Liberia: Ex-President Weah Says Boakai Govt. Exploiting Legal System, Risks Fomenting Chaos

Monrovia — Former President George Weah says his party, the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) will use every mean at its disposal, both legal and political to stop the Unity Party-led government from what he called undermining the rule of law and threating Liberia’s peace.

In his much-anticipated landmark address, former President Weah accused President Boakai and his officials of thwarting the laws of Liberia to witch hunt officials that served in his (Weah) administration.

Weah said the incarceration of former officials of his administration for corruption without any indictment by a grand jury is “the latest transgression of the Boakai Administration in their callous attempt to undermine the rule of law and security of the state.”

“On Monday July 29, 2024, the Unity Party Administration ordered heavily armed security personnel to carry out a series of unlawful detentions of some former officials of government, in what is clearly a political move intended to target the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and the wider opposition community,” Weah said.

“Those detained include 4 former members of the National Security Council.

The action was taken void of any indictment by a grand jury. This is the latest transgression of the Boakai Administration in their callous attempt to undermine the rule of law and security of the state.”

He named the harassment and removal of civil servants from the system based purely along party lines, the excessive use of force against citizens results in several deaths , the non-prosecution of Election, related deaths that occurred on camera, The total disregard for the tenure laws of the country even in the face of the Liberia Supreme Court’s rulings, The broad day violations of the procurement laws of the country, the disgraced and denial of benefits of duly commissioned foreign service officials as some of the open and deliberate acts being carried out by the UP administration.

He termed the suspension of Central Bank Governor as a violation of the CBL act.

“The President again showed to the nation that he is not a man who respect the rule of law when he sought to illegally remove the Governor of the Central bank of Liberia in clear violation of the act creating said institution,” he said.

He continued:

The Unity Party government, in the execution of their evil plans, choose to ignore legal and constitutional reliance, available evidence, and pursue reckless measures. The Unity Party must be reminded that these antics have only brought about disorder and confusion in Liberia’s recent history.”

Below is former President Weah’s full speech.

My fellow Liberians,

On Monday July 29, 2024, the Unity Party Administration ordered heavily armed security personnel to carry out a series of unlawful detentions of some former officials of government, in what is clearly a political move intended to target the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and the wider opposition community.

Those detained include 4 former members of the National Security Council.

The action was taken void of any indictment by a grand jury. This is the latest transgression of the Boakai Administration in their callous attempt to undermine the rule of law and security of the state.

Some of the open and deliberate acts being carried out by the UP administration include:

1. The harassment and removal of civil servants from the system based purely along party lines

2. The excessive use of force against citizens results in several deaths

3. The non prosecution of Election-related deaths that occurred on camera

4. The total disregard for the tenure laws of the country even in the face of the Liberia Supreme Court’s rulings

5. The broad day violations of the procurement laws of the country

6. The disgraced and denial of benefits of duly commissioned foreign service officials

Even as late as yesterday, the President again showed to the nation that he is not a man who respect the rule of law when he sought to illegally remove the Governor of the Central bank of Liberia in clear violation of the act creating said institution.

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 Unity Party government, in the execution of their evil plans, choose to ignore legal and constitutional reliance, available evidence, and pursue reckless measures. The Unity Party must be reminded that these antics have only brought about disorder and confusion in Liberia’s recent history.

The national security laws of the country plainly stipulate the measures that must be taken to safeguard public order. In a post-conflict nation such as ours, it becomes an even more challenging task. Intelligence gathering and operations the world over have always been of prime concern and pre-eminence, requiring authorities to exert extra efforts and resources to preserve peace and security.

The CDC-led administration remains proud of its record; we preserved 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.

I am also deeply proud of my record as President, particularly my unwavering respect for the rule of law and my relentless fight against corruption. You may recall that during my presidency, we advanced the fight against corruption on many fronts, including granting the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) direct prosecutorial powers, which is critical to the fight against corruption. To sustain and further advance this fight, we should not allow anyone to erode gains we have made.

To utilize its new powers to fight corruption effectively, the LACC must treat all audit reports from the General Auditing Commission (GAC) equally, without cherry-picking, to ensure fairness and transparency. Skipping previous GAC audit reports and cherry-picking to target only officials of my administration undermines the fight against corruption, and the Liberian people must see such a move as a weaponization of the LACC to witch-hunt officials of my administration.

Like you, my fellow compatriots, I love our country and have always put our country’s interest above and beyond my personal interest. I have championed peace and stability, from my advocating for a ceasefire during the civil war to leading disarmament efforts to bring peace, serving as a peace ambassador, and, most recently, my conceding the election even before the pronouncement of final results, you can attest to my selfless and unwavering commitment to the peace, stability and the betterment of pour country. Sadly, it seems that the Boakai administration is interpreting our commitment to the peace and stability of our country as a weakness, and therefore keen on disturbing the peace by weaponizing key government functionaries to witch-hunt officials of the past government.

For the UP administration to exploit our legal system and risk fomenting chaos, it tells you to what extent some politicians are willing to go just to maintain power. This is exactly the path that the CDC sought not to tread when it maintained the stability of the country against all odds, while spearheading a peaceful transition of power to President Boakai in spite of a hard-fought and close election.

These political detentions have, however, shown the lack of foresight and total disregard on the part of Boakai and his confidantes, caring less about the consequences of their actions, insofar as it serves their narrow political interests.

Fellow Liberians, the latest move was intended to divert public attention from the lingering economic crisis the nation faces and the uncovering of government’s use of public funds from the Central Bank to bailout a private bank which the Unity Party used to finance its election campaign. It also comes against several instances of disregard of the country’s procurement laws thereby committing the country to hundreds of millions of dollars and the daylight robbery of $22 million under the guise of road rehabilitation, among other glaring acts of corruption.

Suddenly, officials who once gained notoriety for public theft now want us to believe they have transformed into referees of good-governance.

The CDC will be briefing its partisans in the coming days during a series of mass meetings about the dangerous games of witch-hunt by the UP. I call on other members of the opposition to join us in this fight to preserve our political system.

I will continue to engage with ECOWAS leaders, whose countries have given blood and tears to the attainment and sustenance of peace and security in Liberia, while notifying other international partners of this plan by the UP to capture the political system in its favor.

I want to assure all that the CDC remains a party of law and order and will bring its full and immense political resources to bear to stop the Unity Party in its tracks.

As Nelson Mandela said and I quote: “I is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.”

Fellow Liberians, our country has enjoyed peace and stability for over 20 years, and the people deserve perpetual peace and stability. Therefore, the Liberian people must resist any attempt by the Boakai administration to disturb peace.

God bless Liberia!