Monrovia – Heavy downpour of rain could not deter scores of Liberians, who gathered Monday, September 24, in Monrovia to petition five major diplomatic missions in the country to pressure the administration of President George Weah to account for L$16 billion that is reported missing.
Report by Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, [email protected]
The protesters said, “It is sad that the government has been dishonest and inconsistent in releasing the facts” about the ongoing investigation into the missing money.
By the morning of Monday, hundreds of protesters had gathered at various points across Monrovia. The protest, which was mostly peaceful, saw many businesses shut and schools closed.
The protesters, under the banner Coalition of Citizens United to Bring Our Money Back (COCUBOMB), called on the United States, the European Union, United Nations, African Union and ECOWAS to take several actions in order to safe Liberia including freezing support to the government.
“We call on you and all international partners of Liberia to launch an immediate independent international forensic investigation into this missing L$16 billion saga which has both economic, social and security implications. The nation remains terrified by this mystery,” the protesters said in their petition.
At the same time, the protesters want the “international community prevails upon the Weah-led administration to immediately release the internal investigative report of the Central Bank of Liberia that former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf referenced in her latest interview on BCC.” They claimed the report could “unravel” hidden details of the ongoing investigation.
Monday protest claimed the attention of the international community as President Weah, who is in the United States, prepares to address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, September 26.
While the Liberian leader will be looking to attract the world’s attention to his country’s development challenges, he will also have to dedicate some of his time to the unfolding situation back home.
The protesters called on Liberia’s major international partners, especially three, that have massively supported the country’s development agenda to halt all supports.
“We call on you to withhold all direct supports (in terms of financial and non-financial aid) to our government until it can fully account and restitute this stolen L$16 billion. All those linked in this horrific economic plunder and mass looting against the State and its people must be prosecuted and made to fully restitute such amount,” stated the petition.
The group made several requests to the international community including:
* That the EU and other international partners launch an immediate independent forensic investigation into the saga
* The EU, US and UN to withhold all other financial and non-financial aide to the government until it fully accounts for the missing money
* That all those linked to the ‘mass looting’ should be prosecuted and made to fully account for ‘their mayhem’
* Request the international community to conduct an audit of all the government’s financial dealings so far under President Weah and former President Sirleaf
* Public officials of the NPA, MoFDP, CBL, MICAT and RIA that are directly link to the missing billions should recuse themselves from their jobs and be subjected to investigation by an international independent investigation panel
Concern Over US$25 Million, New Properties
At the same time, the protesters are calling on the international partners to audit all financial transactions of the Weah-led administration and his predecessor, while referencing a recent US$25 million the government infused into the economy to mop up excess Liberian dollars on the market.
There have been series of concerns regarding the source of the money and how the government infused it into the economy.
A local research group claims although the government announced that some monies were infused into the economy, there has been no proper accounting.
The Center for Research and Policy Action, in a press release, called on the Legislature to investigate to situation.
COCUBOMB is also alarming over the “giant-sized private properties” being built or bought by President Weah and some high-profile officials, adding, “such investigation could also dig out some hard truths about this missing L$16 billion.”
Added the petitioners: “We call on you to prevail upon the Weah-led administration to ensure full asset declaration by all public officials especially the President either before or during the course of the Independent International Forensic Investigation”.
War, Economic Crimes Court
The call to prosecute alleged war and economic criminals also received a boost on Monday when the protesters added their voices to the many calling for the establishment of the courts.
The campaign to establish war and economic crimes court in the country regained enthusiasm amongst many Liberians home and aboard, amongst them the #BringBackOurMoney campaigners, who stressed that such court would “end the longstanding culture of impunity and guarantee justice” for Liberia.
Several world leaders, including UN Deputy Secretary Amina Mohamed, have all called on the President Weah to prosecute perpetrators of war and economic crimes.
In early September, Daniel M. Donovan Jr., US Congressman for Staten Island community, gave advocates a boost when he joined the call for Liberia’s implementation of the TRC recommendations.
Protesters Insistent
As hundreds of protesters chanted ‘bring back our money’ on Monday, it became clear that their campaign was gaining momentum.
Amos Tweh, former youth wing chair of the former ruling Unity Party, who joined the protest, said he joined the protest because the government must give account for the missing billions.
“We have assembled peacefully to demand our missing mystery because we have several Liberians who are living on one dollar a day due to their inability to get food to eat,” Tweh said.
“This country’s citizens improvised – they are poor, and their leaders must seek to ensure that their people are lifted from the shackles of poverty and hardship.”
Armah Kadii, traveled from Grand Cape Mount County to join the protest, and said that he is perplexed by the contradicting information coming from the government.
“What brought us on the streets today is that the Information Minister said there was missing money and the Finance Minister said there’s no missing money, so it will be good for us to make the public to know because the people are giving contrary statements,” he said.
“If [President] George Weah does not give a positive statement on the missing money, we will ask President Weah to resign peacefully because the Information Minister is the official spokesperson of the government, so he is giving the right statement.”
Boakai Jalibah has been a frequent social media advocate ahead of the protest. He said they are using the protest to ask “valid questions” about the missing money and they are not “asking for human hearts”.
“There will be subsequent protests actions and our purpose is to be able to highlight to the world that in the period of this six months of this government, we see officials of the government owning prime properties in prime parts of the city,” he said.
Meanwhile, COCUBOMB have also called for the full protection of Journalists Philibert Brown of Hot Pepper newspaper and Rodney Sieh of FrontPageAfrica, publishers of the two newspapers that unearthed the missing billion controversies.
Response from Diplomatic Missions
Receiving the petition, the international community, through the UN, AU and ECOWAS representatives, hailed the petitioners for holding a peaceful protest.
Ambassador Babatunde Olanrewaju Ajisomo, who is the Special Representative of the President of ECOWAS Commission to Liberia, recalled that the regional bloc, which help brokered the 2003 Accra Peace Accord, is committed to the peace of the country.
“So, the message that you brought to us, we want to first and foremost commend all your members – the leaders for the peaceful manners you have deployed, despite of the rain you went round to make your point,” Ambassador Ajisomo said.
The UN Resident Coordinator in Liberia, Mr. Yacoub El Hillo, described the petition as a document to be work on and not to be put on the archive.
“For all of us the most important thing to do is to work with the Government of Liberia so that this facts- finding is concluded as quickly as possible,” he promised.
“We will look at it – even before you came we were already aware of the issues. We are also happy that investigation, as the government has promised will be carried out.”
Officials of the EU Mission, including the Chargé d’Affaires received the petition and thanked the protesters for being peaceful, promising that they are going to “study” their concerns of the protesters with “a lot of attention”.
“Of course lot of these things, we are very interested to follow up as the European Union but of course we are not going to respond to the demands at this very moment but of course we are going to study them and discuss them with all partners in Liberia,” said Hans Lanbrach.
