Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
Monrovia – Two members of the Bong County team of Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor have reportedly been called in for questioning by the National Security Agency in connection with the recently-leaked damning audio recording on which Madam Esther Walker, the Superintendent of Bong County is heard discussing an alleged plot to overthrow President George Manneh Weah, FrontPageAfrica has learned.
A source at the NSA confirmed to FrontPageAfrica late Saturday evening but declined to give the names of the pair in its custody. “I can tell you that we have two Bong County team members of the VP linked to that recording and the vice president have been called in for questioning,” the source who is familiar with the arrest confirmed to FPA.
FrontPageAfrica has learned that the two who have been called in for questioning are accused of allegedly recording the superintendent’s conversation, raising questions as to why the focus of the investigation is being shifted to those who recorded rather than what was actually revealed by the Superintendent.
Mr. Josephus Dormeyan, the Superintendent’s Administrative Assistant, whose name was repeatedly mentioned in the audio, the conversation took place in the midst of five persons, namely: Amos Barbu, Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor County Coordinator, Joseph Tokpa, a staunch supporter of VP Taylor, Jefferson Gbaryan, Service Center Coordinator and a man only identified as Dumoe, chief of protocol to the superintendent.
Walker, Barbu, and Tokpa have been staunch supporters of VP Taylor. Their support goes as far back as 2005 when Howard-Taylor, the former first lady, declared her intentions to contest the senate race in the county.
Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor
“The issue for me is that there are so many important things on our desk: the issue of the governance of our state; the issue of jobs for our people; the issues of how we can improve the economy to fulfill the Pro-poor Agenda — I think those are the important issues and not rumors and gossips. I would like to ask the media to let’s look at the issues concerning our country and make that a priority,”
Meanwhile, Dumoe has been a loyal supporter of Walker since her days as an aid to the Vice President while Gbanyan has forged a strong bond with Madam Walker since his unexpected rise as coordinator of the County Service Center.
Probe Focus on Recorder vs. Audio Content
NSA Director J. Henric Pearson did not return a call and text message seeking comment from FPA but a person familiar with the latest development commented Sunday: “What is mind boggling is that the critical issue should not be who recorded her. While when you are in a position of trust you should not speak as she did, the key question is whether she said what she said, implicating even the president in the conversation. This is the real issue, and not who recorded her. Did someone force her to speak?
The recording, obtained and published by FrontPageAfrica last week, centers around President Weah’s reported displeasure over the bestowment of the nation’s highest traditional honor on his Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor – a ceremony that led to the dismissal of the county’s Dakpanah (heads of chiefs in the country).
Chief Moses Suakollie, the Dakpanah, and Arthur Kulah, native superintendent in Bong County (head of chiefs in Bong County) lost their jobs, following a high-level traditional meeting headed by Assistant Minister of Culture at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Joseph B. Jangar, and Chief Zanzar Karwor, chair of the chiefs and elders of the National Traditional Council of Liberia in the county.
On the audio, Madam Walker suggests that the President was likely to dismiss a few traditional leaders over the row.
The Bong County Superintendent is heard explaining to her aides that she had attended a party organized by First Lady Clar Weah after President Weah delivered his second Annual Message. According to her, it was at the President’s Jamaica Resort, along the Roberts International Airport highway, at least three of Pres. Weah’s trusted lieutenants – Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Tweah and Minister of State Nathaniel McGill.
Late last week, the Vice President, who was out of the country when the recording went public, as she had traveled to Accra, Ghana to escort the body of her former colleague Geraldine Doe-Sheriff back to Monrovia, spoke for the first time on the saga, telling legislative reporters covering the Capitol that she was not interested in gossips but remains focused in helping to revamp Liberia’s economy.
VP Not Concerned About ‘Gossips’
Rather than dwell on rumors, the VP insisted that she said she is more focused on helping President Weah improve the country’s economy, and indicated that the governance of the state is of more priority than to focus on issues that undermine the forward march of Liberia. “The issue for me is that there are so many important things on our desk: the issue of the governance of our state; the issue of jobs for our people; the issues of how we can improve the economy to fulfill the Pro-poor Agenda — I think those are the important issues and not rumors and gossips. I would like to ask the media to let’s look at the issues concerning our country and make that a priority,” VP Howard Taylor said.
President Weah last week announced the suspension of Superintendent Walker for her role in the leaked audio pending an investigation. The superintendent remains suspended pending an investigation into allegations she made in the leaked audio, which went viral on February 15, 2019, the release said. The suspended superintendent has since been advised to turn over all government properties in her possession.
Superintendent Walker’s voice could be heard on the leaked audio, explaining her ordeal with Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) Samuel Tweah, Minister of State Nathaniel McGill and, later, the Mayor of Monrovia, Jefferson Koijee, when she joined them at the Jamaica resort following the President’s 2019 annual message to the Legislature. She said she wanted to speak to the President when Samuel Tweah called her.
She said Minister Tweah confronted her and claimed that Bong County had given the title “Dakpanah” to Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor.
Dakpanah is a sacred title between Poro and Sande societies and is appointed by the most sacred Zonya of the Gola tribe.
She said Minister Tweah accused the Vice President of being wicked and noted that he had the evidence that could be used as an act of revenge on her for her alleged action.
“The only good that blesses you is that you are in the middle of us and, if it was a bad government, we would have executed you,” she said Minister Tweah told her. Later, when Mayor Koijee came to where she was being contemptuously addressed, he joined the other two. She claimed she wanted to leave but could not.
Superintendent Walker said she was embarrassed by the action of the three men, who she claimed are running the country and to whom the President listens for decisions to govern.
The recording has sparked a wave of mixed reactions with the Superintendent coming under immense attack from some members of President Weah’s inner circle.
‘Puppetmaster’ Label from President’s Aide
The government’s chief spokesman, Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe posted on his personal Facebook page last week that the Bong County Superintendent’s days were numbered in the George Weah-led government, suggesting that she is a puppet of the VP. “Bong County will soon have a new superintendent. Since you want to be a lying gossiper, we will send you back to your “puppetmaster,” the minister wrote.
On the social media Facebook, surrogates of the presidency have been posting several attacks with undertones directed at the VP, suggesting a treasonous angle.
The VP and the NPP were instrumental in helping President Weah and the CDC attain state power.
The recording and Walker’s suspension have resurrected reports of strains between President Weah and his vice president just as it appears they were smoothing out the edges of a relationship that has been obvious to the public eye since the early days of the presidency.
Walker is not just an ordinary appointee. She is one of the few recommendations from the VP’s National Patriotic Party wing lucky to land a post after the election of Mr. Weah in January.
The NPP had been quietly mumbling that the party is not fairly represented in the government, as a key member of the ruling coalition.
The NPP is part of an alliance formed in January 2017 to contest the 2017 general elections, which brought together Mr. Weah’s Congress for Democratic Change and the Liberia People’s Democratic Party (LPDP).
The coalition is credited with helping to propel Mr. Weah’s CDC to a second-round victory with 61.5% of the vote, whilst the CDC won 21 of the 73 seats in the House of Representatives.
Walker succeeded Selena Polson Mappy, who served the county in the position since 2012.
Prior to her appointment, the trained agriculturalist from the Booker Washington Institute, who obtained specialized training in rubber culture from Malaysia, was the national chair of the Women’s Wing of the Coalition for Democratic Change.
In 2002, former President Charles Taylor appointed her as Mayor of Gbarnga in 2002 and she has been very close ties to Vice President Howard Taylor ever since.