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The writ of arrest
The Unity Party-led government, led by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, has issued a writ of arrest for several past senior officials of the Weah government, including former Finance and Development Planning Minister (MFDP) Samuel Tweah, former National Security Advisor Jefferson Karmoh, former head of the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) Stanley Ford, and former Solicitor General Cllr. Nyanti Tuan.
Already, the government has arrested former National Security Advisor Jefferson Karmoh, former Solicitor General, Cllr. Nyanti Tuan and Moses Cooper, former controller of the FIA, on Monday, July 29, 2024. They were taken to the Monrovia Central prison.
Former finance Minister Samuel Tweah, whom the United States of America also sanctioned, and former head of the FIA Stanley Ford have yet to be arrested because they are not in the country.
Reason for arrest
According to the writ of arrest issued by the government of Liberia, those officials are accused of siphoning public funds running into several millions of dollars.
The plaintiff also accused the defendants of conspiring to make Mr. Stanley S. Ford a member of the National Security Council of Liberia, which was in total violation of the National Security Act of Liberia. The violation, the plaintiff added, was stealing from the Liberian Government.
The writ further indicated that “Subsequently thereafter, at various times in September 2023, the Defendants, in carrying out their diabolical scheme and conspiracy and under the false pretense of discharging their duties as officials of the Joint Security of Liberia, unauthorizedly, criminally, willfully, illegally, knowingly and maliciously, with the intent to defraud the Government of Liberia, stole and converted to their use and benefit, and did conspire, collude and made to be transferred, from the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) to the operational accounts of the FIA the amounts of LSI,055,152,540.00 and US$500,000.00. The amounts of L$1,055.145,040.00 and 500,000.00.”
Response from former Minister Tweah
Despite his absence from the country, Mr Tweah has described the action by the government as a political witch-hunt against him.
Mr Tweah took to his official Facebook page, stating, “The Witch-hunt Has Officially Commenced. My fellow Liberians, partisans, friends, and family, today, a politically motivated witch-hunt has been officially launched against my person, calling for my arrest. Over the last six years, I have been a major political target and have faced falsely devilish accusations, spanning from a so-called 25 million mop-up propaganda through the 16 billion concoctions to so many other fabrications intended to besmirch my reputation and derail my political institution.
“Today, the Unity Party, facing massive allegations of ongoing corruption, including a UP GOVERNMENT-sanctioned CBL payment of US$8 million of Liberia reserve money to SIB bank which funded the UP campaign (read FPA story today), shamelessly turning a blind eye to mountains of audit reports detailing the gutting of the Liberian Treasury under its 12-year rule; and experiencing very low public rating due to its six-month failures as a Government, has decided to politically witch-hunt me and former officials of the CDC.
“Working with my lawyers and others, I stand ready to defeat this witch-hunt and vindicate my reputation through the justice system. In the end, I will emerge stronger, and my enemies will be put to shame!”
Response from former President Weah
Following the arrest of some senior officials of the immediate past government, the former president has since vowed to resist any form of intimidation from the ruling government.
Addressing the country on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, the ex-Liberian President said that he wonders how officials who, according to him, once gained notoriety for alleged public theft now want the public to believe that they have been transformed into champions of good governance.
“The Unity Party can be assured that the CDC will use all legal and political means at its disposal to resist this move to weaponize the country’s judicial system to its selfish advantage. Yes Mr. Boakai, your actions to politicize justice will be resisted and resisted strongly.
“The CDC-led administration remains proud of its records. We reserved the peace, security, and welfare of the country even during the raging COVID-19 pandemic and at times when the security of the state was at stake,” Liberia’s ex-president stated.
This live press conference received massive media coverage, as seen here and here.
What do Liberians think?
Since the arrest of these senior officials of the former ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led government, Liberians both at home and abroad have been expressing mixed reactions over the situation.
Some people have expressed that the current government’s action to go after past government officials for alleged corruption is an act of witch-hunt and only intended to demoralise the CDC. In contrast, others state that it is the right step in the right direction to serve as deterrence for other would-be corrupt government officials.
Watson Johnson, a Liberian journalist, took to his official Facebook page to state,
“I see no “Witch-hunt” here. The government used the Magisterial Court to arrest those former CDC officials. Before the Magisterial Court, which is not a circuit court, the evidence will be examined. If there’s merit in the case, it will be forwarded to Criminal Court A for prosecution.
“At the Circuit court, an indictment will be drawn by the jurors. In short, those officials were arrested following a writ of arrest issued by the City Court. George Weah’s focus should be on due process and a speedy trial. What he failed to do when he took over in 2018 is what President Boakai did. Mr Weah graded Madam Sirleaf 80% in performance and wasn’t sensitive to the cardinal reasons why the masses voted for him overwhelmingly. I think it was an address to CDC members and not the nation.”
Vandalark R. Patricks, a Liberian activist living abroad (America), also shared that the government’s decision to prosecute alleged corrupt officials of the past government is in no way a witch-hunt but instead, the government is only doing what the Weah-led government failed to do.
Mr Patricks, on his official Facebook page, wrote, “The former President should be honest to us (Liberians) and apologise for his deliberate refusal to implement the same Rule of Law (audit report) that JNB is drastically attempting to implement. When Weah and his CDC came to power in 2018 with an overwhelming mandate from the people, there were 63 audit reports already waiting to be acted upon by Weah.
On the contrary, the National Secretary of the CDC and former City Mayor of the City of Monrovia, Jefferson Koijee, stated that the peace of this country is bigger than President Boakia’s, noting that any attempt by the Boakai-led government to politicise the peace and weaponise the Judiciary will be defaced and met with stiff resistance.
“The peace of this country is bigger than Mr Boakai and his shameless and spineless risky mission. Any attempt to politicise the peace and weaponise the Judiciary will be defaced and met with stiff resistance. The Liberian ‘Mohammed Morsi’ is in the making! All citizens and partisans of the CDC, in particular, are asked to remain calm. The National Executive Committee of the Party is in full control of the fruitless and senseless attempt of the Unity Party to undermine the hard-earned credibility of the then CDC-led government,” Mr Koijee wrote,
James Johnson thinks it is not the right time to go after former government officials. Instead, he wants the government to focus on providing the basic needs of the ordinary Liberian people, as seen in the screenshot below.
Conclusion
With opinions divided, the court will have the final say in determining the guilt or otherwise of the accused persons.
