By: Joseph Tumbey.

IPNEWS: Voices of Exile (VEX), a pressure group comprising of Liberian political, students and social advocates outside of the country, have threatened to sue the President of Liberia, George Weah if he dares travel with more than six delegates to attend the UN Woman-organized Global Equality forum slated for Paris in France.

Speaking on the local radio station in Monrovia, Joy FM 101.5 on Friday June 25, 2021, the Executive Director of VEX, Martin K.N Kollie, currently in exile said the trip of the President to attend the Forum in Paris will cost the Government of Liberia a minimum of US$112,712 despite the high poverty rate amongst Liberians and the resurgence of deadly COVID-19 virus the country is faced with.

The Global Equality Forum, is an International Gender Equality Forum, held under the auspices of the United Nations Women (UN Women) to end Women inequality across the Globe. This year’s Forum is intended for Gender actors across the world to craft policies that will stimulate gender issues in the world. Usually this Forum is an annual event that UN Women organizes to bring together, particularly Gender Ministers of various countries as well as other Gender actors in the world.

In reaction to reports that President Weah intends to travel to the Paris Forum with a little over 35-man delegation, Mr. Kollie intoned that the Government of Liberia’s 2017 Travel Law (Annex – Three) prohibits any Government’s Ministry taking more than a three-man delegation on a foreign trip and/as well as a six-man delegation for any sectorial delegation on a foreign trip. Therefore in keeping with this law, Mr. Kollie emphasized that President Weah cannot travel with more than six delegates for any foreign conference. “On the contrary, this is a violation of the law,” Martin stressed.

The VEX Executive Director also challenged the Office of the President to prove him wrong, since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic that has taken hundreds of thousands of lives across the Globe, to name any single counterpart of President that has traveled with more than five-man delegation to foreign conferences.

But supporters of President Weah have voiced out their support for the President to attend the Gender Forum in Paris, Finance because He has declared himself as the Feminist-in-Chief for his country. He made that revelation at an international women conference held in Monrovia few months in his presidency.

Mr. Kollie also lamented with the high increase rate of COVID-19 in France of late, President Weah and his delegation risked being exposed to the virus which could have an adverse effect on the people of Liberia when he returns home.

The VEX Executive Director referenced neighboring states, including Ghana and Nigeria who are sending only their Gender Ministers and Deputies to attend the Paris Global Equality Forum, and has urged President Weah to do so in other to save the State coffers.

This is not the first time that President Weah has come under public criticism for a huge delegation abroad since his ascendancy to the Liberian presidency. Immediately following his inauguration in January 2018, the Liberian leader was put to the sword for spending astronomically to travel to Senegal, Morocco and France respectively. Initially the Executive Mansion had disclosed that the trip was made possible by the President of Senegal, who reportedly provided an aircraft for President Weah and his delegation, but only for a leaked document from the Central Bank of Liberia to reveal that indeed the trip was financed by the Government of Liberia. A staff of the Central of Bank of Liberia was summoned and investigated by the National Security Agency on how the document was leaked.

Also in the early onset of his presidency, President Weah was accused of taking a huge delegation to his first UN General Assembly in New York, as critics said Mr. Weah took along people who had no business at the UN General Assembly, but only went for sight-seeing.

What remains uncertain is whether VEX will indeed fulfill its promise to take the Liberian leader to court if he goes ahead to take to Paris in France a 35-man plus delegation as being reported to participate in the UN Women Gender Equity Forum.