Monrovia – When Jean Claude Kassi Brou arrived in Monrovia last week, the head of the ECOWAS Commission had no intentions of holding a tete-a-tete with Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor. But after meeting with President George Manneh Weah, his first in a series of discussions on his quest to mediate between the Liberian presidency and organizers of this week’s Save-the-State protest, under the banner of the Council of Patriots, the regional body’s head had to tweak his schedule to lend his ear to the embattled Vice President.
Report by Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
It was what the ECOWAS Commission chair heard that forced him to add the VP to his list of key stakeholders he had to hear before ending his mission to Liberia last week.
Startling Accusation Made
President Weah, in closed-door meeting with Mr. Kassi Brou reportedly made a startling accusation that both former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and his Vice President Howard Taylor were quietly aiding the organizers of the protest against the Coalition for Democratic Change-led government.
“She wasn’t on our schedule, we were trying to see how we could consider intervening in the tension between the two of them but after the President brought it up in the meeting – that she and the former president were behind the protest – we had to change course; but we wanted the meeting with the Vice President to be low profile,” said an ECOWAS source who was privy to the background discussions surrounding the latest development which has pushed the upcoming protest toward the brink of the obscure.
VP Howard-Taylor played a major role in securing victory for Weah in the 2017 presidential elections. Her National Patriotic Party bloc was part of the coalition that also includes the Liberia People’s Democratic Party of former House Speaker Alex Tyler.
The Charles Taylor factor and Mrs. Howard Taylor’s popularity in the vote-rich county was critical. Weah won with 61.5 percent to Vice President Joseph Boakai’s 38.5 percent in the second-round run-off.
Recent statements from President Weah expressing his government’s commitment to ensuring that protesters exercise their constitutional rights have been contradicted by statements attributed to President Weah by Senator Johnson who told the Costa Show that the President had informed the visiting ECOWAS delegation that his vice president was behind the protest.
Members of the COP 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.
On Sunday, the NPP, in a statement signed by its Acting National chairman John D. Gray added its voice to the statements attributed to the President and expressing concerns over the manner in which its senior representative on the coalition has been treated.
Unfolding Events Worries NPP
The NPP 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.
Fellow Citizens, distinguish members of the Press, the National Patriotic Party wishes to inform the international and local audience that the allegations are false, misleading, diabolical, and has no iota of truth. The NPP as a constituent member of the Government has and continues to be a peaceful and law abiding political party.
The NPP and its Standard Bearer and Vice President of the Republic of Liberia, wishes to reassure the Liberian people and the international community of their commitment to the peace and stability of the Republic of Liberia; and of their unwavering resolve to remain a law abiding organization. It is our prayer during these difficult times, that all Liberians should be reminded that Liberia is our common patrimony and each of us must work to uphold the laws of Liberia and maintain the peace.
Government Spokesman Denies
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 imaginations 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.
Weah Expresses Desire to Tolerate Opposition Ideas
In his address to the nation last week, the President pledged his absolute commitment to the protection of each and every right and freedom granted to each and every one of you under our Constitution. “It is the use of these freedoms, that will define us as a people. It is our toleration of political opposition and opposing ideas, that will enrich our national dialogue and discourse. It is our ability to manage this culture of freedom and tolerance for criticism, that can sustain our peace.”
A day later, in his meeting with Kassi Brou and the ECOWAS delegation, the President again expressed his determination to uphold the laws of Liberia, noting that Government is under obligation to provide equal protection for every citizen irrespective of his or her social, economic and political background.
The Liberian leader opined that while the Constitution is clear on the right of any group of Liberians to protest, and his government is under obligation to protect that right, it is equally the right of non-protesting Liberians to freely go about their normal businesses. “Since we took over the leadership of the country, we have placed no objection on anyone’s right to exercise their rights under the laws,” the President, adding, “We have all been advocating for that. “Those who want to exercise whatever right can go ahead to do so. Our hope is that it is done responsibly. Government has the right to defend and protect everyone’s right.”
The President has said that he and his Government has done everything possible, including meeting the proponents of the June 7 protest and other national stakeholders, in finding an amicable out-of-the-street solution to the current protest imbroglio and assured the ECOWAS delegation he was still ready and open to listen to any Liberian who has concerns relating to the wellbeing of the state and people.
But despite the President’s pledge, a sticking issue now evolving is whether the President Weah come down from his office to receive the protesters’ demands? One source told FPA Saturday that the President, in his discussion with Kassi Brou suggested that his vice president, who was part of the protest’s organization be the one to receive the demands.
Weah or Jewel: Who Will Receive Protesters’ Demands?
Multiple sources confirmed to FPA Saturday that the VP is reportedly unwilling to perform the task, fearing for her own security and safety amid the sea of accusations being thrown her way.
The Council of Patriots, organizers of the June 7 protest, in a statement Sunday reiterated its position that the protest will be conducted within the confines of the laws of Liberia.
COP comprising individual patriotic citizens, Civil Society Organizations, Liberian professionals of all walks of life including but not limited health workers, teachers, engineers, marketers, students, farmers, transport operators, civil servants (who run the risk of salary reduction), youth and women organizations and the Collaborating Political Parties, announced Sunday that the peaceful assembly of Liberian citizens on Friday June 7, 2019 is intended to petition the Government of Liberia to take immediate actions on issues of governance, the worsening economic conditions, rule of law, and the unprecedented level of corruption.
In his meeting with former President Sirleaf, Mr. Kassi Brou also reportedly told her of the concerns President Weah had of her alleged involvement in the upcoming protest. The former President reportedly denied any role in the June 7 Save-the-State protest.
The ECOWAS Commission Chair, in his meeting with the VP reportedly confronted her about the President’s accusations. The VP reportedly broke down in tears, reminiscing about some of the challenges she has been going through since the early days of the Coalition for Democratic Change government’s ascendancy to power.
The VP who had boasted that she would not be a parked car in the garage, in reference to her predecessor, former Vice President Joseph Boakai’s assertions of the role he played under ex-President Sirleaf, has been on the receiving end of numerous controversies.
Shortly after his inauguration in January, President Weah sought to wrestle control from the VP’s office, including an attempt to deny her the constitutional right as President of the Senate responsible for presiding over its deliberations without the right to vote, except in the case of a tie vote.
The President followed that with a bill to the legislature seeking to wrestle the VP’s control of the Liberia National Lotteries after reports surfaced that the VP had left the country without informing the president. FrontPageAfrica would later learn that the President’s Chief of Protocol kept the VP waiting for three hours before telling her that the President was busy. And even though she left a file explaining the purpose of her trip, she was asked to returned home after her departure but she declined, expressing unhappiness about the lack of respect shown her by the President.
Then in February, a leaked audio recording on which the Superintendent of Bong County, Madam Esther Walker, who happens to be a long-time aide to the Vice President surfaced, on which the Superintendent 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.
On the leaked audio, Madam Walker was heard, suggesting that the President was likely to dismiss a few traditional leaders over the row.
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 dismissed 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.
Last November, yet another controversy ensued prior to a trip the VP made to Reykjavik, Iceland last year to attend the Women Political Leaders Global Forum. The VP was reportedly denied access to the President who placed a call to her later that she should return home because she did not get his approval for the trip.
The VP had reportedly gone to the President’s office to inform him of her travel to Reykjavik and her travel to Accra, Ghana for an international health conference. But to her surprise, the VP was kept waiting for nearly two hours before being told by the President’s Chief of Staff, Finda Bondoo that the President was too busy to see her. The VP, according to sources, reportedly left a file detailing her travels with the Chief of Staff and asked her to kindly relay the message to the President. The VP, prior to that visit had reportedly been denied multiple requests to see the President, according to sources at the time. To the VP’s surprise, the President reportedly called her while in Accra, ordering her to return home at once, declaring that he had no knowledge of her travel and would face consequences upon her return to the country.
The VP was also engulfed in an internal NPP party wrangle when Representative James Biney (NPP, District No. 1 Maryland County) reportedly commenced what aides to the Vice President described at the time as a plot to change county chairpersons of the National Patriotic Party, who appeared reluctant to collude with a plan hatched by Biney to agree to remove the Vice President from the party as standard bearer.
One source confiding to FrontPageAfrica Monday said, the plot was hatched on the assumption that the vice president would be against a permanent merger of the NPP and the CDC. As a result of engagements with the county chair and their refusal, one source explained that some partisans of the NPP brought a complaint to the party and the National Elections Commission to have Rep. Biney expelled as chairman of the party.
It was that ill-fated plan, the source told FrontPageAfrica, which angered partisans and NEC members which cumulated into a hastily-arranged convention last weekend to have the vice president removed from the party. “They had planned that she (Jewel) would be a six-month Vice President and when it did not work, they began devising ways to effect their plans,” the source added.
Weah, Jewel Beef Worrying ECOWAS
Regional observers say strains between President Weah and his vice president are fueling tension as ECOWAS gear up to dispatch both civilian and military observers on Tuesday, three days before the protest.
All this as Mr. Kassi Brou, the President of the ECOWAS Commission has been urging stakeholders to pursue constructive dialogue on their concerns and grievances and to ensure that the planned June 7 protest is conducted in a peaceful and orderly manner and in accordance with Articles 13 and 17 of the1986 Liberian Constitution, while purporting to exercise their constitutional rights.
During his meeting with President Weah, members of COP, the VP and former President Sirleaf, Mr. Kassi Brou emphasized that peace, security and stability are important cornerstones for enhancing the economic and social development of Liberia and the Region as a whole. The Delegation also took note of the current difficult economic situation faced by the country and encouraged the authorities to take the necessary measures to stabilize the macro-economic situation in the country and create the condition for investment and job opportunities.
The buildup to June 7 has put the government’s security apparatus on edge with several suggestions and counter-suggestions surrounding the details, limitations and restrictions regarding the protesters.
Col. Patrick Sudue, Inspector General of the Liberia National Police has already put organizers on notice that the LNP will not entertain marches in the principal streets of Monrovia and will restrict protesters to a peaceful assembly.
Speaking to reporters last week at the end of a two-day National Stakeholders community policing engagement consultation under the theme: Say No to Violence, the police chief insisted that organizers of the June 7th protest will be allowed to exercise their constitutional rights in accordance with Articles 1 and 17 of the Liberian constitution, but with assembling in a place to present their grievances.
Resurrected Feud Ricocheting Across ECOWAS
Article 1 of the constitution states: “All power is inherent in the people. All free governments are instituted by their authority and for their benefit and they have the right to alter and reform the same when their safety and happiness so require. In order to ensure democratic government which responds to the wishes of the governed, the people shall have the right at such period, and in such manner as provided for under this Constitution, to cause their public servants to leave office and to fill vacancies by regular elections and appointments.”
Authorities have also been attempting to limit the protest to the Antoinette Tubman Stadium, a move that has not gone down well with organizers of the protest. But more importantly, the latest allegations against VP Howard-Taylor has resurrected strains between she and President Weah.
Last November, the VPs office issued a statement in which she reiterated that she does not only remain committed and loyal to the Presidency of President George Weah, but to the advancement and implementation of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD).
The VP said at the time that she is fully cognizant of her role, which is meant to serve as a critical support arm to the President. “The role of a VP is in strict consonance with clearly stated constitutional roles and responsibilities of the office, and Madam Howard-Taylor is fully mindful of her sphere of duties.”
Some of President Weah’s aides have reportedly helped nurtured the idea his VP harbors an unquenchable ambition for the presidency.
With the save-the-state protest only days away, political observers say the obscurities eclipsing not just the planned assembly but the coalition within the ruling party appears to be fueling an already complicated environment with implications for the West African sub-region. The gravity of the accusations pointed toward VP Howard-Taylor may have resurrected strains which some say, may be irreparable amid lingering distrust between the leadership of Liberia and visible cracks within the ruling coalition now causing shivers not just in Liberia but in the corridors of ECOWAS and the international community.