By Jefferson T. Koijee, Secretary General, CDC
Friday will go down as one of the most disgraceful and painful days in our country’s recent history. A day when Mr. Boakai confirmed to the world that his government is built not on justice, not on patriotism but on vendetta, tribal hate, and the ruthless abuse of state power.
In a cowardly and dishonorable act, Kla-Martin secretly signed a scandalous US$311,200 office lease and committed to an additional US$9,800 monthly for useless billboards all done behind closed doors, without informing the public, his own team, or even seeking approval from the legally mandated Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC). This is not governance this is corruption in its purest form. Economic sabotage, cloaked in the arrogance of power!
And yet, this same Kla-Martin, the face of this illegal act, has now been handed the Assets Recovery Team a total mockery to the principles of integrity and national interest.
But Mr. Boakai didn’t stop there.
He crossed a moral red line when he allowed the disgraceful arrest and public humiliation of Madam Thema E. Sawyer, the widow of Liberia’s former Interim President, the late Dr. Amos Claudius Sawyer a woman who once served this country as Deputy Foreign Minister and First Lady with honor, brilliance, and patriotism.
A woman who walks with dignity, served with class, and held the legacy of her late husband with grace was dragged from her home and thrown into Monrovia Central Prison like a petty criminal! Is this how we treat our national mothers? Is this the Liberia we are building under Mr. Boakai?
What kind of President humiliates the widow of one of Liberia’s finest intellectuals, a man who gave over 30 years of selfless service, who built his name and reputation on integrity, only for Mr. Boakai to dishonor him in death?
As if that wasn’t enough, another towering servant of our nation Madam Mary Tanyonoh Broh was also dragged from her home and thrown into prison yesterday.
Let us not forget: Madam Broh 74, is a woman who has dedicated over 50 years of public and professional service, both in the United States and Liberia. She spent 14 years building a strong financial background in the U.S., and when Liberia called, she answered. She returned in 2006, on the invitation of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and since then, has remained a pillar of integrity and service in government.
During the Ebola outbreak, Madam Broh played a central role in the fight managing logistics, coordinating with international partners, and leading sanitation efforts that saved lives in Monrovia. She was again called upon in April 2020 by President George M. Weah, who appointed her as National COVID-19 Response Coordinator.
She served with honor and was even praised as a national heroine by both President Sirleaf and President Weah.
But yesterday, Mr.Boakai in a fit of tribal arrogance and deep-seated hatred for Americo-Liberians ordered his errand boy, Police IG Gregory Coleman, to violate every known decency by storming Madam Broh’s residence, dragging her out, and locking her in South Beach prison with common criminals.
Imagine that!
A woman of international repute mother to Donna Charles, a U.S. Air Force veteran with nearly 10 years of active and reserve duty, and now a declared candidate for Governor of Virginia humiliated and paraded like a common thief on the front pages of the international press.
Donna Charles, like any proud daughter, watched in pain and heartbreak as the world looked on while her mother Liberia’s own daughter was dragged to filth by a regime consumed by hate and vengeance.
Let us not forget: this is the same Joseph Boakai who once worked for a regime that publicly executed 13 of Liberia’s finest statesmen on poles in 1980 an act that sparked a civil war in which over 250,000 people were killed. That same dangerous mindset is re-emerging under his watch. The signs are there and only the blind cannot see them.
This is a dangerous road we are walking. And those celebrating today’s abuse of power must remember: yesterday’s silence helped fuel our nation’s darkest war.
We are witnessing the return of tyranny disguised as leadership.
If we do not rise up now and resist these economic bandits and tribal witch-hunters, the country we love the Liberia our ancestors bled and died for will soon cease to exist.
