The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Samuel D. Tweah, has summarized the United States government’s designating him and other officials of the Coalition for Democratic Change-led government for visa restriction as a mere strategy to disorganize the CDC while the in-coming government struggles to find bearings, and to prevent a powerful, experienced and knowledgeable CDC from mounting the fiercest political opposition.
Tweah described the US government’s designation as a fundamental unfairness in the conduct of foreign policy in a country and against a government that has shown nothing but commitment to the stated foreign policy objectives and interests of the United States.
According to him, President Weah has advised his cabinet that, in the larger calculus of foreign policy considerations impinging on the interests of the United States government, he stands with the American people, and that Liberia has sided with all resolutions against China and Russia even when the rest of Africa took a different position. Most recently, he said, in the United Nations resolution to end the war in the Gaza Strip, which would bring peace and end the killing and suffering of Palestinians, Liberia stood with America to say “no” to ending the war. But despite all the support, they still see the dismantling of CDC and made to believe that these designations are targeting individuals only. “With the evidence at our disposal, we beg to disagree,” Minister Tweah observed.
The Finance Minister observed that the sanction placed on him and others is unbelievably unjust, unfair and a fundamental violation of their rights, stating that he was advised that to avoid sanction he should withdraw his support for ArcelorMittal’s third amendment until after the election.
“It was on this basis that I advised President Weah to turn over negotiations on the rail to the U.S. government since too much propaganda and misinformation were threatening to destroy members of his government,” he stated
He said, not achieving anything, the Americans withdrew and turned negotiations back to the Government of Liberia (GOL).
He further said that the truth of the matter is AccelorMittal has an agreement with the Government of Liberia (GOL) signed by the Unity Party government that gives Mittal the right to use the Nimba rail and to be an operator of this rail, and President Weah government’s vision to develop a multiuser rail system.
“We have tried to ensure ArcelorMittal relinquish operatorship of the rail to an Independent third-party rail operator for purposes of fairness and equity,” Minister Tweah disclosed.
Minister Tweah said ArcelorMittal has not been open to this position, and they have been at a deadlock for more than three years.
He said, due to the impossibility of having ArcelorMittal give up rail operators and knowing the government was not willing to proceed to international arbitration, the government moved to a position of having AML become the user-operator in exchange for other critical rights ArcelorMittal would have to give up under its current concession that would enable fair and equitable access to third parties such as HPX.
Meanwhile, Minister Tweah has argued that these public designations without any due process, without any investigation to which those who are accused are involved, where they have the chance to dispel rumors and counter misrepresentations or misinformation, do not represent the values and norms of the democratic freedom-loving America he has admired since his youth.
“I will argue here publicly that these outcomes do not represent the stated foreign policy objectives as conceived and understood by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and by President Joseph R. Biden. I know these outcomes are the work of powerfully placed officials or bureaucrats within the U.S government who have deep connections and relations here in Liberia and who are sworn and are committed to weakening the CDC,” he noted.
