—- Promises Unity of Margibi County

IPNEWS: In a rather defiant posture, the former minister of State and chief of staff in the office of Liberian President George Weah received a jubilant welcome from the people of Margibi County. Nathaniel McGill had gone to the county for an appreciation program for his scholarship initiative.

The former Minster McGill is contemplating contesting through a petition by the people of the county to contest one of the county’s senatorial seats in the upcoming 2023 election.

Interestingly, Mr McGill is among three Liberian Government officials who were recently designated by the United States Treasury for official corruption; for which they were forced to resign.

As early as 8 am, momentum to the event began as people started trooping into the campus of the Booker Washington Institute where the elaborate program was held, interspersed by traditional singers and dancers, brandishing banners, flags, and placards, flooded the streets and communities that turned quiet Kakata City, Margibi into a sort of carnival.

There were several campaign posters bearing the photos of President Weah with Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor and Mr. McGill were on displayed

Ahead of the program, jingoes were aired on the radio referring Mr. McGill as “One of the sons, one of the fathers, one of our faces, our celebrated sons.” amongst other things.

Welcoming McGill and his entourage to the county, the Mayor of Kakata City, said the county was excited to play host to the appreciation and honoring program of Mr. Nathaniel McGill for the outstanding role he played in the Presidential Scholarship program and said that the citizens and residents, especially the parents and students will continue to be grateful for the initiative, describing it as the first of its kind in the county and wished the participants a happy stay in the city.

Giving the overview of the fund drive, Mr. Harry Tarnue, Principal of the Booker Washington Institute (BWI), said the program which was launched on October 5, 2021, on the campus of BWI was the unprecedented and first of its kind in the county for such noble initiative.

He gave detailed information about all the activities as compiled by the committee tasked with the implementation.

“I want to remind you that almost exactly one year ago, we gathered at this particular venue to witness the launch of the biggest support to the cause of education in Margibi County,” Mr. Tarnue said. “This report is transparent and shows the roadmap how public funds can be judicially used for the good of the people.”

He said the total amount received for the fund drive came to L$15,950,000 and USD105, 000 which was used to pay school fees for 36 public schools throughout the 5 electoral districts of the county.

He stated that only Duazon Public School did not benefit from the scheme according to the reports received from the field.

He continued: “This fund drive represents a significant achievement towards providing support to quality education, especially for both parents and students who have had challenges in meeting the cost of education. And for this, we want to thank the former Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Mr. Nathaniel Farlo McGill for spearheading this presidential fund drive by President George Manneh Weah.”

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries of the scholarship program, Miss Younger Kollie of the Lango Lippaye High School who appeared very excited to have benefited from exercise, said she and her colleagues along with their respective parents were happy for the opportunity it afforded them to enroll for the academic year without any financial cost to them and their parents.

“We the students and parents assembled here today have come to express our gratitude to Mr. Nathaniel Farlo McGill for the immense contribution to our academic sojourn,” Student Kollie asserted in a prepared statement.

“We the students and parents can vividly recall that we were financially challenged in payment of tuition and fees and you stepped in to alleviate the challenge. Your support has been able to achieve our objective. Therefore, we are grateful to all of those who assisted you to assist us.”

In a short statement, a representative of the rural women of Margibi said: “We are here today to tell our son to thank you for our children, God bless you”.

The citizens later presented a gown to Mr. McGill.

Several other groups, later on, took the stage to pour praises upon the former Chief of Staff to the president. The groups included the Margibi County chapter of the ruling CDC represented by Johnny Johnson.

“The program today is the manifestation that Margibi deserves good things. It is a county without discrimination. President Weah, through Mr. McGill, is the first person to award a scholarship of such to the people of this county,” he noted.

Remarks also came from a group called “Team Liberia for the Re-election of Weah in 2023”, whose leader said that the group presently operates in 6 counties, including Bong, Nimba, Rivercess, Grand Bassa, Montserrado, and Margibi, and that, in coming days, it will be launched in the rest of the counties.

A representative of the traditional council of the county showered praises on Mr. McGill, describing him as their worthy son who takes pride in them. He prayed that God would continue to bless him in whatever endeavors he engages in.

Special recognition was given to the Superintendent of Grand Bassa County, Janjay Baikpeh.

The Margibians thanked Mr. Baikpeh, who came all the way from Buchanan City, to show support to Mr. McGill who has been at the forefront of the worthy development initiatives in the country. The Lord Mayor of Bopolu City, Gbarpolu County also extolled Mr. McGill and encouraged him to continue doing the best for the people of Liberia.

As the celebrant, Mr. McGill, rose to respond to all the praises showered on him, he had to wait for long minutes to give latitude to several battle cries, sloganeering, and cheers from the audience.

McGill accentuated the importance of the scholarship and market initiatives carried out in the county which he said demonstrated how committed President Weah is to the provision of quality education in the country.

He said: “As you are aware, this President has made education a priority consistent with the constitution that the government is responsible to provide equal access to education and government is under obligation to provide education to our citizens. I want to thank you for appreciating me. The appreciation also goes to all those who made contributions to the scholarship program.”

The Honoree continued: “I want to assure you that this government will not relent. There is big news for all the public schools. Good news is coming for you. The government is making sure that the scholarship will not be abandoned; that the scholarship will continue so that you will attain your education. Our parents never had the opportunity. It is now time that we give you the opportunity. And I want to thank the period of Margibi for giving me the opportunity to be part of what they are doing.”

Mr. McGill promised that there “greater things are there for Margibi.”

“Greater things are in the future for Margibi. As citizens of Margibi, we will unite the county. This county will never again be divided. This county will remain. We the citizens and residents will work for the greater good of the county,” he said.

McGill he was thankful to them for defying the rain to be at the program, stating that he could not imagine the number of people who turned out to make the day memorable and adding that he is not going out of the county but will remain there.

As the program came to an end, parents and students spoken to separately said, for a long time, the generosity of McGill will remain evergreen in their minds.

On Monday, August 15, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Liberian government officials Nathaniel McGill, Sayma Syrenius Cephus, and Bill Twehway for their involvement in ongoing public corruption in Liberia. These officials are designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world.

Under the sanctions, all property and interests in the property of McGill and the other two officials that are in the United States must be blocked and reported to Treasury, while people who engage in transactions with the officials may be subject to sanctions themselves, the statement said.

In a United States Government recent sanctions imposed on Nathaniel Falo McGill for massive corruption, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, stated that McGill during his tenure in government, bribed business owners, received bribes from potential investors, and accepted kickbacks for steering contracts to companies in which he has an interest.

The report further noted that Mr. McGill manipulated public procurement processes in order to award multi-million dollar contracts to companies in which he has ownership, including by abusing emergency procurement processes to rig contract bids. McGill is credibly accused of involvement in a wide range of other corrupt schemes including soliciting bribes from government office seekers and misappropriating government assets for his personal gain.

He has used government funds allocated to other Liberian government institutions to run his own projects, made off-the-books payments in cash to senior government leaders, and organized warlords to threaten political rivals. McGill has received an unjustified stipend from various Liberian government institutions and used his position to prevent his misappropriation from being discovered. McGill regularly distributes thousands of dollars in undocumented cash to other government officials for government and non-government activities.

As a result of this action, all property and interests in property of these targets that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in the property of blocked or designated persons. (Courtesy of Analyst Newspaper)