By Alex Yomah
Ahead of Unity Party’s political leader Joseph Boakai’s plan to pick his running mate, a Nimba-based movement under the banner, “Nimba Youth Alliance Movement” has exposed what it called “the secret midnight deal” purportedly been struck between the former Vice President Joseph Boakai and Senator Prince Johnson.
The Nimba Youth Alliance Movement’s Chairperson, T. Gerald Teahton, alleged that the deal amongst many things is intended to fill PJY’s pockets and leave the government-sponsored institutions in Nimba forgotten and in total destitute if their plans succeed; something the movement termed as disturbing.
“This is the same Senator Johnson who struck a deal that only he will approve Namibians to get job in 2018 and use that deal to make money out of Nimba people; every Nimba person in this government was forced to pay cash up front to get listed by him and to get a job in government,” the group alleged.
According to Teahton, “For five years and eleven months, from January 2018 to December 2023 he allegedly extorted, exploited, and demeaned the professionals from our great county who have to take membership in his church and pay huge sum before getting a job.”
Adding, “His church is the only church in the whole world which does not do evangelism but rather depends on political deals to get membership, but that is not what Jesus said. He doesn’t say force professional Nimba people to come to me through threats and extortion, he said sinners should come to him,” Teahton stated.
Against this background, “When we read in the FrontPage Newspaper of a secret meeting with the former Vice President, we started to research to know the true reasons and conclusion of that meeting because very strangely, Senator Johnson has now become the spokesperson for the Unity Party Standard Bearer as he has announced Senator Jeremiah Koung who is his die-hard loyalist as the former Vice President’s running mate.”
Teahton said, what has made him so overexcited is the personal deal in this arrangement because now it is already clear that the young senator is merely a figure head as the main deal is between Senator Johnson and former VP Boakai and what is very dangerous and alarming is that the new deal makes Senator Johnson as the equal Co-principal to VP Boakai while Senator Koung who hardly says anything is the mere placeholder for the former warlord.
Under this deal, Senator Johnson will have to approve of all decisions by VP Boakai if elected as President because he is the real partner and Co-principal of the coalition; in other words, Senator Johnson is excited to become the Co-president if his new coalition wins.
Another key aspect of the deal is that every year there will be an allotment of US$ 5 million for his private university as subsidy; he added that, “This means that the Nimba University and other government facilities in Nimba will be sacrificed to accommodate the Co-principal of this new political machine that has been born between these two old friends from the People’s Redemption Council Government.”
“We are disturbed because we know for a fact that Senator Johnson refused to be part of the formation of the Nimba Community College which is today the Nimba University; all because it will offer free education and instead wanted it for his private college which will make money for him,” Teahton disclosed.
According to the first Nimba Movement, now that the Nimba University is booming, and the free education policy will make it get more support and be able to enroll more students, this dangerous personal agenda under this midnight deal will create huge setback for the Nimba University if this deal is allowed to win the elections.
“Many of us in this new organization have never been involved in political issues but our generation needs education because we know that warlords used our big brothers because of their ignorance so we are committed to fight for education and for a government that will prioritize education,” he stated.
“We feel under obligation now to join the fight in these elections to expose any deal or plan that will undermine the young people of Nimba. In closing we condemn this dangerous deal which is trading the national budget to satisfy the personal wealth building at the expense of our education, health, and development plans,” Teahton noted.
“We will continue to expose all the six other points in the midnight rehab road meetings especially those that will make us the young people to suffer. We warn all Liberians to reject this new partnership, we call upon the young people of Nimba County to never support this Boakai-Koung coalition because nothing is in it for us,” the Movement alarmed.
