MONROVIA – Still nursing the wounds of a massive defeat in the December 8, 2020 Special Senatorial Election, a high-ranking stalwart of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change, Representative Acarous Gray (Mont. District 9) has express the strong need for President George Weah to take some decisive actions on some members of his cabinet whom he believes are either conflicted or dormant.
Rep. Gray also sees some appointees of the President as a mole on the government that need to be rooted out.
During an interview with Spoon FM/TV in Monrovia last week, Rep. Gray said he has decided to not always agree with every decision that comes from the Executive to the Legislature, even if it would cost him the positions assigned him by the Speaker.
“We cannot afford not to do the right thing for the Liberian people and I told you that people will get annoyed with me because I’ll be very robust in the Legislature. I will not agree with everything from the Executive – even as chairman on the Executive [Committee] otherwise, the Speaker can take the job from me now. If agreeing with everything means I must remain Chairman of the Executive, let the Speaker take the job from me,” Rep. Gray said.
The Montserrado County District 8 lawmaker noted that it is high time that the CDC-led government focuses on doing the job for which it was elected as 2023 cannot be guaranteed except the government begins to do what the Liberian people elected them to do.
According to him, in the spirit of ensuring that the will of the public is achieved, he would not hesitate, if the need be, to publicly call on the President to dismiss poorly performing officials.
And with the lessons learned from the recent massive defeat of the party in the senatorial election, Rep. Gray believes that the time is ripe for President Weah to relook at the composition of his cabinet and make some changes.
“Some people have failed to do their work. The President gave you a job, you must do the work. That’s why I’ve said if I were the President, I will dissolve the cabinet or shake the cabinet up and I’m convinced that the President will have to do that or the President will have to take the blame,” he said.
Rep. Gray singled out the Minister of Agriculture, Justice and the Inspector General of the Liberia National Police as some members of the cabinet that the whip needs to be cracked on.
“We cannot afford not to do the right thing for the Liberian people and I told you that people will get annoyed with me because I’ll be very robust in the Legislature. I will not agree with everything from the Executive – even as chairman on the Executive otherwise, the Speaker can take the job from me now. If agreeing with everything means I must remain Chairman of the Executive, let the Speaker take the job from me.”
Representative Acarous Moses Gray (Montserrado County, District 8, CDC)
He also claimed that some civil servants inherited by the Weah-led administration are operating as a mole on the government have been bent on undermining the credibility of the administration through by leaking documents to the advantage of the opposition community.
“Nowhere that a ruling party wins an election and doesn’t empower your own people. Do ever make that mistake. When the government fails they’ll say CDC. All the other people you gave jobs to from other parties or you maintained when you came to power, once they’re undermining the government, the blame will go on the President 95 percent of civil servants are inherited, all documents are leaking around,” he added.
He insinuated that directors in government who are now civil servants and individuals who were appointed to tenure positions by Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and still serving in those capacities hold loyalty to members of the past administration.
Rep. Gray who is also a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee recommended the recall of all Liberian ambassadors serving foreign missions, claiming that some of these ambassadors are not selling the image and interest of the government.
Min. Tweah Needs to Listen
Meanwhile, Rep. Gray has urged the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Samuel Tweah to consult with past ministers of finance and economic experts, irrespective of their political affiliation, to salvage the country’s ailing economy.
He acknowledged Min. Tweah as a “a very brilliant guy” but said “he needs to listen”.
Rep. Gray: “Tweah needs to go beyond just the Ministry of Finance and put on the table all old Finance Ministers, all existing Central Bank Governors… Forget about beef with Amara Konneh, we’ll do the politics… he’s a Liberian, talk to Nathaniel Barnes, Wilson Tarpeh, Emmanuel Shaw, David Farhart, put them on the table. The maintenance of power is the greatest thing, not the acquisition of power. So, if we bring all of these brains together and we succeed, the credit comes to us. It doesn’t go to them; the Finance Minister takes the credit – Tweah got to listen.”
Despite receiving a pat on the back for gains made in improving the country’s fiscal policy, the Finance Minister continues to suffer lashes from the public who continue to feel the pinch of the economy and continue to crave for a solution to the worsening economy.
2023 Trouble
Rep. Gray further acknowledged that the CDC as a coalition would be heading for a doom if the heads of the members of constituents of the Coalition do not sit and find a common ground to their internal differences.
“We came to power through a coalition and a constructed collaborative effort… As we go to the elections in 2023, the mighty Coalition for Democratic Change will have to do everything possible to put its acts together. Though President Weah is the standard-bearer of the Coalition, mind you, there are constituent members – the NPP, the LPDP are in the Coalition. The Coalition leaders would have to sit on the table and call a spade a spade and hold a frank discussion among themselves. A whole lot of issues have to be resolved. If that is not resolved, I predict trouble in 2023 in the Coalition,” Rep. Gray cautioned.
He noted that if disagreement between the Vice President and President and other members of the Coalition is not resolved, it is likely that member constituents would leave the Coalition which would be detrimental to the