The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
December 8, 2020

Passing on the corruption legacy

This tweet from former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has created confusion in the minds of many Liberians. Since the 2017 elections, she has been accused of helping Mr. Weah against her VP Joe Boakai. It is also said that candidate Weah had promised to protect former President Sirleaf, her family members and to perpetuate her legacy. Although a son of hers, Charles Sirleaf, was briefly detained in the Central Bank fiasco, he was released, and the case was watered down. Everyone involved in the case was a close appointee of Sirleaf.  We have seen the murders of auditors or people who disagree with the government’s spins on things, as was in the case of Allison and Harry Greaves during Sirleaf’s administration.  Observers, therefore, believe that President Weah is following and perpetuating the legacy of former President Sirleaf to the letter.

Besides, her beloved son, Robert Sirleaf is on record of publicly pledging his support to Fallah and stating that he would do everything humanly possible for Fallah of CDC to win. So, asking Liberians to vote smart, against this background, is puzzling.  Is this a gimmick to repeat what she was accused of in 2017?

President Sirleaf’s commitment to the tenets of democracy is not in question here. We know that under her watch, a leader of her party, Clemenceau Urey lost to Geraldine Doe Sheriff. Her son also lost to Weah for a senate seat in the same county. There was no violence or coercion from the government and the process was entirely free of pressure.

This is far from what we are witnessing today!  Children who have not even reached their teens are being raped with impunity because during her administration the anti-rape law was watered down. Opposition politicians are targeted by the government that pledged to protect her and her family and we have not heard a word from her. So, what is Madam Sirleaf’s moral outrage, if there is any?

We hope that Madam Sirleaf really means and articulates that Liberians should think about how things were organized and how peaceful they were just a few years and look at what they see today, to make informed decisions.

We hope that she corrects the mistakes of the past and clearly participate in the political debate. In terms of party reconciliation, Joseph Nyumah Boakai has spoken and acknowledged the successes of their administration and has given her credit. If there is a clause in the Mo Ibrahim prize that says that she should not engage in partisan politics, she broke it on the day she returned to UP.
So, former President Sirleaf should, therefore, come clear and conduct herself as a voice in the opposition, just as Barack Obama has become for the Democratic Party. She cannot continue to hide.  Madam Sirleaf, please stop playing games!!!!!