— Given 60 Days To Clear Up Perceived Deficiencies, Or…
The administration of US President Donald Trump is considering implementing travel restrictions for citizens of about forty-three (43) countries. A draft list has been drawn up by US security officials, placing countries into three different countries—red, orange and yellow—with Liberia falling in the yellow-list category.
According to an article published by the New York Times, the red list comprises of eleven (11) countries, and the citizens of these countries would face a complete ban; the orange list comprises of ten (10) countries and their citizens would face a temporary visa restriction; and the yellow list comprises of twenty-two (22) countries, and given up to sixty (60) days to address concerns raised by the United States government or risk being recategorized.
Liberia’s placement on President Trump’s proposed travel ban countries have sparked mixed reaction and concerns as to whether the Boakai administration is inheriting the situations created by the erstwhile Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) government or the one-year-old Boakai government has already entangled itself with issues that warrant restricting its citizens from entering the United States.
It can be recalled that in March 2023 then President George M. Weah answered to an invitation to the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Virginia, to attend a classified meeting with the Director of the agency, William J. Burns. The meeting was attended by President Weah and his Director for National Security, J. Henrique Pearson. Coincidentally, the then Minister of National Defense, Daniel Ziankahn, had a separate meeting in the United States at about the same time. What were discussed in these meetings are yet to be declassified to the Liberian people.
However, it was speculated that President Weah was given instructions and assignments to meet up with if he was to earn the support of the United States in the 2023 general and presidential elections. After the elections, it was concluded that Weah could not meet up with the task given by the Americans, so it costs him the presidency.
Whether these allegations had any iota of truth, it was the reality of the day that President Weah lost the 2023 election to Joseph N. Boakai, and quietly relinquished power.
But a Hot Pepper Washington source has observed that the actions and inactions of the Weah administration has absolutely nothing to do with President Trump’s proposed imposition of visa restriction, indicating that the Boakai administration has been in power for about fifteen (15) months now, which is enough time to be cross-examined for.
According to the source, Boakai’s first year in power, 2024, is the direct consequence of the steps being taken by the United States government, claiming that the regime drowned into several alleged human rights violations, corruption and torture.
The source indicated that agents of the US government stationed in Liberia have been recording the misconduct of the Liberia National Police (LNP), headed by Gregory Coleman, as well as the recent torture inflicted on four individuals claimed to be culprits of the fire incident at the Capitol Building by the NSA, two of whom the source disclosed was flown out to the US by unknown people.
According to the source, the torture victims have explained their ordeals and misfortunes at the hands of the LNP and NSA, and the US security/intelligence apparatus are on top of the information.
The source also underscored the vehement clampdown on the rule of law, emphasizing that the US government would go against any government that downplays the rule of law, which is considered a pillar of democracy. The source claimed that the illegal removal of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the threat to impeach Justices of the Supreme Court for their opinions, the arbitrary arrest by police, the disregard for the country’s diplomatic passport, etc. are all being documented.
The source claimed that the Police IG, Gregory Coleman, Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow-Nyantee, NSA Director Prince C. Johnson, National Security Advisor Samuel Kofi Woods, Minister of States Sylvester Grigsby, a few members of the National Legislature, etc., all allegedly being placed on a radar for monitoring, as the allegations pouring in against these individuals are rising steeply.
The source disclosed that countries on President Trump’s yellow list, including Liberia, have been given sixty (60) days to address any and all issues being raised against them, and that the disclosure made against the Boakai administration cannot be ruled out. In the instance these countries fail to address the US concerns, the source said they may be repositioned on the orange or red list, depending on how major the unresolved concerns are, and warned the Boakai administration to take heed before it is too late.