Africa-Press – Liberia. The erstwhile political leader of the Movement for Reconstruction and Democracy (MDR), Senator Prince Yormie Johnson, seemed to have met the end of his long political prominence in Liberia after the United States of America State Department in December 2021 placed him on Global Magnitsky Act.
The act authorizes the United States government to sanction individuals it views as human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and ban them from entering the country. The U.S. government accuses Senator Johnson of being involved in pay-for-play funding scheme with government ministries and agencies for personal enrichment.
“Johnson has also offered the sale of votes in multiple Liberian elections in exchange for money,” according to the U.S. government statement.
In January 2023, the sanctioned Johnson ended his political marriage with President George Weah because the president failed to provide jobs for Nimbaians in exchange for support for Weah’s 2017 Presidential bid.
“Let me clearly state that the agreement I signed with the president has come to an end, Johnson said. Johnson urges the president to cancel his trip until he can settle his obligations to the county. The people of Nimba worked hard to elect President Weah, but he has ignored them, the senator said.
Putting forth a proxy
With Johnson’s political career hitting a major bottleneck due to the sanctions imposed on him, he opted to find a means to put forth a proxy that would provide him the needed coverup.
At a hastily-arranged convention, with the influence of Senator Johnson, the MDR endorsed Senator Jeremiah Koung as the Standard bearer of the MDR putting Koung in the same position as his political Godfather, Senator Johnson.
The pay-for-play began to gradually unfold when the MDR announced that Koung would be contesting the presidency come October 2023.
Prior to Koung’s endorsement as standard bearer of MDR, the opposition community was already fighting to remain united with the formation of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) of which Koung and the MDR were never a part of the formation of such political arrangement.
Even while the CPP started to disintegrate, constituents’ members of the CPP were still in close contacts, pointing to the possibility of collaboration amongst at least three of the original political parties that formed the CPP.
The Unity Party, Liberty Party and the All Liberian Party (ALP) all kept some close links and collaborated on a number of political activities. It was largely believed that the opposition community could see a possible Boakai-Cummings or Boakai-Nyonblee Karnga ticket with little or no thoughts of a Boakai-Koung ticket because the MDR was never and has never been forming alliances with the opposition community.
Strangely and very late after, Johnson took to the pulpit to preach politics against the ruling party and President Weah, the pay-for-play began to shift the other way, beginning with Johnson paying a visit to the home of Boakai.
Following the visit, the political variables started to change with news of a meeting between Koung and the Boakai’s camp, a collabo that grew from nowhere and that no Liberia though was somewhere in the making because Senator Koung was never considered a force in Liberian politics to ever think of being selected to contest the second most powerful political position in Liberia.
A “threat” Johnson would be bad for UP
While many Liberians are celebrating the Boakai-Koung ticket as a potential threat to the re-election bid of President Weah some Liberians think the ticket would be a threat to governance if the UP standard bearer were to be elected president.
McClean Renner, a Civil Society actor, told FrontPageAfrica: “The ticket is a strong one because Nimba is the second vote-rich county in Liberia. Moreover, Senator Prince Johnson is the godfather of Nimba County. We saw in 2005 when he supported former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and she won. In 2011, he did the same thing for her re-election, and she won. You can’t discount Johnson’s popularity and influence in Nimba.”
He, however, expressed disappointment that such ticket would shut the doors on the the establishment of the War and Economy Crime court.
“We want to say Boakai has trashed the War and Economic Crime court in the back. I’m even thinking that when Baokai comes to power those people who are currently in government might not be audited. It is not a rescue mission Boakai and his likes are on.”
Euodia T Gbatoe, a political activist, salid weighed in on the Boakai-Koung ticket.
“Senator Johnson is going to be a de facto vice president once the ticket wins. Senator Johnson is going to be a serious dictator in the Unity Party government. So, there will not be a good governance system when the Unity Party wins the October 2023 Presidential Election. Koung is a “son” to Johnson, so, there would no good governance. The ticket might be good, but if the ticket wins there would be no good governance in Liberia.”
Madison P. Zondo, Youth Activist, said: “For Boakai to select Koung is the opposite of the Rescue Mission. Selecting Jeremiah Koung would ensure that the issue of the War Crimes Court does not become a reality in the country.
Such ticket will not sell the actual purpose of the Rescue Mission.”
Ephraim Nyumah, student of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law of the University of Liberia, said: “Article 63 of our Constitution places the Vice President as the first option to ascend to the presidency in the event the President is incapacitated, impeached, or for other reasons. So, Boakai’s selection of Koung as running mate as Vice President, he (Koung) should equally be prepared to serve as president. The question lingering on my mind whether is Jeremiah Koung is prepared to serve as president of Liberia. I say no. Koung is not prepared to be President.”
Boost for Nimba
Expressing support for Koung’s choice, Odysseus Dolo, a prominent Nimba businessman in Ganta, described the decision as excellent, adding Koung is the right man for the job.
“I heartily congratulate Senator Koung on his nomination as the running mate to Mr. Boakai for the 2023 general elections. “Mr. Koung entered public service in 2011 with impeccable credentials, which he has burnished by demonstrating great competence, integrity, and courage since then.
“We the partisans of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction can attest that Senator Koung is the right man for the job and that he will be an able and loyal lieutenant to our incoming President, Mr. Boakai.”
“We pledge our full cooperation and support to the Boakai-Koung ticket as we march again towards a resounding victory in the general elections. “We also assure Liberians that the choice that our party has made is for the best of our country.”
Similarly, Gondlee E. Mambia, a resident of Ganta, lauded the choice of Koung, describing him as the right man for the job. “The selection of Senator Koung Unity Party standard bearer, clearly demonstrates, once again, Joseph Boakai’s strength in selecting competent people.
“It has proven Boakai’s s focus on effective service delivery and has also provided an insight into what a government run by the UP standard bearer would be. We wish to clearly state that this selection has given us added confidence for success in the forthcoming 2023 general elections,” he added.
“While we also congratulate our Party Members MDR, we urge Liberians to rally round this most suitable combination,” he said.
From Regime collaborators to opposition
What many did not see coming has now become one of the strangest of political marriages in recent history of Liberian politics for the MDR which has never collaborated with the opposition community since its formation to have Koung as a running mate to Unity Party.
Unity Party Political leader Boakai on Friday, April 28 announced Koung as his running mate, a move that may likely disintegrate the entire opposition bloc, because Koung has never stood with opposition political parties during the entire six years of the ruling CDC.
Koung and his MDR have always been regime collaborators. While Koung and his MDR closely collaborated with the ruling CDC where slots were allotted to the MDR for senior positions in government, the opposition community struggled bringing the government to book on many critical issues, but yet in the end the entire opposition unity has been squandered with Boakai’s selection of a regime collaborating political party and individual to serve on a major opposition ticket for October 2023.
In all of this, there are strong indications that PYJ is the brain behind the selection of Koung and Boakai as his pay-for-play is likely to have shifted from the ruling CDC to the opposition community.
Koung appears to be a proxy for Senator Johnson as during the nomination of Koung, Senator Johnson was seen at the Unity Party headquarters holding a chicken in his hands and celebrating publicly.
While Koung might be the picture on the ballot paper along with Boakai in 2023, Senator Johnson is the actual “Koung” and the final decision maker within the MDR as the party is not an institution but one completely centered around Senator Johnson.
Ahead of 2023, Senator Johnson has succeeded in shifting his Pay for Play game in Liberian politics from the ruling establishment to the opposition community and has likely disintegrated the opposition community by breaking the bond built by opposition political parties over the last six years.
It would be no surprise should PYJ again get more money and change his political machinery against the opposition before October 2023 as he has proven to be political a chameleon that changes colour with money.
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