Cllr. Tiawon Gongloe, President of the Liberia National Bar Association (LNBA), has descended on the former ruling Unity Party (UP) as the most corrupt regime in recent times. Cllr. Gongloe’s analysis was in direct comparison between the administration of ex-President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and the administration of President George Manneh Weah, noting that the Sirleaf administration was far more corrupt.
Speaking on Sky FM on October 4, 2021, Cllr. Gongloe said former President Sirleaf took responsibility when her son, Robert Sirleaf, emptied the coffer of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL)—a situation that robbed the country of millions and leaving NOCAL in ruins.
The learned legal practitioner, who served in the Sirleaf administration as Solicitor General and Labor Minister, further accused the Sirleaf regime of misapplying millions of United States dollars from several international organizations.
According to him, even though the administration of President Weah is corrupt, the Sirleaf-led government was the most corrupt, even more than previous governments, including the erstwhile William V.S. Tubman regime.
Cllr. Gongloe’s statement comes in the wake of former President Sirleaf’s Vice President, Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai, vying for the standard bearer position of the main opposition, the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), vowing not to go second to anyone and claiming to be the only alternative that the nation has to defeat incumbent President Weah and redeem the country from rampant corruption and bad governance.
However, in the views of many Liberians, Ambassador Boakai equally participated in the Sirleaf administration’s 12 years of corruption, squander and bad governance, and therefore stands equally accused as any other official of the Sirleaf administration. Ambassador Boakai was the second-in-command in the Sirleaf administration, and represented the nation at many international occasions.
But Ambassador Boakai has, on many occasions, refuted being a part of the scandals in the Sirleaf administration, claiming that he was a “race car parked in a garage”. According to him, he proffered many suggestions to President Sirleaf, but they all landed on deaf ears, and he could not do anything in turning her decisions around.
Ambassador Boakai was recently endorsed by the Unity Party (UP) as its Standard Bearer and stands ready to compete for the CPP standard bearer position in December 2021. As it stands, Boakai is heavily and openly supported by Benoni Urey and his All Liberian Party (ALP).
Observers are saying it could not be a coincidence that Urey and wholeheartedly supporting Ambassador Boakai, as he, too, served in the Sirleaf administration for a protracted period of time in an appointed position. Urey, who was appointed Mayor of Careysburg, served in that capacity from 2009 to 2012, enjoying President Sirleaf’s confidence in both her first and second terms.
Apparently as a way of paying back, Urey has dedicated his All Liberian Party to serve Ambassador Boakai and champion the agenda in ensuring that he becomes the Standard Bearer of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP).
Howbeit, Cllr. Gongloe has elected to term the Sirleaf administration as the most corrupt regime, citing the misuse of public funds and enticing members of the National Legislature as some factors that marred the Sirleaf regime and held the nation developmentally backward.
He also accused the administration of President Weah of being corrupt, noting that lawmakers allocating US$30,000 to themselves in the midst of lack of security and appointed officials of government leaving their offices to celebrate the President’s birthday, which has not been legislated, are a form of corruption.
But he accused President Sirleaf of setting the foundation for corruption in Liberia after the civil war—bribing government officials and taking responsibility for corruptions committed by her officials of government. According to him, history will keep holding President Sirleaf for the corruption and misrule the country is faced with.
Gongloe was recently petitioned by a group of Liberians, “Team Gongloe”, to contest for the presidency in the up-coming 2023 general and presidential elections. The group said they viewed Gongloe from the point of integrity and termed him the best person suited for the Liberian presidency.
Some time ago, Cllr. Gongloe accused ex-President Sirleaf of constant bribery of the Legislature to do her biddings, lamenting how she set a bad precedent that is being practiced today by her successor.
“The Presidents of Liberia have a diversionary tactic. If they don’t want to solve something, they set up a committee or commission that serves as a shocks absolver to take the pressure off their backs when they have no intention. That’s why I left government because there was complete failure between pronouncements and actions. President Sirleaf failed us big time. And the worst thing she did, she institutionalized bribery of the Legislature. Today, nothing goes to the Legislature without envelope. So, if the Legislature that makes our laws is bribed and can only act on the basis of bribery, we can never succeed. It means the best interest of the country will be buried until their pockets are full,” Cllr. Gongloe maintained.