Monrovia – Senator Jeremiah Kpan Koung, the running mate for Presidential Aspirant Joseph Boakai, has urged Liberians not to believe what his political godfather, Senator Prince Johnson, says about him and many other politicians in the country.
By J.H. Webster Clayeh (0886729972) – [email protected]
Senator Johnson is the founder of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR), the party that Senator Koung leads as Standard-Bearer.
Senator Johnson has been vocal and expressed his outbursts towards President George Weah and many politicians, including his very own Senator Koung.
In 2020, before the Special Senatorial election that brought Senator Koung to the House of Senate as Senator of Nimba County, Senator Johnson told the people of Nimba that the then-Representative Koung had been involved in ritualistic killing and that Koung was not a son of Nimba County.
The duo later settled their fight, and Senator Johnson supported Koung to become a Senator of Nimba County.
Appearing on the Spoon TV Live social media show, Senator Koung was asked by one of the panelists about all of the allegations that Sen. Johnson had put forth against him – whether those allegations were true.
In response, Senator Koung told the public not to believe what Senator Johnson says against him and about other people.
“Senator Johnson says what he says, and if you want to believe what he says is true, then he has said a lot of things about lots of people here that people can turn up to be true. And some of the things he said to some people – I don’t want to repeat it, and I don’t want to believe that you believe what he said about the person at that time is true,” Senator Koung said.
He did not disclose the reason why Senator Johnson would go after other people. However, he expressed that he and the Senator disagree many times on issues, something he said is responsible for Senator Johnson’s disdainful comments against him.
“Most of the time when you hear Senator Johnson comes after me, it means that we have disagreements. We disagree a lot. When we disagree, sometimes he comes after me,”
I Support War and Economic Crime Court
Also, despite being close to Senator Johnson, who has been one of the persons listed to be prosecuted when the War and Economic crimes court is established in Liberia, Senator Koung says he has not been involved in the 14 years of civil unrest. He added that he would support holding people liable for the crimes committed during Liberia’s dark days.
He also mentioned prosecuting people who have gotten excess wealth over the years while working in government.
“War and Economic crime court are necessary. There is a need for people to pay for the crimes they did to people, and if you got unexplained wealth and there is no trace, people cannot follow how you accumulated the wealth, then I think we should ask you some questions. So, I’m one of those that support war and economic crime court,” Senator Koung said.
He added: “I never fought a war before, I have never been a soldier. I never fought a war before. I have been a businessman throughout my life.”