The Chairman of the Liberty Party (LP), Musa Hassan Bility, has termed the Political Leader of the party, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, as well as the party’s Vice Chair for Political Affairs, Senator Darius Dillon, and other officials as a “bunch of unserious people” who do not want to respect the constitution of the party.
Bility’s harsh reaction was prompted by a press statement released by Senator Karnga-Lawrence on Saturday, December 11, 2021, in which the Political Leader nullified the party’s January 23, 2021 Gbarnga Convention, which brought Bility and others on board as executives of the party.
She stated that she, as Political Leader, chose to nullify the convention results for the betterment of the party.
Senator Karnga-Lawrence, in her press statement, accused Bility of tempering with the party’s constitution, which was under review as the result of the Gbarnga Convention, and took the revised constitution to the National Elections Commission (NEC) without her signature and/or input as the Political Leader of the party, as agreed upon at the Gbarnga Convention.
She lamented that Bility has tarnished the image of the party by his media propaganda, intended to promote his personal interest at the detriment of the party, and called on partisans of the Liberty Party (LP) not to value the so-called suspension statement issued by Bility.
She then declared that the party has returned to status quo ante, and that the 2015 constitution remains legitimate for the use of the party. She vowed to have a meeting with LP partisans, including Bility, to decide on the next course of action, which will lead to convention that will elect officials of the party.
However, Bility sharply reacted to the press conference held by Senator Karnga-Lawrence and other officials of the party, terming them as “bunch of unserious people”.
Bility insisted that Senator Karnga-Lawrence remains suspended as per the decision of the National Executive Committee for defaulting payment of her mandatory regular membership due for the past 12 months, and that he remains the Chairman of the party, in keeping with the constitution as regards the outcome of the election that produced him and his colleagues through the ballot box during the party’s last Special Convention, held in Gbarnga, Bong County.
Speaking shortly after the LP Political Leader announced the nullification, which arguably removed him and his elected colleagues from their offices, Bility challenged her to give reliance in the constitution that empowers her to set aside the decision of a national convention that produced the present leadership under his command, adding that it was a showmanship on the part of Senator Karnga-Lawrence without any legal backing as it relates to the emergence of members of the National Executive Committee of the party.
“When we took a decision to suspend people, we relied on Article 9. We had the constitutional backing to take the decision. So you should ask Nyonblee what was her reliance to take the decision,” he said.
When asked what was the motive behind the meeting at the Farmington Hotel from where Senator Nyonblee had told the media that he had admitted that he altered the constitution of the party, Bility dismissed the allegation and stated that, contrary to the allegation from Senator Lawrence, one of the issues it resolved was the insinuation made by Senator Abraham Darius Dillon that the Gbarnga Special National Convention restored the power of the Political Leader as head of the party as spelled out in the 2015 constitution, which the meeting disproved.
He said there were also two motions that were considered at the meeting: the first was whether to remove or retain the power of the Political Leader after the election, and it was his (bility) motion that it should be retained; and the second motion was for the Chairman of the party to act as the Chief Administrative Officer of the party, which was propounded by Senator Abraham Darius Dillon.
He said it was sad that the media has been used in the process to misinform the public because they failed to do more research and to ask the questions needed to inform the public about what has been happening.
According to him, as the result of the Farmington meeting, a three-man committee, which included him, Senator Karnga-Lawrence and Debar Allen, was set up, along with 3 resource persons, comprising each person recommended by Senator Lawrence, Allen and him, to proceed to the National Elections Commission to ascertain the procedure and content of the submission of the constitution of the party that was adopted at the Gbarnga Convention.
He said at the end of the meeting, which lasted for about an hour, the team at NEC told them that the constitution of the party was intact, and that there was no alteration to it, advising the delegation to go and resolve any other outstanding issues that may exist in the party and report same if there was still other issues that may arise after the meeting with the electoral umpire.
Bility also dismissed the information from Senator Lawrence that the constitution of the party was withdrawn from the NEC because it was altered, and argued that the truth of the matter was that, as of Thursday last week, NEC had requested their presence to see if there were other issues in the party that needed to be resolved, but claimed that Senator Karnga-Lawrence refused to turn up, apparently because she had no case to present to the NEC. “If truly the constitution was withdrawn from NEC, they will not be asking us to come for any other discussion because there would have not been any legal basis to call us for discussion,” he maintained.
When asked about what was the main problem that was existing between Senator Lawrence and him, Bility said, “The problem is the constitution. She does not want to look at it. She has developed a sense that the party belongs to her. She believes that she can do anything she wants to do without being questioned. I am telling you that it does not work that way. There are credible and responsible people in the party, and you can’t take decisions without consulting them. And she has refused to pay her dues. She was contacted three times, but sat down supinely without doing anything about it.”
Touching on the issue of due payment which, according to him, has been misconstrued by the public, Bility told the media that upon his ascendency he inherited the decision of the party on payment of dues by the officials as enshrined in the constitution of the party. He said when he and others were seeking for election in 2020, the election committee of the party at the time applied the portion of the constitution in Article 9 that discusses payment of dues by members holding positions in the party, and those who applied to contest were compelled to clear all their financial obligations with the party and it was enforced to the letter up to December 2020.
“We were elected in January 2021, and we said that based on what was already established all officials henceforth, including the Political Leader and the Chairman should be current as of the time after the election. So people started paying dues to the party and this was in compliance with the constitution, not me as Chairman of the party, and this is what we are going to continue with. So Nyonblee and others were not suspended by me; their suspension has a reliance on the constitution,” Bility said.
Bility, who throughout the media chat was insisting that Senator Karnga-Lawrence produces her reliance to override the decision of the Special National Convention of the party, said the Senator and her supporters were bent on causing confusion in the party.
“These people are not smart. You can’t do public relations on lies. You go out there and say that according to the Farmington agreement Bility admitted that the constitution was altered. You put yourself in the news and you have a document that does not say so; what has become of you? That is what I have to deal with—the deception, lies—for all these periods, and I am happy that I am relieved right now (the Farmington agreement is clear). At the end of the day, the Liberty Party will go to Ganta next week; we will hold the convention and we will make a decision that will be in the interest of the country and party,” he added.
Bility returned to the issue of due payment in response to the question if there was any position taken in the party about exemption of some officials like the political leader and others from paying the regular dues because they have been making contributions to the party. He said that was not true because despite investing so much in the party he still pays his regular membership dues and that should tell anyone that payment of dues is strictly a constitutional or legal thing binding on all members to do so and there was no exception.
“I pay my dues regularly despite committing myself to some contributions in the party. I paid for the Headquarters of the party and spent more than $200,000.00 on renovation and furnishing, and bought cars for the party. When I came on board, the party branch in Buchanan was left with just a week to be evicted and I went there and paid for it. I have been making my contribution ever since, even when I was nobody in the party. I made similar contributions in 2017 when I was the CEO of the campaign organization. So what is the contribution Nyonblee is talking about? Since I came on board there is nothing, absolutely, she has financially contributed to the party,” he said.
Mr. Bility boasted that he deserves to live the life he is living now because he worked for it himself and not through anybody, and will not discuss anything about anyone who was not in his class when he was asked what he made of what Senator Dillon said about him being a criminal and regretted supporting him. “I think the issue of Dillon is something the Liberian people have come to live with. It is a difficult decision the people are going through. Dillon, to me, is no longer worth my comment. I find it degrading to discuss him; he is not worth my time. He is not in my class. Dillon is one of those who have benefitted from the party but is not willing to give back to the party. He has not paid a dollar for anything in the party. Ask him to show some evidence of payment to the party such as receipt or any evidence made to the party,” he said.
Speaking of how unification can be achieved in the party, he said, “…law and order, doing the right thing, adhering to the rules that are governing the party, then you are really on the path to unification. I do not subscribe to unification that squashes the rule. The constitution is being enforced and, as far as I am concerned, Nyonblee Karngar-Lawrence remains suspended until she fulfills her obligation to the party.”
When asked further about what could be done to achieve unity within the Liberty Party, he said, “The road to unity is to Ganta, where we will hold our convention next week. If I show up in Ganta and the Liberty Party does not show up, then Nyonblee’s position is correct. I can tell you that 80% of the officials will be at the convention and we are going to make the party stronger than ever before. By Monday, the activities of the convention will be made public, including the list of the official delegates to the convention. These are not going to be new people; they will be the same people who were in Gbarnga for the special national convention.” He also gave the hint of what will be discussed during the special convention in Ganta when he said, “We are going to trash all the shenanigans in the party and take a position on who to support, as you know we are in a collaboration. We will take decision of who to support.”