Monrovia – Nimba County District # Representative says “no one is obligated” to ask Senator Prince Johnson’s permission in order to host an activity in the county.
Representative Larry Yanquoi, in an interview with FPA Thursday, warned that Senator Johnson must be aware that the county is not for him and therefore he cannot stop any activity of a political party.
“He must be told upright that Nimba doesn’t belong to him, and he shouldn’t stop anybody from going there if he is elected over and over for his political argument, we will accept it but any attempt that he will railroad us he is getting it wrong,” he said.
According to him, “Sen. Johnson thrives on controversy and should not be given credence”.
“We are not going to give him that chance, anything he says that is uncomplimentary that borders on security we will come and debunk it.
“If he thinks he will make the government think that someone wants to do something sinister, he should be the one that is qualified for that.”
Hon. Yanquoi was reacting to recent comments by Senator Johnson.
On Wednesday, FPA reported that ahead of the Alternative National Congress (ANC) national convention in Nimba County scheduled for May 4, Sen. Johnson is requesting that the party seeks his permission before holding its convention in the county.
Speaking on a Truth FM’s nighttime show, “What’s Your View”, Sen. Johnson, who regards himself as the ‘Godfather’ of the county, said the ANC, being a member of an opposition political coalition must get the consent of the county authorities, including him, before taking the convention to Nimba.
Johnson said Nimba County remains a strong supporter of the George Weah-led administration and would not entertain the convergence of any group of people or political party, who has plans to protest against or unseat the President.
“Nimba County that consists of 1.2 million citizens all over Liberia, our support for President Weah is unwavering. We have a country parable that the devil we dress, we cannot undress it. We’ll continue to support this government despite these stormy days,” he said.
But Rep. Yanquoi slammed his kinsman, saying the senator has no legal standing to stop people from assembling.
He said, “I challenged him to stop the convention from taking place, we don’t have to ask for permission, he was elected, I was elected, there is no law that says that.”
“We are going to have our convention; we have invited the county caucus and administration.
“The security is not in the hands of Sen. Johnson but it is in the hands of the state security, he can’t sit in my home and say I shouldn’t carry someone there.”
Rep Nyanquoi, who is an honorary co-chair of the ANC convention committee, says the county administration is aware of the impending convention.
Growing Feud
Rep. Nyanquoi described Sen. Johnson is tribalistic when asked about the deepening feud between him and the senator.
“He is a Gio man and I am a mano man and he wants to suppress the Mano people,” he alleged, while recalling an unofficial “gentlemen agreement” in the county that should have served as a balance for the two tribes. It states that when one Mano tribe has a seat of the Senate, the representative seat is for the Gio tribe, but such was reportedly changed by Sen. Johnson, he claims.
“He came and juxtaposed the gentlemen agreement that existed over the years into his political arrangement and brought his kinsmen and placed him there when there was a number of tertiary numbers of Mano people on his ticket contesting,” he said.
The Nimba County District #8 lawmaker alleged that Sen. Johnson’s demand for permission is paranoid for young political leaders.
“When he sees enterprising young intellectual and a politically young person coming out, he feels jittery and that is what happening,” he said.
“We are fighting for our children and not for him if he sits down and thinks that the only way to get peace is to insult people and to make people lick under his boots, this generation wouldn’t do that.”
‘Not a Kingmaker’
In recent years, Sen. Johnson has been regarded as the kingmaker of Nimba, but Rep. Yanquoi says the Senator should be ashamed of himself.
“What is he doing as kingmaker, he should be a shame to refer to himself as kingmaker when his kingmaker ship doesn’t bring anything.
“The reference he makes to himself as a kingmaker is terrestrial to his political standing and a trap for him now.
“How can you be a king and you cannot give your county of nearly 8,000 people of 75 Ph.D. and 150 Masters living currently in Liberia and you cannot give them one ministerial or deputy minister position, how can you not make managing director position,” he asked.
He wonders why Sen. Johnson has not consulted the government to turn over L$6 million county social development funds to the county’s administration.
“Why can’t he used his influence that he created to give the money to the people, How can he be the kingmaker and don’t have control over the government you created.”