Monrovia – No one saw this coming – maybe not this early: that the current ruling party would turn against one of its most influential kingmakers in Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Report by Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, [email protected]
Politics, according to German-American Socialist Oscar Ameringer, is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other. It seems Ameringer’s philosophy about politics is unfolding right here in Liberia.
Recent happenings springing out of the reported disappearance of L$16 billion is opening old political wounds, a situation that is tantamount to breaking the political alliance.
Earlier comments by top government officials insinuated that the former government of Sirleaf has a hand in the vanishing of billions of local currency.
Information Minister Eugene Nagbe told the VOA that President George Weah was never kept appraised about the new banknotes during the transitional period.
“…One would have thought that this new president would have been informed about all of these transactions during the transition notes that was presented to him during the transition meeting but he was not aware,” Nagbe said.
His comments to a major international news outlet apparently drew a swift reaction from Madam Sirleaf, who told FrontPage Africa that, “It is most unfortunate that the GOL would give false information that wickedly impugns the reputation of past officials and by extension the country itself.”
Added Madam Sirleaf: “I’m angry, I’m shocked. When it comes to the government I say this is our country, we have a new President. We all must support it for the good of our country. I’ll like to call on the government – even that the country’s reputation and innocent people’s reputation has been impugned – they must go back to the media and say that the investigation is concluded and the evidence and facts are known, they must go back to the media and correct it.”
Sirleaf holds her legacy dearly, so afflicting it means igniting a political squabble with whomever. And when she has been providing further explanation, which seemed like an obvious move to exonerate her administration from taking the fall.
She argued that no money printed during her administration ever got missing and that all actions taken to print money during were legit.
Said Madam Sirleaf to the BBC: “The Central Bank has already done an investigation on the direction of the Minister of Justice. Why haven’t they released the report of the investigation? Why are they sitting on it? Has the President realized what he has done to the country? The reputation of the country is also at stake. They’re talking about 16 billion, do they know what the GDP of this country is?”
Sirleaf’s reaction was hard-hitting for the ruling party. Some observers say it was timely and appropriate – a means to salvage the remnants of her fragile legacy on home soil.
However, it drew ire from stalwarts of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change. Over the weekend, the former president came under fire from two of the party’s most outspoken officials – individuals that have never fallen shy of ridiculous attacking the person of the Nobel laureate.
CDC Reignites Sirleaf Attack
First, it was Representative Acarous Gray of Montserrado County’s District #8 who hit back at Madam Sirleaf when he appeared on OK FM on Friday, September 21.
Gray, a long time political foe of Sirleaf, charged that it was by the instruction of the former President to the CBL that additional 10 billion banknotes were minted, adding that the move was a violation of the Constitution since the House didn’t sanction it.
“You [Madam Sirleaf] authorized the printing of some money in this country through a communication and the board of governors endorsed the printing of 10 billion dollars and you get on the BBC and begin to play hanky panky,” Gray said.
“The former president has been very disingenuous, that’s why I believe that her government needs to be audited. I’m very clear with that – they need to be audited; they need to give account to the Liberian people so we can have a forward march.”
In another press conference on Sunday, Gray again accused the former president of illegally orchestrating the printing of additional banknotes without the approval of the 53rd Legislature.
He termed the former president comments about getting approval from the Legislature before the printing of the money as a “black lie” that is “dangerous for the forward match of our country”.
“I am convinced that the Legislature may open in the month of October, and I am convinced that former President Sirleaf needs to appear before the Legislature and give account of the document written by her,” he said.
“She’s not bigger than the rules of the Legislature. I am going to take the lead and write a letter to the plenary to authorize the GAC to conduct a comprehensive audit across all ministries and agency. I will write a letter to plenary where we will instruct the GAC to audit the past administration.”
Initiating an audit of a predecessor eight months into a regime appears rare to many. And some observers suggest that such process will open a huge can of worms and seem as a witch-hunt.
President Weah has been quite about the saga until Friday evening when he addressed the nation ahead of his trip to the United Nations.
Said president Weah: “I asked all citizens to be patient and those involved in the investigation to be corporative. I am confident that in the end, we will come to a logical conclusion into the circumstances surrounding this money and if anyone is caught in any financial malfeasance they will be held accountable to the full extent. I can assure you, my fellow Liberians, proper accountability of the money in question is vital to my government’s ability to improve your lives.”
While many Liberians when to bed on Friday absorbing President Weah’s words, they also had to reflect on the divergence of information coming from various top officials of government, who have been giving their own accounts of the missing billions.
Second, the Chairman of CDC Mulbah Morlu launched another attack against the former president. It was a déjà vu: listening to a barrage of criticisms from a long time foe of Madam Sirleaf.
Morlu had never held his punches when hitting back at the former Liberian leader, He had insisted over the years that she must face the courts for allegedly funding the Liberian civil war.
This time, he is fighting to salvage the reputation of his party that brought the regime to power, especially as the government and the party struggle to change the narrative. News has already been swirling about the whereabouts of the L$16 billions and a mass protest is already on the fringes.
With Sirleaf ardently defending her legacy, thus turning the accusing fingers at the new government, Morlu and his party are fighting back aggressively.
In the ruling party’s first official comments on the saga, Morlu squarely accused officials of the Sirleaf administration for the missing money, reechoing the words of President Weah that ‘no one will be spare’ when found liable.
Said Morlu: So, Milton Weeks should be press harder, he has a story to tell and we will give that process a chance until the committee can submit investigation [report]. I believe that Charles Sirleaf has a story to tell because he plays pivotal role at CBL – if not why is his mother [Madam Sirleaf] talking about he resigning from the Central Bank? No! He will not resign like that; he will be investigated first.”
The CDC chairman claims Madam Sirleaf has already “indicted herself” by making open comments about the saga, and she should therefore be “invited by the police to give statement… maybe she knows something that we don’t know”.
He than slammed the former Liberian leader for “rushing to the defense” of her son, while describing her as “cunning and can be mischievous”.
He added: “You can still from your Ma and go on the farm but when you steal from the public you can’t go on her farm like that. Have they stolen? I do not know yet [because] there’s an ongoing investigation, but that process must be concluded and for Madam Sirleaf to now try to jump start that process by infringing on the integrity of that investigation, she invites herself to that debate – and we will not sit down and allow her to lie.”
Political Alliance Crumbling?
The brewing tension mirrors incidents preceding the 2011 elections when Sirleaf as incumbent and standard-bearer of the Unity Party came under staggering attacks by Gray, Morlu and the CDC.
The dynamics changed in 2017, when Sirleaf’s party accused her of funding Weah’s candidacy. It was an allegation that generated massive media reports and many said that it influenced the outcomes of the polls.
During the apex of election, Weah himself had kind words for Sirleaf when he rated her performance in the preceding six years at 80 percent during an interview with a Ghanaian television. And former CDC chairman Nathaniel McGill taunted the UP when he said there was nothing wrong with Sirleaf supporting the CDC.
Behind the curtains, pundits claimed that Sirleaf had brokered a deal with CDC to protect her confidants and legacy.
Now, with the ‘missing billions’ saga generating accusations and counter-accusations it is most likely that what once appeared to a be a political alliance forged to bring the CDC to power is quickly deteriorating into quarreling.