–Former CDC Chair George Solo Narrates Happenings for Breakaway

IPNEWS: As political activities leading to the much-anticipated 2023 presidential and legislative elections take roots, a former Chairman of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), now the Coalition for Democratic Change following a political marriage with the former ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Liberia People Democratic Party (LPDP), has alleged that President George Weah, who then as Senatorial aspirant for Montserrado County in 2014 reportedly took money from Robert Sirleaf, son of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in order for him (Weah) to put his ambition on hold and give chance to Robert to contest the 2014 Midterm Elections for a senatorial seat in Montserrado County.

Appearing on the popular Spoon Talk political platform show aired via Facebook and Spoon FM 107.5 over the weekend, Mr. George Solo disclosed that then senatorial aspirant George Weah and the former National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) board chairman met in Accra, Ghana where they discussed their political business, apparently, since Weah still had the intention to contest the 2017 Presidential Elections, so negotiation has entered an agreement reached between Robert Sirleaf and Weah for the latter to give the former a chance to contest the 2014 senatorial midterm election.

Solo alleged that Robert Sirleaf gave his political rival, Weah money in 2014 to back off from the senatorial race, but he did not state the amount that changed hands. “When George came from Accra and told me about the meeting between, he and Robert Sirleaf, my task was to inform CDC partisans about the decision our political leader was about to take to withdraw from the 2014 midterm senatorial election. But then he later changed his mind and told me that he would still contest after receiving the money from Robert Sirleaf, but I told him that was not prudent and politically it was not good for our party and the image of (him) Weah. I saw it to be something like ‘a political blackmail’ and I resolved not be a part of such a scam and political maneuvering.”

The former CDC chair said it was at that point that his removal from the party was orchestrated from within the CDC because he could not indulge in the alleged ‘political blackmail, betrayal or maneuvering’ that would have plunged their party into chaos since most of the grassroots partisans believed in Weah so much and wanted him to contest the 2014 Midterm Senatorial election having failed twice to the win the presidency.

It can be recalled Mr. Solo became one of the fiercest critics of his one-time close friend after he was expelled as Chairman of the CDC on August 3, 2014, by the National Executive Committee.

He was controversially removed as Chairman for what the CDC-NEC termed as being “A promoter, expediter, and lobbyist for the Robert Sirleaf-for-Senate campaigns, against the party Standard-bearer George Weah.”

The CDC accused Mr. Solo of being an internal operative within the party, where his mission of divisive propaganda, rancor, appetite for disagreement, unsettling policy misdirection, and engineered institutional collapse have come to reflect the disruptive agenda of his hirers.

But Mr. Solo denied the accusations, and blamed his friend – President Weah – of orchestrating the ploy after he allegedly received money given to him by Mr. Robert Alvin Sirleaf- the beloved son of ex-Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf – to back off from the Midterm Senatorial race for Montserrado County in 2014.

The happening stirred a sour relationship between Mr. Solo and President Weah at the time and brought a split within the CDC.

Mr. Solo departed Liberia for the United States shortly after his former best friend was inaugurated as President of Liberia. Both men have not reportedly seen eye-to-eye or spoken since the saga.

Continuing on the program Spoon Talk on Spoon FM 107.5 over the week end, Mr. Solo observed that the commitment made by many closed confidantes, brothers and friends of the Liberian leader during their opposition days is not being kept up to present.

He said though he defended his former best friend, the Liberian leader appears to be in-defendable and as such, it is now time for those who were closer to him to be realistic because the current state of Liberia is appalling.

“To whom much is given, much is expected. We know the dark days we spent (with the CDC). Today, when you are a King and you get on the road, it’s easy to get followers. But before you became King, who were there? Why you should not be disappointed about the way your country is when you look at those kids whom you bought mosquito coil for are now riding US$90,000 cars and our mothers don’t have clothes to wear and children walking with no slippers on their feet.”

“The most critical skill that propelled George Weah to the presidency is his adaptability. He’s able to adapt to the surrounding that he’s in; when you put Manneh (President Weah) with comedian and he starts telling jokes, you will say he’s the best comedian that’s why you see today he’s making music; when you put him with wicked people, he will show evil in the way that Liberian people have not seen.”

The former CDC Chair did not however comment further on how the President is capable of showing evil if he is placed among wicked people. Apparently, he spoke figuratively.

Mr. Solo then declared despite serving as a former Chairman of the CDC, he will continue to hold President Weah accountable for his stewardship over the nation and its people.

He observed that most of those surrounding the presidency are individuals who are only affiliating based upon the ascendancy of the Liberian leader.

Mr. Solo added that President Weah is not under pressure to perform or do the right things in favor of the Liberian people because, he is surrounded by these people and others who are afraid to speak truth to power.

“President George Weah needs to do the right thing. It’s never late to do the right thing or to start being dishonest to people that commit to you.”

He, however, vowed to lead a campaign to ensure that President Weah steps down from power if his government continues to be recognized internationally of corruption as evidenced by the sanctioning of his officials.

He noted that Liberians are being abused in their own country, while the judiciary and legislative branches of government remain occupied with greedy and corrupt individuals.

“When do we just wake up and say stand down and we want you to go? We want to get to the next level or be like little Rwanda; we want to live in peace and tranquility-we want to see patriotism grow. There is a point where the contract between the government and the people is dissolved based on corruption.”

Rep. Acarous Gray Accuses George Solo of Taking Money from Benoni Urey, Others, But…

On the same Spoon Talk as temper flared, a stalwart of the CDC, Representative Acarous Gray of Montserrado County District #8 accused the former CDC chairman George Solo of allegedly taking money from the political leader of the All Liberia Party (ALP), Benoni Urey, for reasons he did not state on the show.

At the time, Rep. Gray made the accusation, a heated argument was ensuring between him and Mr. Solo on Spoon Talk regarding the allegations that Mr. Weah allegedly took money from Robert Sirleaf to make him back off for the 2014 Midterm Senatorial election. But Solo denied the allegation, stating “Those were the lies they created against me to vote me out of the party because I did not want our political leader to do something that was inimical to the image of our CDC.” 

Solo was also accused of arson against Mr. Weah’s residence following his expulsion from the CDC, but against Solo thrashed the accusation and said all those were lies being spewed out in the Liberian public to justify why they purportedly voted him out of the CDC.

George Solo Once Told Pres. Weah to Retrospect on the Sweat and Blood of His Supporters who fought for the Revolution

It can be recalled in April 2021, the former CDC chairman, Solo, called on President George Weah to retrospect on the sweat and blood of his supporters who fought for the revolution.

At the time, the former Chairman Solo, alarmed that the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led-government’s agenda to emancipate Liberia and its citizens from under-development and extreme poverty had been allegedly overshadowed by corruption among public officials.

The Congress for Democratic Change is one of the political parties that make up the governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC). The remaining parties that form part of the ruling CDC include the ex-governing National Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Liberian People Democratic Party (LPDP).

Mr. Solo maintained that since the inception of CDC led-government of President George Weah, the government has not been able to improve the country’s economy for the benefit of the citizenry.

He made these comments when he participated on Spoon Talk on Spoon FM 107.5 from the United States of America.

He maintained that the pro-poor agenda proffered by the Weah-government was intended to help redeem the country and alleviate citizens from poverty, but on the contrary, the agenda has only been able to enrich some public officials, who he did not name.

“From the origin of CDC and from my involvement, it was a revolution to emancipate our people. The real question is, what has that revolution transitioned to? How do current or former CDCians see the party? I am not talking about me who left. I am talking about the people who were in the vanguard”?

“Liberia is in a very critical state. Economically, things are difficult. The agenda to emancipate the people and change the nation has been overshadowed by corruption and theft. Basically, it’s a deeper state of disappointment now when you continue to hear these things on a consistent basis. The conceptualization of the pro-poor ideology is in the reverse. The pro-poor agenda is supposed to be about the people and not officials accumulating”.

Mr. Solo observed that the party’s revolution fought for by many partisans and supporters have been devalued as evidenced by the decision taken by President Weah to focus on his personal priorities, including the building of duplexes, and accumulating wealth rather than focusing on the actualization of the ruling party’s agenda for the country and its citizens.

He then emphasized in 2021 that as a leader, President Weah must be cognizant of the fact that his plans and priorities for the nation and its people must come to fruition.

Mr. Solo added that the Liberian Chief Executive should also have in mind that he cannot continue to single-handedly steer the affairs of the country, noting that, the true essence of the party’s revolution should be reconsidered in a bid to reduce the high level of disappointment among some past and present partisans and supporters of the CDC.

He noted that to help reduce the high level of disappointment among his supporters, President Weah needs to retrospect and take a sober reflection on the manner and form in which things are going on in Liberia for the sake of die-hard partisans and supporters of the CDC and those who lost their lives as a result of the revolution, by incorporating capable and competent officials in his government.

“Whatever is working in his brain-as a leader – has to be manifested into implementation. When people are not seeing implementations, maybe you have not change, but your priorities are different. The President alone does not run a nation. You need an able Cabinet, Advisors and people around you who can be realistic with you and give you a sense of what is happening outside”.

Fast forward to 2022, also on the same Spoon Talk show over the weekend, another former close friend of President George Weah corroborated the former CDC chairman’s statement and said Liberians are going through tough economic times and those who are presently in the inner circle of the President must have the guts to advise him properly and say the truth and not to be sycophantic.

Mr. Abraham Ellis, alia ‘Markka-Lloyd’ lamented that the CDC that was envisioned by the framers of the party is not the CDC that is now governing Liberia, where self-interest and personal egos have today overshadowed the collective interests of Liberians and the country.

Mr. Ellis said the lives of the people are appalling and if the CDC cannot reawake to do the right things, he is afraid Liberians will vote them out in 2023.

Dr. Lester Tenny, Joshua Sackie, Manja Varney Gbessay Kromah and Mulbah Morlu’s Outbursts

It can also be recalled four ideologues of the Congress for Democratic (now Coalition for Democratic Change following a political marriage with two other political parties), Dr. Lester Tenny, Joshua Sackie, Manja Varney Gbessay Kromah and party Chairman Mulbah Morlu openly criticized President Weah in how he is governing Liberia.

As for Dr. Lester Tenny, he accused President Weah of allowing ‘Strange Political Bedfellows’ to highjack the CDC and out of selfishness and greed are only bent on enriching themselves at the detriment of ordinary Liberians, while the President sits idly by and does nothing.

Dr. Tenny also accused former Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Nathaniel McGill of not helping President Weah to govern the country well, indicated of the hard economic situations were going through. He said the President trusted McGill to help him run his office but instead he took advantage and hijacked the CDC-led government and behaved like a de facto President before he was sanctioned by the U.S. government, suspended by President Weah and subsequently he resigned due to public outcry and political pressure that was put on him.

Dr. Tenny later went to say the real opposition that will battle the CDC in the 2023 presidential and legislative elections are those disenchanted CDCians within the party, who have been marginalized since 2018 when the party took state power. “If CDC thinks because the opposition is some kind of way fragmented so it can use that to win re-election, they must be joking because the real opposition for the CDC are those disenchanted CDCians, who like in 2020 midterm senatorial elections voted against CDC candidates, and that is set repeat itself in 2023 if President Weah and the CDC do not change the course of things in Liberia to better the lives of Liberians,” Dr. Tenny said on Spoon Talk few months ago.

On his part, the founding father of the Congress for Democratic Change, Joshua Sackie, recounted the many struggles the CDC and the ideologues endured in the formative stage of the party and also during their opposition days for 12 years. But, according to him, after the CDC took state power in 2018 after the 2017 elections, die-hard and qualified CDCians were marginalized by former Minister McGill but the President ignored them and never intervened for McGill to look the way of qualified CDCians, who later got disenchanted.

As for Manja Varney Gbessay Kromah, the former Chairman of CDC Security Council, he blamed former Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Nathaniel McGill for the marginalization of grassroots and die-hard CDCians following their party ascendancy to state power in 2018.

On countless occasions Mr. Kromah reminded President Weah the manner and form in which he is governing the country, indicative of the tough economic situations Liberians were faced with was clear signs that the CDC government is not living up to its promise.

Manja, as he is affectionately called by CDCians, was the brainchild of ‘Disenchanted CDCians’ who were the first to speak out against how President Weah with the assistance of former Minister McGill were governing the state.

Mr. Kromah is on record of calling on President Weah to step up his game politically, or come 2023, disenchanted CDCians will join the opposition to vote him out of power.

As for CDC National Chairman, Mulbah Morlu, his outburst caught the nation by surprise few years ago, when he accused President Weah of personally using monies gotten from donors for self-aggrandizement. But when Morlu was confronted, he said everything that he said on the leaked tape were ‘liquor Talk’.

Morlu even accused the President of marginalizing CDCians as he gave jobs to his friends who were not even CDCians. But again he that was ‘liquor talk’.

It is said Morlu’s outburst landed him in trouble with President Weah and some other hierarchy of the CDC, thus a line of demarcation was drawn, where Chairman Morlu became ostracized politically within the CDC. According to some inner circle members of the CDC, Morlu was almost expelled from the party but some die-hard senior executives had to plead on his behalf.

The Way forward to 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections

The many revelations against President Weah’s leadership ability that are coming out nearly 13 months to Liberia’s presidential and legislative elections, according to supporters of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) supporters and sympathizers are political and propaganda intended to dent the re-election changes of the CDC-led government.

But as for die-hard CDCians, party ideologues and supporters, all is not lost, because if the party and President Weah can recalibrate and start to move in the right direction to give Liberians better lives, the 2023 elections can still won by the CDC.

The barrage of criticisms coming from former close buddies of President Weah speak volume at this time when political activities are getting heated up for 2023. What remains to be seen is whether the ruling CDC and its political leader and standard bearer will heed the many calls from inner circles of the party, supporters, as well as disenchanted CDCians who have called on the party to recalibrate in ready for the 2023 polls.