A few days ago I reported on ritualistic murders in Liberia and the link with scheduled elections. Unfortunately, a painful phenomenon hard to eradicate.
More in general, in Liberia (as in many other countries) not all ritual murders are discovered whereas not all discovered ritual murders are reported in the local or national press. What we learn from Counselor Gongloe’s statements is that in recent times more ritual murders have been committed in Liberia than one might think based on reports in the media (printed, radio, television, twitter).
Tiawan Saye Gongloe who hails from Nimba County in Liberia is the presidential candidate of the Liberian People’s Party (LPP). He is a highly respected lawyer and human rights advocate and known for his progressive ideals and integrity. Gongloe served as an executive assistant to the interim president of Liberia, the late Amos Sawyer, from 1990 to 1994 and as Solicitor General (2006-2009) and minister of Labor (2009-2010) during the first term of the Sirleaf Administration (2006-2012). Hence his statements about a recent surge in ritualistic killings must be taken seriously and not interpreted as ‘political warfare’ against his opponent, incumbent President George Weah.
(webmaster FVDK)
Liberia: Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe links recent ritualistic killings to poverty under the Weah-led Government
Published: February 1, 2023
By: Weah Karpeh, Contributing Writer – FrontPage Africa
MONROVIA – Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe, Standard-bearer of the Liberian People’s Party (LPP) has told the people of Lofa County that he would curb corruption in public service by taking stringent measures to root out the menace as President of Liberia. According to him, the vice grossly impedes Liberia’s progress while past and present leaders look on as if it is normal to carry on when it must be nipped in the butt.
Addressing an array of people in continuation of his acquaintance tour of Lofa, which has already taken him to 20 towns in the County including Voinjama, Kolahun and Foya, the LPP Standard-bearer named a number of ways corruption occurs in public service. He said willful underperformance, stealing assets and moneys, conflict of interest, putting family members and friends in positions they are unfit to hold, overestimating bids and contracts to obtain cuts, unlawful extraction of natural resources and profiteering are part of common acts of corruption that continue to undermine the very fabric of the nation.
Due to greed prompted by the abovementioned, the candidate bemoaned that the vice was part of fertilizers of ritualistic killings the government is unable to curtail. He indicated that people who are unready but desire government jobs simply to steal State resources, resort to “juju-people” that ostensibly requires human parts in order to work.
People in Cllr. Gongloe’s audiences including women in Salayea, Borkaza, Konia and LPMC (Nyandisu) particularly admonished the “incoming” President of Liberia to deliberately fight ritualistic killing because it is now commonplace in Liberia. In his word, the LPP Standard-bearer Gongloe stated: “This is very bad. It creates insecurity among the people. Therefore, as President of Liberia, I will combat corruption in order to render the wicked services needless”.
From town-to-town, Tiawan asserted that as President, he would declare and publish his assets in social media and conventional media outlets and would robustly press other office holders in the three Branches of our Government to declare and publish their assets in like manner. In addition, he avowed that he would publish the salaries and benefits of the President and that of his cabinet and other officials of agencies and commissions and would vehemently urge the Speaker and members of the Legislature and Chief Justice and Associate Justices to do similarly.
Renowned for his impeccable character in public service, Cllr. Gongloe added that he would leave no stone unturned or spare any official when culpable in any graft, propounding that there would be conduct of quarterly lifestyle audits of government officials. The LPP Standard-bearer reiterated “I assure you that I will dismiss and order the arrest, investigation and prosecution of any official of my administration found guilty of cheating and stealing our Country’s resources”.