Monrovia – Representative Matthew G. Zarzar of Sinoe County District #3, has called on people, he says are politicizing the death of former Public Works Minister Mobutu Vlah Nyenpan to desist.
In a rare press conference at his Capitol Building office on Friday, Rep. Zarzar said, the fallen Public Works Minister was a peaceful statesman who loved his country, and his death should not be used to assassinate the character of good people.
Minister Nyenpan died in Accra, Ghana recently after he suffered a massive stroke in Monrovia and was flown out of the country for advanced treatment.
His body has been brought to Liberia and deposited at a funeral home pending funeral arrangements. However, his death has been marred by speculations and tons of conspiracy theories, with some claiming that he was poisoned. This prompted his immediate family to issue a statement, debunking the widespread allegations.
Addressing reporters, Representative Zarzar said, as a sign of respect to the family and the deceased statesmen, the public should come together to give him a befitting burial.
“I want to appeal to you that the death of this developmental oriented man should be used as a point to unite us because Mobuto was a very peaceful man,” Rep. Zarzar.
Rep. Zarzar comments come just a week after the family of the late Public Works Minister and former sinoe County Senator issued a statement, debunked attributions of his death to cyanide poisoning.
According to the bereaved family, while they would not like to delve into the details of his medical report, poisoning was never mentioned.
The family warned the public from using the death of Mr. Nyenpan to achieve parochial interest or objectives.
Excerpt of the statement: “The family of the late Senator Mobutu Vlah Nyenpan has observed with disgust and utter indignation attempts by some individuals and online publications to smear the memories of their beloved son, brother and father by attributing his cause of death to factors that are far removed from the truth. The untimely passing of Senator Nyenpan is a national tragedy that we cannot allow to be used by anyone to achieve his/her own parochial interest or objectives.”
Rep. Zarzar, speaking further, called on those spreading false rumors to ‘stop crying more than the bereaved’.
“When we are united it should be a fulcrum or our development because Mobutu loved development. I am appealing to the public and the media as a whole that his death should not be politicized. People should not speculate and accused people falsely. The speculator should not be more catholic than the pope. Or they should not cry more than the bereaved.”
‘Protest is Not the Answer‘
Meanwhile, Rep. Zarzar’s comments also come on the heel of the Council of Patriots’ series of planned protests, beginning on Monday, November 16, 2020 which they said will continue until their concerns are addressed by the Weah administration.
According to the Council of Patriots (COP), they are resuming their #Savethestate Protest in response to “the unresolved US$25 million mop-up scandal; the government’s failure to pay health care workers and address their grave concerns; the fraudulent just-ended voter roll update exercise and its implications on the pending senatorial elections; the wave of violence against peaceful citizens by CDC thugs and state security actors; and the worsening economic crisis in the country and its accompanying hardship on the lives of Liberians with no mitigating efforts by the government.
In addition, the COP said they are resuming their demonstration over the unexplained failure of the much heralded COVID-19 stimulus package for which 50 million dollars was borrowed from the IMF, the consistent abuse of our constitution and disregard for the rule of law; the violation and abuse of our national budget law led by Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah; the increase by up to 100% or more in the cost of voice call and data services thereby reducing access to these services by vast majority of Liberian and the recent gravely disturbing scandal of government officials selling our passports and conferring upon anyone who can afford to pay, our prestigious diplomatic portfolios, on an industrial scale.”
However, Rep. Zarzar, in an apparent response to the organizers of the protest said, history has taught us that protest is never the solution to Liberia’s problems.
Recounting some of Liberia’s unpleasant historic events beginning with the April 14, 1979 rice riot, to the April 12, 1980 coup and the civil wars, the Sinoe Country District #3 Representative said, it was time that Liberians learn from the past and seek dialogue as a way of solving their problems.
“We must now learn from the mistake that were made in the past. Demonstrations have yielded no positive result throughout Liberia’s history. We are one family. Let us stop building a society of antagonism,” he said.
Speaking further, he claimed that the June 7, 2019 mass demonstration did not have any positive impact on the economy as it served as a catalyst to the increase in prices of major commodities including gasoline.
Protests and hate messages, according to him, have the propensity to drive investors away and stall the economy. When that happens, he noted that the ordinary Liberians suffer the most.
Touching on the state of the economy, he blamed the shortage of the Liberian Dollars on the market to deliberate hoarding of the local currency by some people