IPNEWS-Monrovia: A group of Liberia citizens headed by former Maryland County senator, Amb. John A. Ballout, under the banner ‘We The People Movement’, on Friday, September 2, 2022, stormed the grounds of the United States Embassy near Monrovia to present a ‘Statement of Appreciation’ to Michael A. McCarthy, United States ambassador accredited to Monrovia, for sanctions imposed on corrupt government officials in President George Weah’s administration.
In their statement presented by Amb. Ballout, the group said, “We the people have observed, over succeeding decades, governments and generations that the socio-economic condition of Liberia continues to worsen, with increasing breakdown of the rule of law, human rights abuses, and national disunity, all due to uncontrollable public corruptions. We have lost over two hundred thousand lives in a series of civil wars because of corruption, bad governance and dictatorship. This has left the mass majority of Liberian poor, helpless, hopeless and vulnerable in a potentially rich country, therefore, we the people converged on this day, September 2, 2022 before the Embassy of the United States of America to thank the Government and People of America for assisting our Government in the fight against corruption, and we ask that you do more”.
Former Maryland County Senator John Ballout speaks at the petition ceremony on the grounds of the US Embassy in Monrovia
Amb. Ballout, however, mentioned that will all the abundant natural resources that Liberia has, the people continue to suffer because of corruption, thus making Liberia one of the countries in the world where succeeding generations are worse off than the older generations.
On his part, Cllr. Tiawan S. Gongloe who accompanied the group also noted that “President Weah’s failure to dismiss the three sanctioned officials of government, by important country like the United States of America, who are not civil servants, but rather political appointees who serves at the will and pleasure of the president, is an abuse and betrayal of his oath of office.”
“Corruption is a weapon of mass destruction, and it is a crime against humanity that all of us should stand against it” he said.
Cllr Tiawon Gongloe speaks at the petition ceremony in solidarity with former Senator Ballout
In same development, the head of the ‘One Liberia Movement’ and former Montserrado County senatorial aspirant Sheik Kouyateh, who was once a member of the ruling Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), in a recommendation to the fight against corrupt officials of government, called on the U. S. Government to withhold every support to the National Elections Commission (NEC) until the Electoral body can sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the International Community that all those who have been sanctioned and all those that have been indicted by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), that they be denied to take part in election comes 2023.
It can be recalled on August 15, 2022, the U.S Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), designated three Liberian government officials Nathaniel McGill, Sayma Syrenius Cephas and Bill Twehway for their involvement in ongoing corruption in Liberia. These officials are designated pursuant to Executive Order (E. O) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world. By: James Lehmer Hiama, Jr.; hiamajames@gmail.com; 0770334857/0888270604
