The Senate Committee Chairman on Defense, Steve Zargo, has called for the immediate suspension of the Mayor of Monrovia, Jefferson Tamba Koijee, for allegedly supporting the July 26 bloody counter-protest, which wounded a number of persons from the Student Unification Party (SUP) who had come out in a “FixTheCountry” protest against the Weah government.
Senator Zargo accused Mayor Koijee of being the mastermind behind the counter-protest, and recommended that President George M. Weah suspends him pending the outcome of investigation into the July 26 violence. Further, he accused Mayor Koijee of influencing the CDC-COP to brutalize the SUPists, as he has been the financier of the group since it declared support for the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
According to Senator Zargo, there is a pickup bearing a CDC-COP license plate, which also needs to be thoroughly investigated and the findings of who purchased it and/or who is financing its operation be made public, recommending that the financier be apprehended.
Mayor Koijee also stands accused by the Lofa County Senator of using the lawyer of the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), Cllr. Arthur Johnson, to bail out the seven arrested CDC-COP members, who were arrested and forwarded to the Monrovia City Court by the Liberia National Police (LNP).
However, a number of organizations and student groups have condemned Senator Steve Zargo for relying on rumor and hearsay to accuse Mayor Koijee of being the mastermind behind the CDC-COP, underscoring that Senator Zargo is yet to provide substantive evidence that links the mayor to the July 26 violence or being the financier of the CDC-COP.
A consortium of Lofa youth leaders and university students condemned Senator Zargo’s allegation, describing his statements against Mayor Koijee as pointless and politically induced, and demanded that he apologizes to Mayor Koijee.
In their press statement, the youth and student leaders said, “Mr. Zargo, who only got up from his deep sleep after the President and international community had given their positions on the July 26 saga, deliberately chose to distract public attention from his massive failure as Security & Intelligence Chairperson to gather information, forewarn and possibly deter subversive and violent activities in the country by throwing tantrums at Mayor Jefferson Tamba Koijee, whom he now sees as a major threat to his failed political maneuverings in the county.
“Mr. Zargo’s futile attacks on one of our own, Mayor Jefferson Koijee, is sheer egotism and fear tactics being employed by the outgoing Senator, who is only hanging on straw at the moment.”
The group however condemned and announced its zero tolerance for violence, and welcomed statements from President Weah, the international community, civil society groupings and others, condemning the violence and calling for the swift prosecution of the perpetrators.
Also, The Coalition for Democratic Change Legislative Staffers Association (CDC-LESA), an embodiment of staffs from the House of Representatives and the Liberian Senate, has condemned the Lofa County Senator, Steve Zargo, for his allegation against the City Mayor of the Monrovia City Corporation and National Youth League Chairman of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), Jefferson Tamba Koijee.
According to the CDC Legislative Staffers Association press release, issued in Monrovia over the weekend and signed by its Chairman, Bridges Chambiyor, it is unfortunate for Senator Zargo, who is a Chairman on National Security and Intelligence at the Liberian Senate and a legal scholar, would choose to conclude his decision on the basis of mere hearsay or rumor. The group said it was surprising to see the senator calling on President George Manneh Weah, who is inclined, to dismiss Mayor Koijee in the midst of public sentiments relative to the July 26, 2022’s ugly incidence involving the scuffle between the CDC-COP and SUP while the Liberia National Police (LNP) investigation is currently on-going.
“We are kindly calling on the plenary of the Liberian Senate, as well as the Committee on National Security and Intelligence, to please mandate the senator to provide pieces of evidence to assist the police with the investigation, if there is any evidence of such, in his possession. But anything to the contrary, let there be punitive action taken against him,” Chairman Chambiyor stated in the press release.
Chairman Chambiyor therefore called on Senator Zargo to kindly give the investigation a chance to establish the facts of the matter.