Liberia: Debunking Gongloe’s Conspiracy Theory

The Liberian People Party's presidential candidate, Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe, repeated a debunked conspiracy theory that claims former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf orchestrated the election of George Weah. Gongloe also claimed, without any supportive data, that 90 percent of the current government’s crisis of leadership and governance should be blamed on the former President.

 The contender said the fact that the former President did not expressly back her Vice President, Joseph Boakai, who had shown an interest in succeeding her during the 2017 campaign, was a hint that she was endorsing Weah and his Coalition of Democratic Change (CDC). During an interview with Frontpage Africa last week, Gongloe made the remarks in what seemed to be a conversation devoid of supporting data or evidence.

What was jarring and a bit confusing is that candidates running for the presidency, especially new candidates like Gongloe, usually take the opportunity to lay out their vision; they tell the citizens what's broken and how they will solve their problems. However, he chose to look backwards instead. 

Liberia, in its current form, is rife with challenges, a country in an advanced state of dysfunction. Institutions are all broken or compromised, and poverty is in a crisis state. The menu for a presidential candidate in Liberia is chock-full of developmental problems. These challenges are glaring. You do not have to search. All the revered human rights lawyer has to do is identify an area of focus. That focus should not be on his former boss, with whom he held several high-ranking government positions. 

For the record, let’s take a stab at Gongloe’s accusation that the former President was the architect behind the successful campaign of the CDC; it is no secret that the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf government bequeathed a rich legacy, in both policy and political terms, which Boakai could have capitalized on, instead of claiming, as he did during an inter-party debate, that his party had “squandered opportunities."

His message should have been more optimistic, laying out the successes and underscoring the challenges of governing a post-conflict nation. The Sirleaf-Boakai administration took the country from an US$80 million national budget to a budget of over half a billion. That should have been part and parcel of the UP’s campaign spiel. 

You cannot tell the electorate that you squandered opportunities and expect to be given a third chance, especially when you have 20 plus other candidates that will use that phrase as a bumper sticker slogan. 

This was a vile example of messaging malpractice. The constant attacks on the Unity Party’s standard bearer, President Sirleaf and other members within her circle, as well as touting him and his running mate’s indigenous roots on a campaign flyer, became his undoing. 

The miscues by the UP were overwhelming. On the other hand, the CDC played it safe and smart. They chose a female candidate as Weah’s running mate to cater to the sizable female electorate; the CDC also kept their presidential candidate away from all debates. Weah was to run on charm and popularity. It worked. The CDC knew the limitations of their candidate, so they managed his exposure. 

Even if President Sirleaf had intervened at any point, the fate of the Unity Party was sealed in defeat. However, instead of doing a self-diagnosis to determine what went wrong and take corrective actions during the next election cycle, the Unity Party decided to float a conspiracy theory and find a scapegoat, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. 

No, Gongloe, 90 percent of the crisis in governance that you spoke of is on President Weah and his CDC. They hold all the levers of power, and please do not go looking for a scapegoat using a disparaged conspiracy theory.

The Author

Joe Monyue is a former Features Editor of the New Liberian Newspaper. He is a social commentator living in Nevada.

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this commentary are solely of the author and do not necessarily represent that of the Daily Observer newspaper.