With just two weeks into the administration of President Joseph Boakai, the struggle for ministerial jobs is said to be overshadowing the overall objectives of the infant administration.
Coming to the presidency on a slogan of ‘Rescue Mission,’ many die-hard supporters who helped Boakai to his election victory in 2023, are now expressing their dissatisfaction over the form and manner in which nominations are made.
The latest of this drama was Unity Party (UP) Chairperson, Luther Tarpeh, who assembled supporters of the party at the front President Boakai’s residence demanding the appointment of qualified leaders of the party to government positions, and calling on President Boakai to withdraw some of the names nominated, especially the Managing Director of the National Port Authority (NPA), Sekou Dukuly.
According to them, the decision by the President not to announce the names of top UPists who were with him for the past six years is counter-productive and is contrary to the core values of the UP.
The Unity partisans’ aggression comes a day after the nomination of some ‘strange’ names in government by President Boakai, and giving no attention to some of those like Stephen Johnson, Robert Kpadeh, Patrick Honnah, and Mohammed Ali, among others, who were his propagandists, foot soldiers, and lead campaigners during the 2023 General and Presidential Elections campaign.
Speaking to the protesters prior to their gathering at the President’s home over the weekend, Tarpeh frowned on the manner in which some stalwarts of the party are being treated.
In a live podcast circulating on social media, the UP Chairperson narrated, “Please be peaceful in your protestation to send out a message that you, the ordinary people, who brought about this revolution for your upliftment, are resolved to see change.”
“And that no human born of a woman will hijack this revolution because people like you strived with your own lives, and it is too early for people who did not witness or form part of what happened to be enjoying now.
In fact, where were they when we were in the pupu water; being insulted and called all kinds of names? Again, you have to be peaceful and let the world know that it is no more business as usual,” he noted.
According to him, in as much it is the constitutional responsibilities for President Boakai to appoint, everyone paid the price for him to become President, and as such, it is incumbent upon him to do the needful for his partisans.
He added, “But it is just unfortunate because nobody thought that the UP was going to win this election; ordinary people like you took on the challenge in your communities, and some of you were badly threatened because of this struggle.”
“So, going forward, Liberian leaders must know that the main voices are the people and when the people are not happy, the leader will not succeed.
I want to say to you, go there, you must demand that you want to see the President and express your disappointment and dissatisfaction in his latest decision, but it should be done peacefully,” he asserted.
