Monrovia – In the jam packed rotunda of the Capitol, lawmakers and hundreds of supporters had gathered to pledge allegiance to candidature of Vice President Joseph Boakai, but the elaborate program came to an immediate halt – Cllr. Varney Sherman (UP-Grand Cape County), a strong supporter of Boakai suddenly passed out.
Report by Henry Karmo – [email protected]
“His condition is stable now but doctors say people should not see him at the moment.” – Wilmot Paye, Chairman, Unity party
Sen. Sherman in a slow motion went down to the ground just moments after he had performed some traditional dance with cultural dancers who were performing their traditional sarsar dance.
In the absence of an ambulance, neither a clinic at the Capitol, his colleagues and fellow partisans struggled to carry him from the rotunda to a vehicle (not an ambulance) and rushed to John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center in Sinkor.
Recently Cllr. Varney Sherman requested criminal Court “C” to travel for 10 days abroad on medical leave a request which was granted by the Court.
Sherman and seven other former and current officials of government including former House Speaker Alex Tyler are on trial for economic sabotage, criminal conspiracy, facilitation and solicitation.
Their indictment in May and November 2016 respectively grew out of the Global Witness Report of May 2016 which accused the officials of allegedly receiving bribes from a British company Sable Mining to change the Public Procurement and Concession Commission (Act) in favor of Sable Mining to win the Wologisi concession in Lofa County.
The indicted Grand Cape Mount Senator Varney Sherman alongside former House Speaker Alex Tyler former Deputy Land Mines & Energy Minister ECB Jones, businessman Christopher Onanuga were all indicted by the state on May 24, 2016 of bribery, criminal conspiracy, facilitation, solicitation and economic sabotage.
In July 2016, the Sherman and Sherman law firm filed a motion to the Criminal Court “C” asking the court to dismiss the multiple criminal charges against the Senator, the businessman and the former Deputy Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy, citing time limitation as a cardinal legal basis.
Cllr. Sherman as chairman of the Unity Party fell out with his standard bearer President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf after he accused her of single handily running the operations of the government without any consultation from the Party that made her President.
