBAH opted to be critical against the George Weah administration he has come under fire from the government and its surrogates including the leadership of the House of Representatives. At the Capitol, there have also been threats from Speaker Bhofel Chambers about expelling the tough-talking lawmaker.
AND HON. KOLUBAH’S involvement in the planning and holding of the just ended SAVE THE STATE June 7 protest earned him praises but has also caused him a hefty price. He appears to be a nemesis of the ruling party, a position that comes with ridiculous retribution. He now remains the center of what we think is intended to muzzle and intimidate his critical stance.
IRONICALLY, WHILE Kolubah has now been indicted for allegedly ordering the flogging of an individual during a skirmish leading to the main day of the June 7 protest, another lawmaker in person of Moses Acarous Gray is walking a free man after the Police dropped charges against him last week, saying he was not connected to the battering of a businessman in Monrovia.
BUT THE MAN accusing Representative Gray, Boye Cooper has been making staggering revelations on several radio stations in Monrovia about how the CDC lawmaker ordered his flogging. Nothing has been done to further investigate the Montserrado County #8 lawmaker.
WE THINK THIS is a travesty of justice! It is unfortunate that the government will opt to go after one person for allegedly committing a crime and on the other hand, allow another person to walk free because of his stewardship in the ruling party.
WHAT WE THINK is going wrong is a government reverting to an ugly old past – the despotic trait of past governments. When a country as fragile as Liberia shows a semblance of a Police state, by going after its critics through subtly means like the one happening to Hon Kolubah, then the fear of the past surfaces and becomes a cause for concern.
THESE WERE SOME of the very reasons Liberia was plunged into chaos and civil unrest, a situation that has made our country retrogressive despite being the oldest on the African continent.
WE WANT TO CONDEMN the government’s action against Hon Kolubah by restating the popular adage, “WHAT GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER”! The government must quit threading a path of selective justice because it has the tendency of sparking lawlessness from individuals loyal to the person facing threats from the government.
NOW, WE’RE WONDERING how many people, who are critical of the government, will be arrested or harassed in the coming years, especially after Solicitor General Designate Cllr. Syrenius Sayma Cephus threatened to “go after” people who make allegations against government officials.
WE THINK THE persecution of Hon. Kolubah is the beginning of a new strategy by the government to “go after” its critics. And we think it is time to nip it in the bud – terminate it before it germinates.
WE ARE THEREFORE admonishing advocates, international partners and the opposition political parties to amalgamate their forces and openly criticize this attempt to silence Hon. Kolubah.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION and political affiliation is an entrenched Constitutional right that should not be taken away by any government. We think the state is using the law illegally to “go after” one of its unbending critics and this has the propensity of circumventing the very true purpose we stand for as a nation upholding democratic principles.