Liberia: Amos Williams Suspended as FLY President

The National Executive Committee of the Federation of Liberian Youth (FLY) has suspended the president of the organization, Amos Williams, for “deliberately pursuing actions which contravene the constitution and tamper with objective procedures required for the holding of General Assembly.”

According to FLY, Mr. Williams violated the organisation’s constitution by overstepping his authority.

“On April 11, 2022, with the appointment of an Ad-hoc National Election Commission, the president overstepped his authority and violated the constitution of the Federation of Liberian Youth, which gives the National Executive Committee the imperial authority to appoint members of the National Election Commission, as stated in Article 16, Section 3 that: “All elections shall be conducted by an Election Commission appointed by the National Executive Council through the President.”

“On April 12, 2022, The National Executive Committee communicated this scandalous breach of the constitution to the Board Chairman, Dr. Julius Sarwolo Nelson and Minister of Youth and Sports, D. Zeogar Wilson, but their attempts at finding a common ground have been frustrated by the president’s evasion of any form of reasonable dialogue on the matter.

Last week, he sanctioned a new elections timeline without the explicit approval of the National Executive Committee, which is inconsistent with the constitution. The president’s intransigence to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Board Chairman, and the National Executive Committee can be translated into an insistence to dictate the course of the transition even if it means slaughtering the constitution of FLY to suit his subjective interests,” FLY said in a release. 

“The Federation of Liberian Youth is bigger than any individual and the National Executive Committee has agreed to take this action in order to protect the integrity and credibility of the institution.”

Six of the eight members on the National Executive Committee voted to suspend Mr. Williams and his authority over FLY.  The suspension temporarily relieves Mr. Williams of his presidential duties and responsibilities and is forwarded to the National Executive Council for the investigation to justify or concede the unconstitutionality of his action. 

“All information bearing on our claims of constitutional violation have been forwarded to the competent bodies for review, with a request that measures of dismissal shall be imposed on the accused, if found guilty.”

While facing investigations, FLY’s first vice president, Jacob J. Flomo, will act in the interim until the matter is fully settled.

FLY has therefore called on the Government of Liberia and partners to discontinue their engagement with its suspended president as doing so will be at their own risk.

“Any attempt to impersonate as president will be met with the full weight of the law. Additionally, we have communicated with the bank to nullify the signature of Amos Williams on the accounts of FLY until further notice,” FLY said in a release.