Monrovia – For nearly a decade Mulbah Morlu and Acarous Gray were thorns in the flesh of the administration of former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, speaking truth to power and holding the Sirleaf government’s feet to the fire. On Tuesday, the tables appeared to turn, as Morlu, the head of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change held no punches in unleashing the painful realities of Liberia under Sirleaf’s successor, President George Manneh Weah, now limping into its third year.
Report by Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
Addressing a surprisingly polarized news conference Tuesday, Mr. Morlu sang familiar refrains critics have been trumpeting, only to be dubbed by President Weah and his followers, as enemies of the state, as corruption, greed and a wave of governance lapses hit the core of the Weah administration.
‘Embarrassing & Shameful’
“It is embarrassing and shameful for the socio-economic disparity to continue to widen between the haves and have-nots, while we are expected to remain silent,” Morlu lamented.
The ruling party chair said: “The CDC cannot and will not remain silent if the problems it stood against yesterday begin to resurface in the governance corridors of today. We cannot forget so soon that the existence of this government is a product of the many years of sacrifice, commitment and selfless resilience of millions of ordinary Liberians who simply desire good governance and a departure from the political excesses of the past. Amidst the plethora of challenges across the country, our people still remain hopeful that we will rise to seize the moment and make the difference for our people and country; let us not let the people down.”
Reaction to Mr. Morlu’s rants is being cautiously greeted with some in the opposition unsure what to make of it.
FrontPageAfrica has learned that Mr. Morlu has for months been working behind the scenes, trying to push President Weah to hear the cries of those languishing at the bottom of the economic ladder as well as disenchanted partisans of the ruling party. But with a December 30 protest looming, the timing and the decision to go public has no doubt raised the stakes, especially as many remain puzzled as to why President Weah has remained mute in the midst of so much hardship and suffering going on around him.
“Hospitals don’t have fuel and basic medical consumables to fully operate. Many civil servants have lost more than 67% of their salaries through pay cuts and losing the remaining 33% to inflation. Government is failing on its core responsibilities; it’s collecting petroleum levies from us and not remitting it to the National Road Fund Account incentivizing a revenue loss of US$15M. Salary arrears are up to 5 months for many agencies,” chimed Boakai Jalieba, a member of the former ruling Unity Party.
Weah ‘Entrenched in Bad Habit’
Mr. Benjamin Sanvee, a former Chairman of the opposition Liberty Party, who briefly served the administration as a member of the board of the National Port Authority, hailed Mr. Morlu for mustering the courage to speak some truth to power. “You can clearly see that frustration and disappointment is now the order of the day. This President is entrenched in his bad habits and I have no confidence whatsoever to believe that he will heed the calls coming from his very own party.”
According to Mr. Sanvee, the President has lost his way and goodwill that propelled him to the presidency. “He’s surrounded by sycophants and corrupt parasites who have hijacked what was supposed to be the people’s presidency. His raw appetite for Wealth and unchecked power is the source of all his problems. When we endorsed him in 2017, I warned him that he was not going to be an ordinary or typical Liberian President. I told him that he must break away from the old cleavages of the past and muster the courage to do what the people yarned for. I used the famous line that was also used today by Morlu… “do not let your people down”.
Mr. Sanvee explained that the president has refused to enable an environment of truth telling… and has encouraged and built and network of liars and hypocrites. “I sometimes feel for chairman Morlu and the CDC leadership, because I know these guys and how hard they fought to get here. I can only hope that for our country’s sake President Weah wakes up from his slumber, but I’m not holding my breathe because he’s indeed the emperor that’s walking around with no clothes!!! Liberia is in deep trouble!!!”
Controversial Talk Show host Henry Costa, who is leading a campaign for the President to step down, fell short of showering praise on Mr. Morlu, suggesting in a Facebook Live Tuesday, that the chickens are coming home to roost. “The entire press conference today was in reaction to the December 30 protest. Mulbah Morlu made it very clear that it was about the protest. For the first time, Mulbah Morlu and his CDC did not sound like the normal CDC that we knew since they came to power two years ago. Today, Morlu is speaking as if he is a member of the COP,” said Mr. Costa.
The impact of the declining economic condition is having an adverse effect on the administration’s image.
Over the past few weeks, the US Peace Corps have scaled down activities because its volunteers were finding it difficult to access their own funds from the banks. Development partners are suffering the same fate and banks are failing on their basic obligations to serve their customers. “We’re nearing a total state collapse,” says Jaleiba.
“It is embarrassing and shameful for the socio-economic disparity to continue to widen between the haves and have-nots, while we are expected to remain silent. The CDC cannot and will not remain silent if the problems it stood against yesterday begin to resurface in the governance corridors of today. We cannot forget so soon that the existence of this government is a product of the many years of sacrifice, commitment and selfless resilience of millions of ordinary Liberians who simply desire good governance and a departure from the political excesses of the past. Amidst the plethora of challenges across the country, our people still remain hopeful that we will rise to seize the moment and make the difference for our people and country; let us not let the people down.”
– Mulbah Morlu, Chairman, Ruling Coalition for Democratic Change
Economic Woes Confirmed, COP Exec Says
Mr. Mo Ali, Secretary General of the former ruling UP and an executive of the Council of Patriots accused Mr. Morlu of limiting the running of government to a handful of people in the CDC. “Now, he is shamelessly talking about qualified CDCians should be included. As a chairman of the governing party, Morlu and the CDC should be talking about the president appointing qualified Liberians with the technical know-how and expertise who will contribute to nation building.”
Mr. Ali said, Morlu and the CDC have basically agreed with the COP that the likes of Samuel Tweah of the MFDP, Nathaniel McGill of the Minister of State and others need to be sacked and investigated for various corruption allegations including that of the squandered US25 million meant for mopping up excess LD from the economy.
Mr. Ali also took aim at Mr. Morlu for suggesting that people who are not CDCians should be sacked from the government. “People should be evaluated on the basis of their performance and not on partisanship. We agree that the past government and this government having spent almost two years in office should be audited and the acquisition of private properties including those of the president should be investigated. The statement from the CDC has affirmed that the economic woes the country is going through is basically as a result of high degree of ineptitude in government and the way in which the country is being governed. In conclusion, the statement largely is a repetition of what the opposition and the COP have been saying and what is known to be facts. The CDC Chairman said nothing new. The government led by his party is destroying every little foundation they met and incessantly finding excuses for their ineptitude and lack of idea in governance.”
For Mr. Morlu, the writings which have been on the wall for quite some time now, has reached boiling point. “Irrespective of the complex socio-economic hurdles associated with the democratic transition of 2018, the CDC-led government cannot take lightly the governance obligations cast upon its shoulders by the mostly, underprivileged citizens who look to us for solution, neither can we continue to proffer excuses while our people suffer; whether the global economy is in a decline or not, offers no excusable justification for underperformance.”
Mr. Morlu averred that it would be foolhardy to think that the CDC-led government, which rose to popular political power on the mantra of change, will effect change while working with the same political spoilers and corrupt policymakers that are most likely susceptible to the influences of the former government. “The time is now for a radical shift where the leadership needs to ensure that competent and qualified members of the tripartite Coalition are fully reflected in the governance process; the inclusion of competent and qualified members of the tripartite Coalition for Democratic Change ( i.e. NPP. LPDP, Congress for Democratic Change & Collaborating Political Parries) would inject new energy and give a boost to the governing process since in fact, we bear the major responsibility for the implementation of the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD).”
Amid the call from ruling party leader, critics and supporters of the President remain unconvinced that he will finally be moved or forced into action.
Rep. Gray: Protecting the Ideologues
For President Weah, who said at the beginning of the year, that his administration is performing better than its predecessor, the Sirleaf government, proving that things are actually bad could require a lot more to convince him otherwise. “During the course of our first year in office , I can confidently state that Liberia is far better today under our leadership that it was 12 months ago,” the President said in January.
Whichever way the cookie crumbles, Mr. Morlu believes that the President has no choice but to make drastic changes and conduct a major reshuffle at the most senior levels of government. “Remove underachievers and underminers functioning in senior level positions, especially those who appoint cronies to critical positions at line Ministries and Agencies to scheme a counter-progressive agenda and order an immediate investigation into the acquisition of real estate properties acquired by officials of this government during this current period of employment.”
In declaring that the CDC will not hesitate to distance itself from officials of government who will transgress from the popular mandate upon which it was elected, Mr. Morlu has drawn a line the sand, that could cause a ripple effect for an embattled president, many believe is living in a bubble and far removed from the realities in Liberia today.
For Mr. Morlu and many of the original party hardliners, on whose backs, Mr. Weah rode to the presidency, change may be reluctantly inevitable, particularly with concessions on previously unchartered territory. “We are not advocating for a cabinet of 100% CDCians as we are on record requesting the President to invite professionals without expressed political alignment, who may be helpful in helping to drive and implement the success of the PAPD. However, that our current cabinet configuration presents a near equal representation of opposition members and the those of the governing Coalition is an unhelpful political strategy that should be reviewed.”
Both Morlu and Gray, according to government insiders, had become ostracized from Mr. Weah’s inner circle, now overshadowed by the likes of Emmanuel Shaw, Archie Bernard Charles Bright and others, drawing the likes of Rep. Gray out of the woodworks of denial, as the Montserrado County District No. 8 lawmaker said Tuesday: “The history of the movement is not only to be told but is to be protected by the ideologues of the movement. The governance process of the country, is also not to just be told, but is to be protected by those who ushered this government into power.”