Monrovia – Liberia Electricity Cooperation (LEC) has dismissed claims from the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) that the reason behind the power outage at its party headquarters during their 2024 Youth Day Program was a result of political interference from President Joseph Nyuma Boakai.
By J.H. Webster Clayeh (0886729972)-[email protected]
On Saturday, September 7, 2024, the main opposition party the Congress for Democratic Change held what it terms as Youth Day, a day that coincides with the 39th birthday celebration of the party’s Secretary General Jefferson Koijee.
It was an eye-catching event as former President George Weah and other senior party’s leaders were in attendance to grace the occasion.
The high euphoria from partisans to hear from former President Weah soon cut short after the power outage from LEC, the country’s power supplier.
The former President’s securities struggled to get him past the half-cheering crowd in the dark -out of the party’s Headquarters.
The incident of power outage has caused many partisans of CDC to point their hands at the LEC as they cited political interference from President Boakai.
Speaking to the party’s Secretary General after the exit of former President Weah, Koijee said the action of the power outage from LEC is a sign of continued attack against the CDC.
“Mr. Boakai has no limitation to his political attack on the Congress for Democratic Change. We think that it is a conspicuous weaponization of the governance system against the opposition,” CDC Secretary General said.
Koijee furthers: “He weaponized the court, he weaponized each and every sector of the governance faucet of our country. Leadership begins not from the bottom, it begins from the top. Mr. Boakai has the mandate to display -even to those who disagree with him.”
“We were in the country with people who disagree with us, there were people who did not recognize us but it was in our plans to provide governance for them, to provide protection for them, we did not care and that is why protesters were being fed, protesters were being protected because we believe that the constitution provides the ambiance and atmosphere of protection for them,” CDC Secretary General added.
In response, LEC Senior Manager of Communication Information and Public Affairs Philip K. Faley said the claims from CDC partisans regarding political interference in power outage during CDC 2024 Youth Day is far from the truth.
“LEC is not a political institution. We are a respectable institution and we don’t root in the compliance of politics,” Faley said.
According to Foley, LEC does business on the basis of its efficiency adding that they provide electricity to everyone irrespective of their political affiliations.
“The corporation provides electricity to every other person. We got industrial customers all along that route, we got embassies, we got private corporations that pay thousands of dollars to our revenue. Why will LEC cut light to anyone regardless of their political affiliations,” the LEC Communication Manager said.
