Monrovia – Impeccable sources close to Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor says the second in command of Liberia is threatening to resign by midday Monday in protest against growing and unending distrust between she and President George Manneh Weah.
Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
The source, speaking to FrontPageAfrica late Sunday night said the Vice President made her intentions known following a late evening visit from Finance and Economic Planning Minister Samuel Tweah and Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Nathaniel McGill.
“Ministers Tweah and McGill went to see her and she told them that she would resign tomorrow, she told them that she is tired with the nonsense and will resign tomorrow and will explain everything she knows about what has been going on over the last year and a half.”
An unimpeachable source who was present in the meeting
The Vice President, according to the source expressed disappointment over the manner in which she has been disrespected by people close to the presidency, particularly in the wake of the latest accusations that she is involved in the planning of this week’s Save-the-State protest.
Late Evening Visit Triggered VP Rage
“Ministers Tweah and McGill went to see her and she told them that she would resign tomorrow, she told them that she is tired with the nonsense and will resign tomorrow and will explain everything she knows about what has been going on over the last year and a half,” the source who was present in the meeting told FPA Sunday.
The saga surfaced last Friday when Senator Sando B. Johnson(NPP, Bomi) made a startling revelation on the Henry Costa Morning Show during which he revealed that President George Manneh Weah had told a visiting delegation headed by the head of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Jean Claude Kassi Brou that his vice president Jewel Howard Taylor was personally involved in the organization and providing funding for the protest.
Members of the Council of Patriots also raised the issue with the ECOWAS Commission chair.
Senator Johnson, according to a source in the meeting, indirectly told the meeting with the visiting ECOWAS delegation that the vice president was not part of the organization of the protest. “We are man enough and are organizing the protest on our own. So, if the president wants to destroy his VP, he can do that without implicating the COP. We are not controlled by any external force as it is being rumored. So, yes it was raised,” the source said.
In a statement Sunday, signed by its acting Chair Hon. John D. Gray, the NPP, one of three political parties in the ruling coalition said it is troubled by the reports.
Gray said: “Over the past few days, certain national events have caused the Leadership and membership of the National Patriotic Party to become seriously concerned about unfolding events. For which we have decided to hold this press briefing, in order to provide clarity about serious Nation security matters which must not be ignored. The National Patriotic Party, a constituent member of the Coalition for Democratic Change, is troubled by rumors circulating in the public domain. These rumors, alleged that the President of the Republic of Liberia intimated to International Partners that the Standard Bearer of the NPP and Vice President of the Republic of Liberia, Her Excellency Chief Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor is the mastermind and financier of the planned June 7th protest with an aim of undermining this Government.
Government Denies Opposition ‘Machination’
The latest development comes as the government’s chief spokesman, Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe told the Voice of America in an interview set to air on Daybreak Africa Monday morning that the report of President Weah telling the head of the ECOWAS commission about his vice president’s alleged role in the protest is untrue. “It’s totally untrue and ridiculous that the President is being accused of telling a high-level diplomat like the head of ECOWAS that his own Vice President is link to the protest that is being planned for June 7. It is actually untrue,” Minister Nagbe told the VOA’s James Butty.
Said Nagbe: “The President did not make such position to the head of ECOWAS. So, it’s just another of the rhetoric from some of the political forces in the country to sow seeds of discord in our country.”
The Minister said the Vice president and the vice president are working together cooperatively and there is no discord between the two of them. “Now, this allegation was made by one of the organizers of the protest, Senator Sando Johnson. So, it’s not a rumor, it was a false allegation made by Senator Johnson of a matter which did not happen at all. So, I don’t like people saying it is a rumor. Senator Johnson, publicly on radio made this false and malicious allegation which is totally untrue. Why should we be reacting to the machinations of these people.”
Minister Nagbe’s assertions is a change of tone from a few months back when he insinuated that the Vice President was a gossiper in the aftermath of a leaked audio recording on which the Superintendent of Bong County explained a plot to remove the Vice President from office.
On the recording leaked in February, the Superintendent of Bong County, Madam Esther Walker, who happens to be a long-time aide to the Vice President was heard narrating an ordeal she says suggested that President Weah was unhappy that the nation’s highest traditional honor was bestowed on Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor – a ceremony that led to the dismissal of the county’s Dakpanah (heads of chiefs in the country). The incident led to the dismissal of Chief Moses Suakollie, the Dakpanah, and Arthur Kulah, native superintendent in Bong County.
The Superintendent is heard on the recording explaining to her aides that she had attended a party organized by First Lady Clar Weah after President Weah delivered his second Annual Message. According to her, it was at the President’s Jamaica Resort, along the Roberts International Airport highway, where at least three of Pres. Weah’s trusted lieutenants – Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Tweah and Minister of State Nathaniel McGill were seated.
The superintendent was suspended indefinitely hours after the recording went viral on social media.
Superintendent Walker’s suspension was preceded by a Facebook posting from the government’s chief spokesman, Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe, who issued a word of caution that the superintendent’s days in the government were numbered. The minister went on to accuse the Superintendent of being a liar and a gossiper, even insinuating that VP Taylor was her Puppet-master. “Bong County will soon have a new superintendent. Since you want to be a lying gossiper, we will send you back to your “puppet-master,” the minister wrote.
‘Why the Imaginations, Nagbe Asks
Minister Nagbe said while organizers of the protest are looking to exercise their fundamental right to assemble as guaranteed by the constitution, the government has no qualms. “Yes, they have a right to free assembly and we will protect that right in the same way we will protect the rights of other citizens to move about freely and to protect lives and properties. So, why are all these imaginations happening. It’s happening because these people since the elections have still not accepted the results of the elections and its members of the opposition who are carrying out all these lies and disinformation. Mr. President and Madam Vice President are prepared to work together cooperatively. The vice president cannot be happy if her people, the NPP is part of the coalition have not been appointed to positions.”
Asked about concerns from the Acting NPP chair John Gray that members of the NPP have been left out of the equation in terms of job, Minister Nagbe said: “That’s an entire matter for the leadership of the ruling CDC Coalition to address. As the spokesperson for the government I can confirm to your that Mr. President and Madam President and the entire apparatus of the Executive Branch have proceeded to work together cooperatively and harmoniously. If there are internal issues within the coalition for democratic change as is being raised by Mr. Gray of the NPP, there are internal mechanism within the CDC to address these differences. But the position of the government which is clear for all to see through the way they work is that Mr. President and Madam Vice President will continue to work together harmoniously.”