Nimba County Senator and “kingmaker” of the in-coming Unity Party (UP) administration, Prince Yormie Johnson, on Sunday, December 17, 2023 used his church’s podium to say that there is massive corruption in the United States of America, and so America should stop demonizing Liberian officials for what is also rampant in their own government, as human is an imperfect creature.
Senator Johnson is among seven officials of government designated by the United States government for Global Magnitsky sanctions. Others are Varney Sharman, former Senator of Grand Cape Mount County; Nathaniel F. McGill, Senator-elect of Margibi County; Bill Tweahway, Senator-elect of Rivercess County; Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephus, former Solicitor General; and Jefferson Tamba Koijee, Mayor of Monrovia.
However, several of them have questioned the procedure, information and basis for the sanctions, requesting that the US government go beyond the sanctions to provide the evidence so that they can have their day in court.
Addressing the congregation of the Christ Chapel of Faith Ministries and fearlessly attacking the US government yesterday, Senator Johnson said he has come under a number of storms, and the Global Magnitsky Sanction is not one of them. He stated that the sanction was named after Russian tax lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who investigated corruption in Russia, and if the US wants to globalize the Act the Liberian Legislature should pass it into law. He highlighted that the Magnitsky Sanction has no bearing on him, and he should not be demonized for it.
The Nimba County Senator accused the US government of sending millions of dollars to Liberia in grants and loans, but send several individuals behind the money who are paid more than the Liberian workers. “Since 1847 Liberia has been through the storm of development…there is no development,” Senator Johnson argued, terming Liberia the closest ally to great America.
“Walking through the storm, you need a friend to walk with you. and the only true friend is Jesus Christ…There are people who are not your friends, but they only befriend you because of what you have. And when they get from you what you have they knock you away…That’s America for you; they’re only interested in their interest. They are not interested in friends.
“Do you think I would have gotten Doe out of here just like that, in the face of multinational peacekeepers and with all the deadly weapons, under the command of ECOWAS, AU and UN?” he questioned rhetorically.
“ ‘Sunshine come in, Tango calling…’ Who gave me the Motorola?” Senator Johnson continued, amidst laughter from the congregation.
It seems like the Nimba Senator has reached a point where he does not care about the consequences behind his utterances, and stands ready to “say it all” since the elimination of former President Samuel Kayon Doe in 1990.
Senator Johnson emphasized that one should not betray a friend because what the friend is being used for has been accomplished. Purifying himself from the accusation of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the US government, he said, “Our law in Liberia removes that storm, if at all it is a storm—Magnitsky. Our law says a convicted criminal cannot be appointed or nominated, and cannot be allow to contest any electoral post. We are not convicted; we are not criminals; we are innocent before the law until proven,” he argued.
He accused Americo Liberians of leaving America and coming to Liberia to ask for their support, but if they refuse and support the person they want the Americo Liberians return and join their “gay” friends in America to implicate them. “…You know them very well. You know Cummings—he did that to me; you know Costa; you know Verdier.
He accused Cummings of going to his house and giving his school US$50,000, and “I said thank you; you are a humanitarian. You are giving it to the school, not to me. He said, ‘I need your support.’ I said you support gay rights and, as a man of the Gospel of Jesus, I cannot support you. And when he left, they did what they did to me.”
He claimed that America knows his record, recalling that former President Charles Taylor was surprised when accused the Americans of airlifting me to Monrovia. “Nobody can tell you where I passed; they only saw me in Caldwell,” he narrated. He intimated that God used him as a vessel to redeem Nimba and Liberia from the hands of tyranny. “But when I join UP, this group says ‘war crimes court’, and when I join CDC, the other group say, ‘war crimes court’,” he further explained.