MONROVIA – A founding member of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) and dismissed Deputy Minister for Small Businesses at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Jamima Wolokollie has officially joined the Movement For One Liberia (MOL) political party of Madam MaDdella Cooper with a call on Liberians to consistently speak out against ills and bad governance in the society.
Report by Obediah Johnson, [email protected]
It can be recalled that Madam Wolokollie suffered two political strikes following her outburst against the ruling party’s Chairman Morlu K. Mulbah, Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson Koijee and the presumptive candidate of the CDC in the ensuing December 8 senatorial election, Representative Thomas Fallah of Montserrado County.
She is on record for calling for the resignation of Chairman Morlu, accusing him of running the governing party as a “susu club” and based on tribalism, along with CDC Youth Chairman, Koijee.
Madam Wolokolie, who also declared her intention to contest the ensuing mid-term senatorial election in Montserrado County, also accused the CDC of conducting primaries fraudulently, and Rep. Thomas Fallah of distributing motorcycles in the county as part of a scheme to deceive the poor people of the county.
She has been very persistent and vocal in accusing her former boss, Minister Wilson Tarpeh, of unilaterally withdrawing from the commercial bank and expending over US$500,000 out of the US$3M intended to improve small businesses in the country without her consent and proper documentations. The minister has denied the accusation.
But on June 30 and July 1 respectively, Madam Wolokollie was dismissed by President Weah for “actions incompatible” to her status as a senior government official and subsequently by the National Executive Committee of the ruling Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) for fraud, extortion, corruption, and her role in a fake loan scheme, and against unwholesome actions or utterances that taint the integrity of the Congress for Democratic Change
Following her brief spill without a political party, Madam Wolokollie joined the MOL at a brief ceremony held at the party’s headquarters in Congo Town, outside Monrovia on Tuesday, July 28, 2020.
“Every Liberian has the right to speak out. Don’t just speak out, but speak the truth; if you must be crucified for speaking the truth; then so be it. That is exactly what happened to me-I spoke the truth and I was crucified by them.”
– Jamima Wolokollie
At the ceremony, she vowed to “fight for the right things to be done in Liberia for the benefit of the entire populace”.
She noted that the welfare of every child, woman or man in the Liberian society must be prioritized and protected, and not only a selective individuals or group of people.
Madam Wolokollie added that no specific group of citizens in Liberia has absolute right over the wealth and resources of the country, and as such, she will assiduously work with others to ensure that freedom of speech or expression is promoted and respected in Liberia to enable citizens speak out.
She disclosed that her decision taken to join the MOL was due to the party’s political leader’s consistent advocacy in “pushing women forward not only in Liberia, but around the world”.
“Today marks a great day in my life. As you know, politics is not about being static. Time is of essence and we have no time in our lives to waste time. We are here to make sure that we move this country forward on a high speed. Looking at this party, we see the head (Macdella Cooper) pushing the agenda of women. I got expel from the CDC for no tangible reasons and she was the very first person to reach out to me. And I said I am going to join her party to fight for the women, girls and also the men of Liberia”.
Liberia today, is not Liberia yesterday
Madam Wolokollie lamented that the country has taken a different trend under the CDC led-government of President George Manneh Weah.
According to her, citizens are being misconstrued, perceived as enemies, and crucified for speaking truth to power in present day Liberia.
Madam Wolokollie urged Liberians to desist from remaining silence on issues that matter and voice out their minds by speaking truth to power, despite the circumstances or difficulties they are faced with.
“Every Liberian has the right to speak out. Don’t just speak out, but speak the truth; if you must be crucified for speaking the truth; then so be it. That is exactly what happened to me-I spoke the truth and I was crucified by them”.
She claimed that Liberia has turned into a country where people placed their personal aggrandizement over the wellbeing of Liberia, and vast majority of its citizens.
“Liberia today is not Liberia of yesterday. Liberia today is a different, different world. The people of today have vision for themselves over this country. People want to take a whole nation for granted; but it is not possible. When you take a nation for granted, you have negative results”.
Inclusive governance process
Madam Wolokollie further called for an inclusive governance process to help move the country forward.
According to her, the minds of most young people in the Liberian society are developed, and as such, they must be accorded the opportunity to serve their country.
She said citizens must be involved in the decision making process of the country.
She, however, urged leaders in Liberia to accept criticisms to enable them learn from mistakes made, noting that, “any good leader will accept criticisms”
Raging war on rape
The former Deputy Commerce Minister for Small Businesses, however, vowed to help enact stringent laws against rape in the Liberian society.
She termed as “disheartening” the increasing wave of rape and sodomy cases involving minors in Liberia.
“You cannot have our uncles, daddies and brothers raping our little daughters have babies by them. We love the men, but this has to stop. The laws have to be more stringent to tell our men that we don’t hate you people, but if you do this thing, this is the consequence”.
Also speaking, tough talking Liberian female politician and Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) advocate, Madam Macdella Cooper, commended Madam Wolokollie for seeing the MOL as the best alternative.
She observed that the gaps between men and women representation at the level of the National Legislature remains huge and therefore, MOL remains committed to help ensure that more women are elected at the first branch of the Liberian government.
“I like to thank you for coming to be a part of this family. This is the very reason why the MOL was established to ensure that more women get into the political process. I was very much excited when I heard that Jamima was available for grabs”
“Our works here today have been accomplished in some ways with Jamima being here. This is your new home and we will be doing things here the right way. You are in the right place at the right moment”.
She promised to ensure that women, including physically challenged are given the opportunity to contest in the upcoming senatorial and future elections with support from the Movement For One Liberia (MOL) political party.
“We will not sit back and watch women being a stick in Liberia body politics; we are going to work to make sure that women are elected in the Legislature”.