Monrovia – Liberia’s former Foreign Minister Augustine Ngafuan has dismissed critics of his quest for the Liberian presidency who are suggesting that his candidacy is an affront to Vice President Joseph Boakai and a slap in the face of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf who gave him the platform to prominence.
“There are a lot of people leaving the UP that are not writing letters, nobody knows about that. I was even using an example of a fellow called Vincent Smith. Vincent founded and led the largest UP auxiliary in the 2011 elections called AMSO. Some of you can remember, they went into the nuke and cranny of this country. Vincent is not part of the UP. Has anyone decided to ask why?” – Mr. Augustine Ngafuan, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, RL
Speaking in an exclusive interview with FrontPageAfrica Tuesday where he announced his candidacy for the 2017 Presidential elections, Mr. Ngafuan instead explained that his quest is based on a commitment made by both President Sirleaf and Boakai that they would step aside after her second term and allow a younger generation of leaders to succeed them.
Dismissing critics who have labelled him an ingrate, Mr. Ngafuan reminded his detractors: “The thing I can tell you is that my political move does not surprise madam Sirleaf and it is not an act of being ungrateful. But let me give you this piece of information.
You remember in the 2011 elections, not once, not twice, that Madam Sirleaf was clear that she and her Vice President started together and they will end together and they will turn over to the younger generation of leaders.
You remember that and I think one of your journalists might have interviewed the vice President and he said well, 2017 he will retire and so if any young person, young leader grew ambition for the future, it was not coming out of the sky because it was a promise to the younger generation. Now, so to say because of betrayal of anything?”
Mr. Ngafuan insists that there was a commitment made. “We’re not saying that people cannot renege on commitment but if people start to use the word betrayal then we would go to all the commitments that were made and see what happened to those commitments.
Some of you guys in the press you heard some statements before and you all should be asking some questions: You made this statement yesterday why?
So, I haven’t betrayed anybody, I’ve been consistent. So we are moving to the future in order to offer the Liberian people some real choices. It will up to the Liberian people to decide.”
Addressing criticisms that his candidacy is an affront to VP Boakai because they both hailed from the same county, the former foreign minister said, it’s not a matter of disrespect; but a matter of choices because Lofa County has a tradition of fielding what he described as the best candidates in each of the democratic elections in the past few years.
Said Mr. Ngafuan: “Lofa has had a tradition of putting forth its best in national elections. In 1985, Lofa had two vice standard bearers in the persons of Dr. Harry Moniba and Harold Darma. In fact, both of them were Gbandis my own tribesmen; Harry Moniba was the candidate for the NDPL (National Democratic Party of Liberia and the late Harry Darma was the standard bearer for the late Kpolleh.
And, then in 1997 Lofa had a Presidential candidate in the person of the late Fayiah Gbollie and then Harry Moniba, the former Vice President. We had two Presidential candidates from Lofa in 1997. In the 2005 elections, we also had two Presidential candidates, Dr. Robert Kpoto and John Morlu Sr.
In that election, I was supporting the candidacy of Madam Sirleaf, in that election, Lofa produced technically two vice standard bearers: Vice President now Joseph Nyumah Boakai and Honorable Rudolph Johnson who was the vice standard bearer to CDC’s George Weah.
In the 2011 elections, Lofa produced three Presidential candidates: Cecelia Debe, one Dr. Stephen Guzeh and Gladys Beyan.
Mr. Ngafuan says his entry into the race is in no way geared toward starting a fight with the man he considers an Uncle.
“The tradition has been putting forth its best as Liberia goes and decides. I am not in the process in opposition to Vice President Boakai. Many persons in the county believe that it is good as we get into the 2017 electoral process that is full of challenges and intrigues, it is good for the county to flag its best – that’s what I mean it is not an opposition to the vice President and I don’t think he will be in opposition to me.”
Asked whether he received the blessing of his former boss before making his decision, Mr. Ngafuan said it is the President’s choice to decide.
“Support to my candidacy, non-support to my candidacy is hers’ to decide but I’m saying this that I’m in the process, the votes will be those of the Liberian people, my former boss is one of those, I will definitely want her support but it is her decision to decide and nobody is going to squeeze her this way or that way.
Just as she knows that I am a free political agent. I make my decisions, I think she is a free political agent, she will make her decision.”
Mr. Ngafuan says he has in no way been disloyal to President Sirleaf and charge that both of them have benefited from each other.
“It has been a relationship of mutual respect, and technically mutual benefit. When Madam Sirleaf and a lot of other leaders and other actors could not come back to this country, because President Taylor had charged them with treason. In 1998, I don’t’ hate Taylor; in fact one or two of his family are friends of mine.
The burden of advocating for this country rested on our young shoulders. And I, people remember this, in 1998, within the presence of Taylor, raised some very, very teething issues with the President:
One, with the quote-on-quote crafting of Vision 2024 and I asked Taylor some very pointed questions as to where we stood on the question of reconciliation, asking about where was Prince Johnson, Alhaji Kromah, Roosevelt Johnson, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and others.
After that, for three weeks I had to go underground in this town. It was a risky thing to do. After that Madam Sirleaf asked me to assist her as a member of the board of her NGO in 1999. “
Mr. Ngafuan says he has in the past rendered his service to Sirleaf who he credits from helping him make his first trip to Nigeria as far back as 2000.
Mr. Ngafuan said he was in fact an asset to the Sirleaf campaign in 2005. “I organize, look at the political space, she didn’t give it to me, I thought it was the best thing at the time.
She didn’t give it to me. I organized at the time the largest auxiliary to assemble for the UP. I as not a member of the UP. I was a Central Bank.
She asked me to assist her campaign to serve as spokesman for the campaign team and I was one of the strategist working in that process and I did that not because I wanted a job – go and ask- that this man was not one of those who submitted CVs in 2005.
And so when she asked me to render my service in the capacity of Budget Director, I decided to work for my country and with her guidance and support.”
Mr. Ngafuan has not said which party ticket he will run on but ruled out running as an independent although he has previously been linked to merger discussions with George Weah’s Congress for Democratic Change and former Central Bank of Liberia governor Mills Jones.
In parting shots to his former party, Mr. Ngafuan said he felt like an outsider whose advice and inputs were ignored and never sought eventhough he was a senior minister in government.
“I’m in the party, I’m consequential? I’m in the party, I’m not an excess baggage, my bag is full. Immediate when I leave, then I become.
See what they did. I resigned, I sent the letter, they didn’t acknowledge my letter, none of them even called me and they only said well, it is his right.”
Mr. Ngafuan revealed that a lot more of the party’s faithful are leaving in droves ahead of the 2017 elections.
“There are a lot of people leaving the UP that are not writing letters, nobody knows about that. I was even using an example of a fellow called Vincent Smith. Vincent founded and led the largest UP auxiliary in the 2011 elections called AMSO.
Some of you can remember, they went into the nuke and cranny of this country. Vincent is not part of the UP. Has anyone decided to ask why?
There are a lot of common people that have left. So what I think and I was pushing for internal soul searching and I’ve reached a point where, I didn’t think that my clarion call was being heeded.
So, I decided to honourably exit. I wish the UP well. Just as I wish all political parties well. These political processes are not processes where enemies are pitted against each other, we are all brothers called Liberians.”
Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]