Author Archives: Damain Teye Johnson

Isaac W. Jackson expose JNB lack of Leadership capacity

Like many Christians, I believe that the Holy Bible conveys objective and fundamental truths. And so, this passage (2 Samuel 1:27 )from the Holy Bible came to mind as I saw a handful of Unity Party (UP) leaders and partisans parade in “protest”. Notably absent was the UP Standard Bearer, Former Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and his two sons, both of whom are employed by the government at Maritime and Social Security. Understandably, Boakai’s last public appearance at a UP Presser bespoke of an aged and unhealthy elder.

At 80 years, and fitted with a pacemaker, Boakai can be forgiven for his inability to lead the UP “Protest”. But Boakai cannot be forgiven for misleading the UP into a place of such political embarrassment so that the once-mighty party has to be begging foreign embassies and missions to rescue it from its own follies. The UP as an institution and its partisans deserve better leadership from Boakai. After more than half a century in public service, if Boakai cannot lead the UP into public respect and consideration; what is the value of his “leadership experience” the UP wishes the Liberian people to believe Boakai possesses.

Touted by the vaunted UP propaganda machinery as “experienced”, the octogenarian politician has shown no such character and trait. Of the UP leadership of the Liberian Government in which he was second-in-command, Boakai describes it as a period of “squandered opportunities”. Showing no capacity to reconcile with his boss, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who named him to her ticket, Boakai ran against the successes of the UP and lost massively to George Weah in 14 out of Liberia’s 15 counties.

With his stranglehold of the party, he maneuvered a relative and stooge into the Chairmanship and took the UP into a collaboration in which they agreed to a democratic primary to choose their Standard Bearer, and that they would remain enjoined at the hips until Weah is defeated in 2023. While presiding over the CPP, the four-party collaboration, Boakai announced the withdrawal of the UP, and claimed the group to which he had wedded the UP for nearly two years was “a product of fraud”.
In the face of the challenge by two other members of the CPP, as if withdrawn from reality, Boakai would publicly bluster that the laws would not be applied to him or the UP. In fact, it did. In Lofa County, from which Boakai and the UP hail, consistent with the Framework Agreement of the CPP, Boakai and the UP are not permitted to field a candidate in the May 10 Senatorial By-election. Hence, a few party faithfuls are taking to the streets and running to a number of foreign embassies and missions begging for some intervention, if not intrusion, to save Boakai and the UP.

UP does not need the interventions of foreign embassies and missions to rescue it. The party needs its faithfuls to rescue it from its Standard Bearer who has clearly been left behind by changing times and circumstances. Boakai may have been a ‘good’ second fiddler. Even then, he called himself a “parked car”. Attempts by the mighty UP to move the “parked car” from the comforts of the garage and onto the challenging race track has only left the UP floundering and falling. Some cars are best left in garages and showrooms, just like some people are followers and should not be burdened with the duties of leading.

Leadership is the difference between how high a country or a party may rise, or how low they can fall. As it ‘protested’ it was painful to see how far the once-mighty UP has fallen under Boakai.

THE TRUTH ABOUT JUSTICE WOLOKOLIE’S INSTRUCTION

As there have a been an attempt by the former political leader of the Liberty Party, Sen. Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence and others to distort the outcome of the conference held in the Chambers of Associate Justice Wolokolie yesterday, our Vice Chairman for Political and Legislative Affairs have set out the facts in a detailed summary of the key development in the case so far.

. On April 21, 2022 Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, Steve Zargo, Jacob Smith (1st Petitioner) and Emmaneul Azango (2nd Petitioner) filed a 27-count Petition for a Writ of Prohibition against Musa Bility and Martin Kollah (1st Respondents) and National Elections Commission (2nd Respondents).

The Petitioners made the following claims and prayers:

1) That the Farmington MOU resulted in an agreement to make certain amendments to the Jan 2021 amended LP Constitution, related to Article VII having to the with the roles of the Political Leader and Chairman, and that the Bility and Kollah has refused to implement said amendments as agreed; That based on the Farmington MOU the Political Leader nullified the Jan 2021 Constitution, wrote NEC to withdraw the Constitution and revert to the 2015 Constitution, and nullified the elections of the Jan 2021 Convention.

2) That Emmanuel Azango filed a complaint with NEC that the Jan 2021 Convention was fraudulent because it lacked quorum and that the NEC Hearing Officer and Board of Commissioners both ruled that the matter be brought through the Party’s Internal Dispute Resolution Mechanism; That the Political Leader set up a Special Investigating Committee to look into the matter and that this Committee found in favor of Azango, that they submitted this finding to the NEC. That, not withstanding, both the NEC Hearing Officer and BOC denied the complaint

3) That the LP National Executive Council expelled Bility and Kollah from LP and therefore they are no longer members and have no legal standing to issue any complaint in the Party’s name;

4) The NEC is proceeding in a manner contrary to legal practices and their rights are being adversely affected; That NEC’s decision that the LP Constitution lodged with it is is presumed to be the legitimate Constitution of the Party unless properly amended or successfully challenged is wrong; That the NEC’s rulings are not binding because it is only an opinion of 5 Commissioners because the NEC Chair did not sign the BOC ruling and there is a law that requires the Chair to sign all rulings.

5) That they are asking the SC to issue a Writ of Prohibition commanding a stay on all further proceedings by the NEC and to stop LP from proceeding with its planned Convention.

The Respondents made the following answers to the Petitioner’s claims:

1) As to the matter of the Farmington MOU and LP Constitution:

LP says: There is no disagreement on the content of the Farmington MOU but rather on the lawless manner in which the PL attempted to effectuate the MOU. The Farmington MOU was an agreement between the Political Leader and the National Chairman in which they both agreed to the terms. However, neither the Chairman nor the Political Leader possess the constitutional authority to commit the Party without the consent of the National Executive Committee, therefore that MOU had to also be approved by the National Executive Committee. In addition, even the approval by the National Executive Committee is subject to final resolution by the Special National Convention. The Political Leader did not want to follow the proper procedure and instead rushed to NEC to “withdraw” the LP Constitution, an action that she has no authority to carry out. Contrary to the claim that the Chairman refused to implement the Farmington MOU, within a week of the Farmington sitting, he called a National Executive Committee to pass on the matter, The National Executive committee DID pass on it and it was slated for final approval by the Spacial National Convention (SNC). This SNC was held in December 2021 and the body DID pass on the amendments. Immediately after the SNC, LP submitted an amended Constitution, incorporating the agreements from the Farmington MOU, to the National Elections Commission. As a matter of fact the Farmington MOU was the ONLY amendments made to the Constitution in December 2021.

SC Justice says: Upon hearing the information that an amended version of the Constitution, encompassing the agreements from Farmington MOU, had been filed with the National Elections Commission, information, it would seem that the matter is resolved. Therefore she instructed that the NEC provide evidence of the refiled and amended Constitution to ascertain whether or not the claim made by LP is correct. Said instruction is to be carried out within 72 hours.

2) As to the issue of the Azango complaint:

SC Justice made several observations: At the beginning of the Convention the Convener called roll to ascertain quorum before beginning the Convention. There was no dissension from the Convention on the issue. The Convention proceeded. The Petitioner, Azango, participated in the Convention and even contested in the election and lost. So why is he now bringing an issue of quorum. The SC Justice DID NOT consider the matter.

LP did not have to provide any rebuttal.

3) As to the matter of Petitioner’s claim that the NEC is proceeding wrongly and NEC ruling being non-binding because the Chair did not sign:

NEC says: The claims being made by Petitioner are inaccurate. NEC has absolutely no role to play in the conduct of a Party’s IDR. Rather, its role is to regulate and validate that the Party’s IDR has been followed. The NEC has already ruled that the LP Constitution is valid UNLESS successfully challenged in a court or amended by the Party. As to the Political Leader’s letter to withdraw the 2021 Constitution and replace it with the 2015 Constitution, NEC has received no such proof of a successful challenge nor has it received any information from the authorized LP body that this decision has been made.

SC Justice corrected Plaintiff’s counsel assertion of the law and informed them that that the provision they relied on has long since been repealed by the Commission. There is no law requiring the Chair to sign all rulings in order for it to be binding.

The SC Justice explicitly stated that the matter of relevance before her is whether or not the Farmington MOU has been executed. The Writ of Prohibition requested in their Petition WAS NOT ISSUED. This brings to an end the legal narratives around the LP Constitution. Once the evidence that the LP Constitution was IN FACT amended in December 2021, and that the amendment includes the agreements of the Farmington MOU, and that the amended Constitution was duly filed with the National Elections Commission, the public misinformation and falsehoods being put out will also be ended.

Of important note is that even though his name is listed as Petitioner, former Chairman Steve Zargo DID NOT sign the petitioner’s affidavit. Only Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence and Jacob Smith signed for 1st Petitioner and Emmanuel Azango for 2nd Petitioner. Very interesting!