Claim: “Amos Tweh has just announced that Boakai would pick Jeremiah Koung on Friday, April 28,” Shine Liberia Blog posted.
Verdict: False! Unity Party Secretary General Amos Tweh did not announce that Ex-VP Boakai will pick Senator Jeremiah Koung as a running mate on Friday, April 28, 2023.
Full Text
With elections beckoning later this year, Liberians both at home and abroad have been yearning for the selection of the running mate of the former Vice President of Liberia and now the standard bearer of the immediate past ruling Unity Party, Ambassador Joseph Nyumah Boakia.
There were reports that he was expected to pick a running mate soon, but no such appointment has been made, at least officially.
The Daily Observer has named several prominent Liberians, including Grand Bassa County Senator Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence, Nimba County Senator Jeremiah Koung, and political talk show host Henry Costa as possible contenders for selection by the Unity Party’s standard bearer.
Late Thursday evening, however, Shine Liberia blog posted on its official page that the Secretary General of the opposition Unity Party (UP), Amos Tweh, has announced that the party’s standard bearer, Ex-Liberian Vice President Ambassador Joseph Nyumah Boakai will on Friday, April 28, 2023, pick Nimba County Senator and political leader of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR), Jeremiah Koung as running mate.
This post came shortly after the Unity Party Secretary, Amos Tweh, appeared on a local talk show, ‘Spoon Talk,’ aired on Spoon FM/TV to make some pronouncement.
Verification
Due to this claim’s essential nature concerning the country’s legislative and presidential elections slated for October this year, DUBAWA feels obligated to verify the claim.
To begin with, DUBAWA first contacted the claimant, “Shine Liberia Blog,” via WhatsApp through its owner, Teage George, for evidence of its claim. However, the blogger has since refused to respond to DUBAWA’s inquiry, as seen in the screenshots below.
DUBAWA also contacted the Unity Party’s Secretary General, Amos Tweh, via WhatsApp concerning the claim. Tweh referred DUBAWA to his appearance on Spoon Talk late Thursday, April 20, 2023, and told DUBAWA that he made no such comments, as seen below.
DUBAWA then visited the Spoon FM/TV page to monitor the interview Mr Tweh was involved in.
Mr Tweh said on the show that on Friday, April 28, 2023, his party would make known the name of the running mate to its standard bearer, Ex-Liberian Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai. He did not mention the name of the person to be selected.
Tweh disclosed at the 43-44:00-30 minutes/seconds of the over two hours show.
The show had 17k views, 4.6k comments and over 650 emojis, and this show is being widely followed by Liberians both at home and abroad.
Tweh said, “I know that this has been a concern for many in public about what is the next step for Ambassador Joseph Nyumah Boakai, when is the old man going to name his running mate. My task tonight is not to call the name of an individual because that responsibility squarely rests on Joseph Nyumah Boakai, but what I have come to say to you on this platform and to our Liberian people at large is that all is now set for the announcement of JNB running mate on Friday, April 28, 2023.”
DUBAWA also visited the official Facebook page of the Unity Party Secretary General, Amos Tweh. It was discovered that he had made a post this “Friday, April 28, 2023, at the National Headquarters of Unity Party on Broad Street” without mentioning the name of the person expected to be picked.
Conclusion
Based on all of the investigations conducted by DUBAWA, it is untrue that the Unity Party Secretary General, Amos Tweh, announced that Boakai would pick Jeremiah Koung as the vice presidential candidate on Friday, April 28th.
