Africa-Press – Liberia. A Representative hopeful for District #8 in Montserrado County, Alvin Pennue, has criticized President George Manneh Weah for showing what he calls the lack of leadership in his reaction to the designation of three of his officials by the US Government on alleged corrupt charges where the President suspended the officials, describing the action as “utter surrendering and disrespect of the territorial integrity” of Liberia and not in any way an indication of fighting corruption in the country.
In a press statement issued on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, Mr. Pennue said why he detests corruption and all forms of misrule, what the President displayed was an act of cowardice and insincerity to combat the ills in his government since it has to take the action of another government to “instruct him to act” before coming out with a decision that is not even far reaching on his seriousness to clear the image of his government that is fast losing the respect of the people.
“Of course you cannot take that as a decisive stance to combat the ills in the government. It is taking another government to tell him what is happening under his watch and in such a case you cannot say he is fighting corruption. He is just showing the lack of leadership and being indecisive on what to do to restore public confidence in fighting the very corruption some of us have been speaking against for a very long time. He is surrendering the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this country he took oath to protect and defend,” Mr. Pennue asserted.
He said it is sad that some people are commending the President for suspending Minister of State , Nathaniel Falo McGill, Managing Director of the National Port Authority, Bill Twehway and Solicitor General Saymah Syrenius Cephus after the US Treasury Department indicted and designated them in the Malinsky Act, adding that this is happening because the President knows very well that the society is gullible. He said Weah is deeply aware of the rampant corruption and abuse of power all along in his government but has been playing the blind game because he and his cycle are benefiting and enjoying the enterprise.
‘Weah seems to be getting away with the wrong things he and his cronies in government are doing to the country and its people because our people whose lives and future are being affected are even encouraging these kinds of things. I cannot imagine what I saw young people chanting when the President visited some communities in his tour of Montserrado County when they were saying whether sanction or no sanction, we will vote for Weah. I thought they should be pushing for the show of accountability and decisive action against corruption, but it is the other way around,” he said.
Pennue, whose aspiration to be the next lawmaker for District #8 in Montserrado County on the mantra of real change, probity in governance, zero tolerance to corruption and delivering a selfless and impactful services to the people, averred that the action of the American Government was not taken in a day, that is a summation of what they have seen and confirmed from multiple act of broad day stealing that has engulfed the government since its inception in 2018 and that can clearly be seen and felt by the way the living standard of the citizens have gone from bad to worse.
“The Americans are not stupid people and their action was not taken in a day. It has been the work they have done since the government was inaugurated in 2018. Virtually every gain we made before their coming has all been washed away and we even further went down the drain. A serious government should be working to save the situation but they are aggravating it,” the Rep. Hopeful intimated.
Reechoing his impression that President Weah and his government have traded sovereignty and integrity of the country, Pennue said Liberia under this dispensation is exhibiting a ‘‘character of enslavement’’.
“Every country must exhibit the true characteristics of sovereignty but in the case of Liberia under Weah, we are displaying a complete behavior of a spineless father who has got no resolve to provide for his family.Independence comes with a full charge of responsibility which every government must ensure. A man who is unable to make decisions in his house is equally incompetent to talk among his fellow men. Our governance set up is heading in the wrong direction under Weah”, he said.
Mr. Pennue, who has been making a lot of interventions in his district to alleviate the plight of the people further, accentuated that the suspension handed over to the affected officials is “cosmetic and deceptive” and a ploy to sway public reaction from the real issue that the government is corrupt and that the three men who are very close to the President will still be enjoying their full benefit while they are under the “so-called suspension”.
“We know it is a charade but the reality will sink in when more names are rolled out in days to come and let us see if he will still suspend them too. Let us assume the list contains 20 additional names released, mainly key officials and perhaps close family members. Is he going to suspend all of them too? Even at that, what if the names of those who are acting now for the suspended officials are found in the new list, will he also suspend them? Does he know the implication of having a good number of his officials designated by the American government? That means virtually the whole international community may not want to do business with you again and that will be too bad for us.’’
The young politician said President Weah still has an opportunity to reinvent the drowning image of his government by effecting a cleanup exercise in his government to purge out all the bad eggs without fear or favor if he wants for the international community and even the local citizenry to take him seriously.
“Yes there is still a window of opportunity for the President to make the necessary adjustment by conducting a cleanup exercise in his government. The bad eggs have to go and when it is done there is a possibility for people to see him differently unlike how it is presently. Be the man you should be Mr. President. Clear and clean the table and you have a new face in the eyes of the people both at home and abroad but for now it is not well,” Mr. Pennue in the statement added.
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