IPNews-Monrovia: The Bishop of the Cape Palmas Diocese, Andrew Karnley, is calling on President George Weah to make public his asset to allay continued doubt over his accusation of properties across Liberia.

Bishop Karnley, stated that it was time president Weah ‘make public’ his asset declaration as required by the Code of Conduct of public officials.

The tough talking Catholic Bishop in a conversation with popular talked show host Clarence Jackson, stated that the asset declaration of president Weah should not be an issue of debate if he genuinely  acquired them.

“Liberia has come a long way and we cannot afford to return to business as usual. President George Weah needs to make public his asset to allay fear from the public that he is amassing wealth at the detriment of the suffering masses.

“We think he made a lot of money as an international footballer and all he needs to do is published how much money he has now and how much he had before becoming President in January 2018.” Bishop Karnley emphasized.

Andrew J. Karnley is a Liberian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Since 2011, he has been the Bishop of Cape Palmas, a diocese with its seat in Harper. He was previously Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Monrovia from 2005 to 2011.

It may be recalled, the Executive Mansion through Deputy Presidential Press Secretary Smith Toby, on August 14, 2019, stated that there is no law requiring President George Manneh Weah to publish his declared assets.

Addressing an Executive Mansion regular press briefing held Tuesday, August 13, 2019, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia, Toby said  that the president has not violated any law by not publishing his assets.

He said that  the president being a respecter of the law will not publish his assets because he’s not compelled by law to do so.

Toby said had the law required the president to publish his declared assets, he would have done so without any hesitation considering that he’s a person who respects and abides by the law.

The Deputy Presidential Press Secretary said those who are demanding for the president to publish his assets should evoke the Freedom of Information (FOI) law.

Toby: “What stops you from evoking the FOI law for the president to declare his assets? Stop being lazy!”

He maintained that rather than people asking the president to publish his assets, they should make use of the FOI law.

“You all know where the president asset is after he went to GAC and forwarded same to LACC. If you are a citizen and want to know what the president declared, what stops you from making use of FOI law but you want the president to violate the law,” he said.

Toby further said   the law that has to do with assets declaration which prevents the president from   publishing his assets was not crafted by his administration, but something his government inherited.

Therefore, he said if people want for the president to be made to publish his declared assets, they can petition the legislature for an amendment which will compel the president and others coming after him to do so.

But he said as it stands, the president will not publish his assets because he is protected by the law which he will uphold to the letter.

Toby said though people know that there is no law that requires the president to publish his assets, but they still choose to say otherwise.

But in a sharp contradiction to his earlier firmness on the President’s property, in May 2020,said President George Weah’s controversial 9th Street property is now owned by his son, Timothy Weah, since it was demolished in early 2018.

To further back his claim, he said, “I think to convince you further, we’ll get the transfer documents transferring that property that was demolished – remember that building was demolished and remolded by the current head of the property, so we need now to give you further clarity on it by giving you those transfer documents because that property is no longer in the name of the President.”

But the Deputy Press Secretary in less than 24 hours was forced to withdraw his statement on the property, saying “It was not the factual information”.

He said, “If our information weren’t correct around that particular claim, now he’s [Pres. Weah] come back to tell us the information you put out isn’t correct, you need to correct the information and let the people know that, it’s my property, it has no attachment with my son.”

Toby further stressed: “I’m doing an erratum that the previous information on that property wasn’t the factual information; the fact of the matter currently confirmed by the President is that property belongs to him and not his son.”

It remains unclear what prompted the rather embarrassing clarification.

However, talk show host Henry Costa disclosed that Timothy Weah, a U.S. citizen and the First Lady demanded the retraction of Toby’s previous statement.

Article 22 of the Constitution of Liberia forbids non-Liberians from acquiring real properties. It states: “Every person shall have the right to own property alone as well as in association with others; provided that only Liberian citizens shall have the right to own real property within the
Republic.”

Timothy Tarpeh Weah is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for French Ligue 1 club Lille and the United States senior national team.

Toby in his previous statement concerning the ownership of the property said the new gigantic property was a project supervised by the First Lady on behalf of her son. He said all the materials used on the property were shipped into Liberia via the Freeport of Monrovia. He said, Timothy is the sole financier of the 9th Street property “that was once owned by the President.”

“It’s being revamped and of course it’s being built under the ownership of Mr. Timothy Weah,” he had earlier said.

“I think to convince you further, we’ll get the transfer documents transferring that property that was demolished – remember that building was demolished and remoulded by the current head of the property, so we need now to give you further clarity on it by giving you those transfer documents because that property is no longer in the name of the President.”

The 9th Street sea view residence was a US$150,000 property demolished by the President Weah in early 2018 immediately upon taking Oath of Office. A new structure immediately began to spring up at the time the President had claimed that he had taken over a broken economy.

While the 9th Street property was being remodeled, the President was simultaneously rehabilitating his private relaxation Jamaica Resort and began the construction of a 47-unit multi-million-dollar complex along the Robertsfield highway.

The President was highly criticized by the public and members of the opposition bloc for being insensitive to the economic hardships being experienced by Liberians at a time when the economy was muddy.

A major concern amongst those questioning Weah’s move was why he did not carry out such development of his personal properties prior to becoming President. Others wondered why such project was so much a priority for the President.

There were also concerns about President Weah’s refusal to declare his assets but at the same time acquiring more assets just few months into his presidency.

Coming to the President’s defense at the time, Minister of Finance and Development Planning Samuel Tweah remarked “He was born to make history. He made history in football, he’ll make history in politics; you’re wasting your time. Some people are born and you can’t fight it. What ‘God’ has chosen, man can never fight. There is a reason why ‘God’ took him from Gibralta to become the President today. So, whether you write fake news, you go on some kind of show and lie about a man who earned money – US$80 million and more – the man whose son is a millionaire, the man who made a lot of money, to say he ain’t got money to build his own house because he’s President, that’s a black wicked evil lie.”

Min. Tweah’s defense did not corroborate with Pres. Weah’s 2014 asset declaration forms which he filed with the National Elections Commission (NEC).

In the declaration to the National Elections Commission (NEC) Weah disclosed that he had four properties, two in Florida, USA, one on 9th Street, Sinkor, Monrovia and another in Rehab Community in Paynesville.

The 9th Street property, according to that declaration was worth US$150,000, the Rehab structure was valued US$100,000. The Miami, Florida property – US$1.4 million while the other property in Florida was put at US$900,000.00.

He further declared at the time that he earned US$200,000 over a period of 12 months (July, 2013 to June 2014) from his real estate in the United States.

The only savings mentioned in that declaration was US$50,000 in Chase Bank in the U.S.

Refused to Declare Latest Assets:

President Weah in defiance of the National Code of Conduct declared his assets six months into his presidency.

He paid deaf ears to numerous calls from citizens, the opposition bloc and civil society actors to publish his assets in the spirit of transparency and accountability.

He said he cannot publish his assets because it is his privacy. According to him, there is no law that requests that assets should be published after declared to the General Auditing Commission (GAC) and the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC).

“I have kids and families to protect. So, I gave them access to all my banks, so they have to protect me. Information about my assets cannot be made public. For those government officials who have not yet declared their assets, I have told them to do so because they have to abide by the law,” he told the BBC in February 2019.