corruption

Lawmakers, who are furious with the Speaker’s action, have been holding closed door discussions to plan his removal. Over the weekend, more than 22 of them gathered in the Port City of Buchanan to begin making their move – the kind that will involve massive political maneuvering and bickering. This is expected to be a long haul and probably a redux of past incidents that also saw the removal of two very influential House Speakers – Edwin Snowe and Alex Tyler.

Liberian legislators selling themselves to George Weah Approves Budget, Receive $17K Each

May 21, 2020 admin2Budget, corruption, Liberia0 comment

The purpose of the US$17k given to each lawmaker is yet to be explained but according to sources in the legislature, it is part of inducement or agreement reached between them and Executive branch of government to waive six months of arrears owed them in petroleum coupon. When asked what the purpose of the US$17 was? One of the lawmakers who refused to speak to this paper on record said; “wait until you are a lawmaker then you will know why we are being given the check.” Over the weekend, President George M.…

Disclosing to the public the disbursement of funds at the Liberian Senate, declaring his assets, subject himself to double pay cut, influencing fellow Senators in debates and votes on critical national issues at the Liberian Senate such as the rejection of NEC Chairman nominee Nwabudike, interventions in distressing conditions of poor people are only a few examples of his leadership, faithfulness, and vision. I urge all well-meaning Liberians as well as CDCians to reject the negative propaganda scheme launched against Senator Dillon by the corrupt Weah CDC government and their surrogates.

News

Prince Johnson Contradicts AB Dillion, says Weah gave $200,000 bonus for SoE

April 29, 2020 admin2corruption, Legislature, Liberia0 comment

Staff Report As public outrage mounts in the wake of revelations by Nimba County Senator Prince Johnson that Legislators have received payout bonuses of US$6,000 as an inducement to affix their signatures of approval to the resolution authorizing the imposition of a State of Emergency, several legislators (names withheld) have shrugged off the charges claiming that the US$6,000 paid to each legislator was actually “operational funds” which have since gone unpaid for a little over two (2) years. This has left the public confused about who is indeed telling…

Senator Cooper added that Liberians need to maintain the peace and stability of the country, and President Weah must take the lead. The Legislature is the first branch of government that makes law; with the Senate being the only body in the Legislature responsible constitutionally to confirm appointed officials who are subject to confirmation. Senator Cooper is, therefore, a member of the Senate through whom public officials subject to confirmation have passed through to occupy public posts such as the Ministry of Finance.

Public Policy

Today, The Legislature Is responsible For Liberia’s Governance Problems

January 13, 2020 admin2corruption, Governance, Liberia0 comment

A staunch critic of the George Manneh Weah-led government, Senator Oscar Cooper, has said that the National Legislature plays key roles in the declined state of the country and not the Executive alone. He said for over forty years now the Liberian presidency has been an area of focus for transforming the Liberian governance structure—which has come with little or no success though many heads of state have lost their lives in the process. This is now time, he added, that Liberians focus on the legislature, which is the…

the former chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Cllr. Jerome Verdier, responding to a VOA Day Break Africa report on the case, welcomed the civil lawsuit against former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf specifically

Public Policy

The Sad Disconnect: The Corrupt Legacy of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

January 10, 2020January 10, 2020 admin2corruption, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf0 comment

ROME, Italy – Over the past period, every day, especially today, is a sad day in Liberia. Our entire country is a joke. While youth in other countries are talking about, engaged in and undertaking the next best thing in technology, sharpening their skills and preparing their analytical minds, what is happening (continuous but understandable anti-government protests, lateral and vertical incompetence, economic paralysis and social meltdown, endemic mismanagement and misrule) in Liberia is exactly what Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her core humanly insensitive crew wanted, and this…

Weah: “What was damaged during the 14 years of civil war,” he said, “cannot be fixed in a day’s time. This government is focused on rehabilitating Liberians whose lives were damaged. I want you not to join those who are undermining the country through protests. Join me to rebuild the country.” As part of his development plans, President Weah said the government was exerting efforts to change the lives of Liberians, by building concrete homes in place of the huts they have been living in over so many decades.

Op-ed

Liberia – The Incompetence, Naïveté, Treachery And Recklessness Presidency

January 6, 2020January 6, 2020 admin2corruption, Liberia, Weah0 comment

By Francis Nyepon George Weah is an ineffective and incompetent president who surrounded himself with a network of sycophants and unpatriotic double-dealing traitors that are looting the Liberian treasury for their personal gain while enabling poverty to remain rampant and unbridled corruption ruthlessly stains the daily lives of Liberians. Over the past two years, President George Weah has failed to accumulate material economic gains of Liberia’s abundant natural resources, favorable climate to ensure food security and a vibrant youthful workforce to boost sustainable growth and socio-economic development.…

The cracks are increasing and becoming visible. CIC Weah is in a state of perplexity while the masses are in the state of paranoid. There is no answer to looming catastrophes in the motherland. The masses are left to hopelessly wander in the wilderness! The bubble might burst anytime soon – history will be made – and the masses will reshape their socio-economic and political destiny.

Op-ed

Economic Paralysis vs. Resignation conundrum – Is CDC Cracking?

November 30, 2019 admin2corruption, Liberia, Weah0 comment

The Editor, Neatly dressed in his white pro-poor gown, President George M. Weah marched to the podium to be sworn in as Africa’s first footballing Head of State on January 22, 2018. Greeted by a jam-packed stadium, he was not cheered this time around for scoring a goal as a Soccer Legend, but was cheered after taking the oath of office “to preserve and defend the Constitution of Liberia and faithfully execute the law”. As the masses continued to queue and troop their way to SKD Sports…

http://www.liberianlistener.com/2019/11/01/ellen-sirleaf-legacy-of-corruption-and-misrule/

Public Policy

To Fight Corruption, Former Pres. Sirleaf & UP Officials Must be Investigated

November 19, 2019 admin2corruption, Ellen Sirleaf, Liberia0 comment

By J Yanqui Zaza I am sure many Liberians are pleased and do welcome the patriotic, honorable and peace and unity statement made by Dr. Joseph Nyemah Boakai, former presidential candidate and former Vice President of the Republic of Liberia. Dr. Boakai has recommended to the members and officers of the former ruling Party (Unity Party) to forgive and unite for the good of the country. But equally too, if the former ruling Unity Party is to be considered as a Party ready to fight corruption, then Unity Party, a…

But everything changed, when Garley was captured by troops working for top Liberian government officials, who were tasked with forcibly recruiting people to work on the Spanish-owned sugar cane, coffee and cocoa plantations in Fernando Po (located in current day Equatorial Guinea and parts of Gabon). Many of these forced recruits were abducted from the southeastern region of Liberia. Munah waited as the days turned to weeks and the weeks to months but her husband did not return. After six months she walked alone on the 155-kilometer bush road back to Grand Gedeh. It took her weeks to reach home. When she finally reached, she ignored pains of the sores in her feet and ran around Pelezon Town beating her breast and crying as she told her ordeal.

Public Policy

Fernando Po Crisis: the shame and of lack of accountability in Liberia

November 6, 2019November 6, 2019 admin2corruption, Fernando Po, Liberia, Shame0 comment

MONROVIA – The future was bright for Doboe-Blee Garley, a 20-year-old, newly-married man in 1926. Well built and outstanding in the Menson Clan of Tchien District in Grand Gedeh County, Garley was a great royal hunter and a farmer. His wife, Munah, had come from a long lineage of traditional priests. Excitedly, the newlyweds made their way to the seaport city of Greenville to buy lapas, salt, and dishes for their home, according to citizens of Pelezon and Garley’s 62-year-old niece Theresa Boryea Walo, to whom the late Garley told…

It is noteworthy to mention the masses of the South-east are our Brothers and Sisters. We are not fighting against them but are fighting with them. We tell them we are acutely aware of the truism that nobody sets out to build a nation of common values, egalitarianism and equality who strife on ethnic bigotry, exclusion, and the colonial method of divide and rule. The above metastasizing menaces are the ones that stymie national progress, frustrate collective transformation, and throw the nation into chaos. They are aberrations to social emancipation! They should not be tolerated!

Public Policy

These 7 public officials receive over US$7.7 million from the national cake in 12 months

October 31, 2019October 31, 2019 admin2corruption, High Salaries, Liberia0 comment

The Editor, The offices of just seven (7) public officials are receiving over US$7.7 million (L$1.6 billion) from the national cake in 12 months. Should we give their offices this much? They are becoming overnight millionaires as a result of leeching on Liberia’s scarce resources. What do our people get or have to show for voting them? Liberians remain the poorest of the poor because their leaders are overly GREEDY and CORRUPT. I became perturbed beyond limit while driving through West Point on Saturday evening. Our people are really catching…

Hasan then said: "You're acting like you were a passerby or an observer. You were in the thick of things. In the ANC you were the chair, you were the speaker in Parliament. This happened on your watch..." He referred specifically to the sacking of then finance minister Pravin Gordhan in 2017, who had claimed that around R150bn to R250bn had been looted from state coffers. "Why didn't you speak out and join him to call out that looting?" Mbete then gave vague answers, saying she was "right there" and that those issues were being "discussed every day". Mbete also denied having been aware of the looting of state-owned enterprises and state capture.

Op-ed

Baleka Mbete: ANC [ruling party] cannot be blamed for SA’s problems

October 23, 2019 admin2ANC, Baleka Mbete, corruption0 comment

“We can’t blame the problems of South African society on the ANC. Criminality has been in South Africa for more than three centuries, especially after the colonialists came and brought crime from Europe to Africa,” Mbete said in response to a question by an audience member on South Africa’s high crime levels, especially murder and rape. Hasan then responded: “Hold on, let’s be clear, the British Empire did do exactly what you just said, but they did it to a lot of countries. Why is it that South…