The Political Leader of the Vision for Liberia Transformation Party (VOLT), Dr. Jeremiah Z. Whapoe, has alleged that the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change has no good governance and economic plan that will improve the lives of the vast majority of the ordinary Liberians. He asserted that the government ascended to power with no plan on how best to govern the country.
The VOLT Political Leader made the statement yesterday, October 19, 2022 when he appeared on the Voice of Liberia (VOL) morning talk show to speak on critical trending national issues affecting the country.
Dr. Whapoe said it is pathetic that people who are in positions do not know what to do when circumstances arise, consequently making a whole lot of statements that will further worsen and confuse the population. His statement comes in reference to Speaker Bhofal Chambers’ comment recently said that the country’s wealth should be equally distributed among its people.
“If Speaker Chambers will come out to say that everybody should have a fair share of the natural resources, when did he get to know after he has signed all of the concession contracts and Liberians are not benefiting? Now that we are having food shortage as a country? Let him come out with a bill and pass it about equitable distribution of resources,” he said.
He argued that not only Speaker Chambers but everybody in the Weah-led government do not have the intent of accomplishing anything for the Liberian people, alleging that this is the fact because President Weah stated that this is their time.
“The worsening part of it is that the government does not respect the Liberian Constitution,” he stated. He said the Constitution calls for the protection of every citizen, but President Weah said everyone should protect themselves. “That means he does not know what he was elected to do.
“Unfortunately,” Dr. Whapoe said, “Liberia is managed by a manager. Right now we do not have government, because when you have government it must be checkmated by the Constitution. But what we see in Liberia is a private enterprise, and the Chief Executive Officer is President Weah,” he emphasized further.
Touching on the investment opportunity he brought to Liberia, which was rejected by the current ruling establishment, Whapoe said he gave the Government of Liberia (GOL) through the office of the President of Liberia an investment contract worth US$20 billion dollars .He said before the elections in 2017 he travelled to several friendly countries, including Japan and Malaysia, and he was able to secure the contract in that when his presidency was in position the investors would come to Liberia, but when he did not win he decided to link the government to the whopping investment, which they showed no interest.
“They will come not to only provide road network, electricity, but to create opportunity for jobs so that when Liberians are employed the economy will grow. However I did not win the election. Obviously, I made a telephone call to the President. He answered and said, ‘You know there is protocol,’ thereby turning the phone over to the security. Then I placed a call to then Minister of State for Presidential, Nathaniel F. McGill, and told him that I have this contract that I want Liberia to benefit from. I took the contract to his office and showed it to him. After all the discussions, Mr. McGill told me to tell the people to come, which I said, ‘No it doesn’t work that way,’” Dr. Whapoe explained.
Beside the contract, he noted that he brought five millionaires into the country to invest in the agriculture sector, mentioning that he knows where the investors are, “but they are not willing to come to invest in this corrupt government”, so he is waiting until there is a credible government before they come to Liberia.
Commenting on the Judiciary of the country, Dr. Whapoe explained that the justice system in Liberia obviously is supposed to be blind, “but it has worn optimal glasses with corrupt practices so that they can benefit from the system”. He added that the justice system is not independent because if people are poor they do not get justice in Liberia.
He opined that if those who are placed as public defenders are well paid they will work for it, but if they are not well paid they comprise people’s interest.
Giving example of how many have been denied justice, he mentioned the mysterious disappearance of the three missing boys, linked to St. Moses, as well as the death of the auditors, Princess Copper, and several other mysterious deaths that occurred across the country. He said up to now there is no justice for these people.
“However, in our administration we are going to make sure that those who operate the justice system are well paid and checked to make ensure that justice is dispensed without fear or favor,” he noted.