Monrovia – The bad blood between Senator H. Varney N. G. Sherman (UP- Grand Cape Mount County) and former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is nowhere near being wiped clean anytime soon.
Report by Henry Karmo, [email protected]
On Thursday, July 26, at the Independence Day program at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion on Ashmum Street, Senator Sherman was visibly heard refusing suggestions from his colleagues asking him to go and greet former President Sirleaf.
For reconciliation’s sake, some of his colleagues including Senators Peter Coleman (CDC- Grand Kru-County), Prince Johnson (MDR-Nimba County) asked Cllr. Sherman to move to the former President and greet her.
Our reporter, who was standing right near where the senators’ discussions were being held, heard Sen. Sherman responding to his colleagues, “I am not a Sycophant. If I go to her people will take our picture and say ‘Sherman and Ellen smoke peace pipe.’ I will always remain where I am. Some people will have to be on the other side.’’
In the 2017 Presidential and Representatives Elections, it became very glaring that President Sirleaf did not support her own former Vice President, Amb. Joseph Boakai, who was the frontrunner in the Presidential election. This was due to some of the former Vice President’s very close associates, including Cllr. Sherman and the tough-talking Unity Party Chairman, Mr. Wilmot Paye.
Senator Sherman and Madam Sirleaf’s feud goes far back and is deeply rooted in the hearts of them both.
It was firstly manifested in the first debate, which was held among four of the 2005 Presidential contestants, who gathered in the studio of the Roman Catholic-run Radio Maria (formerly Radio Varitas). Those at that debate included Madam Sirleaf, Cllr. Sherman, Dr. Togba Nah Tipoteh and Dr. Roland Massaquoi.
The debate was mostly civil, although candidates took swap at each other indirectly. Cllr. Sherman on a few occasions spoke about never having left the country and never having participated in any action that brought war that led to the destruction to the country. Madam Sirleaf, in an indirect response, said that there are those who sat here and never stood for anything, never dared to speak out while Liberians were mistreated and now wanted to claim that they are all holy. According to her, everytime she left the country, it was because she had spoken against the unfair practices of a particular government.
At another debate, this time held at the Centennial Pavilion where a bigger audience was seated, Cllr. Sherman came out and directly attacked Madam Sirleaf as a warmonger and that she was one of those directly responsible for the destruction of the country. That verbal attack wasn’t tolerated by the debate moderators and some in the audience. He, however, received loud applauds from others in the audience.
In the second round of that election, which went to a runoff between Madam Sirleaf and now President Weah, the two high-profile members of Liberia’s educated elite — Cllr. Winston Tubman, who finished fourth in the presidential race and Varney Sherman who finished fifth — threw their support behind Mr. Weah.
However, following the 2005 Presidential Election, which Madam Sirleaf won over now President George Manneh Weah, the political parties of them both formed a merger and Cllr. Sherman didn’t contest the 2011 Presidential Election but became the Chairman of her party — Unity Party — while she remained standard bearer.
Cllr. Sherman provided huge support for her 2011 presidential bid, which she won in a landslide victory over Mr. Weah in a runoff election in which he (Weah) and his party chose to not participate.
It had seemed that the bad blood was over between the pair but that was far from the reality as they would again clash few years down the road.
Some say Cllr. Sherman reignited the feud, when he delivered the 2013 166th Independence Day Oration on the topic, “Tomorrow is not an Option”.
Even though Mr. Sherman called himself criticizing Ms. Sirleaf for her lackluster presidential performance in the Executive Mansion, he, however, blamed Ellen’s lack of effective public relations as the reasons her accomplishments were not known.
“I am, however, concerned that enough information about these achievements and accomplishments has not flowed to the Liberian public at large and too many people, even within Monrovia and its immediate environs don’t know enough about these achievements and accomplishments. The absence of information to the Liberian people about these achievements and accomplishments is a serious deficiency that must be remedied immediately,” he added.
“For today’s Liberia, Independence Day cannot merely be a day of remembrance and celebration. Even after nearly ten years of the absence of gunfire, the wounds of our civil war are still fresh; for you know that peace is not necessarily the absence of war. Even after two cycles of general and presidential elections, the social and development challenges which face our people are still very daunting; some of our people appear to give up all hope for the betterment of their situation during their lifetime. Restoration of our patrimony appears to be so overwhelming that we, as a people, cannot afford to merely remember those who sacrificed for July 26, 1847; we cannot merely rejoice in the tremendous benefits of their actions.”
Cllr. Sherman went on to further accuse the government of rampant corruption.
Few years later, specifically May of 2016, he accused her of conniving with Global Witness to release a damning report on corruption in which he is the main person involved.
The report titled, “The Deceivers”, shows how in 2010 Sable hired Cllr. Sherman, whom they considered Liberia’s best-connected lawyer in an effort to secure one of Liberia’s last large mining assets, the Wologizi iron ore concession in northern Lofa County. According to the report, Sherman told Sable that in order to obtain the contract the company must first get Liberia’s concessions law changed by bribing senior officials, according to a source familiar with the discussions. The account is backed up by leaked emails and company documents seen by Global Witness. According to the documents, Sherman then began distributing Sable’s money of US$950,000 to some of Liberia’s most important government officials.
He was subsequently dragged to court by a Special Presidential Taskforce setup by former President Sirleaf to investigate the matter.
Cllr. Sherman got really infuriated when she made an opposition political party’s chairman head of the task force to prosecute or “disgrace” him Chairman of her party.
The bad blood has not healed between them. It even deepened when campaign for the 2017 Presidential Election began.
In one of his press conferences, he told newsmen and women that the Unity Party candidate, VP Boakai could win the election with more than 60 percent without the support of Madam Sirleaf.
“I cannot confirm or deny that President Sirleaf is supporting Joe Boakai. In 2014, she did not support me to become Senator of Grand Cape Mount County and yet I won by more than 60 percent; so maybe the same thing might happen to Joe Boakai; he might win by more than 60 percent.”