Liberia: ‘Sanctions, No Bearing on Weah’s Reelection’

 Chief Cyril Allen, a stalwart of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change.

— Chief Cyril Allen

“President George Weah will win next year's election regardless of who is sanctioned in his inner circle,” says Chief Cyril Allen, a stalwart of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change.

Allen, who is the Chairman Emeritus of the National Patriotic Party (NPP), one of the three parties in the ruling Coalition (CDC), argued that despite the US government sanctioning three senior officials of the Weah administration, the sanction has no impact on the President’s reelection bid, come 2023.

Allen added that the actions of the suspended and sanctioned Minister of State, Nathaniel McGill, the Managing Director of the National Port Authority Bill Twehway, and Solicitor General Saymah Syrenius Cephus, were of their own making and not the government — “so it has nothing to do with the President’s election.”

“The actions of the affected officials, for which they have now been  sanctioned, were their personal doings and not of the government’s or any official policy. The sanctions have no bearing on the reelection of the President,” Allen said in an interview with the Daily Observer.  “The sanctions of these top officials is a national crisis that should not be celebrated but considered an international embarrassment for the entire country.”

“[Also], the officials sanctioned could just be a warning to create corridors for improvement in the governance structure of the country.  But the sanctions on the Weah’s officials does not in any way narrow the chances of Weah second term presidential bid.”

The remarks by Allen, who serves in the Weah administration as chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP), come as critics argue that the sanctions on three of Weah’s inner circle could implicate him, thus affecting his chance of reelection.

But for Allen and Weah’s supporters, this would not be the case since “Weah is not the target or his government.  The sanctioned officials — McGill, Twehway, and Cephus, three powerful players close to the Liberian president — are being accused of corrupt acts that ‘undermine the country’s fragile democracy.’

The three government officials are being designated for engaging in corruption, the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, and corruption related to the extraction of natural resources.

McGill is accused of “receiving bribes from potential investors and accepted kickbacks for steering contracts to companies in which he has an interest, while Twehway, is accused of orchestrating the diversion of US$1.5 million in vessel storage fee funds from the NPA into a private account and formed a private company to which he later unilaterally awarded a contract for loading and unloading cargo at the Port of Buchanan, the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in an August 15 statement. 

Cephus is also accused of receiving bribes from people in exchange for having their court cases dropped and has also shielded money launderers and helped clear them through the court system, the Treasury Department said. 

“The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish but to bring about a positive change in behavior.  [Any] persons that engage in certain transactions with the individuals and entities designated today may themselves be exposed to sanctions or subject to enforcement action,” the Treasury said.  “Furthermore, unless an exception applies, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for any of the individuals or entities designated today could be subject to U.S. sanctions.”

The sanctions’ impacts extend beyond the normal freezes of assets in the US, or in possession or control of a US citizen and the normal visa restriction — but their ability to perform respective functions — something which induces pressure on the President to suspend them. 

It also means that they would find it difficult to control their respective US bank accounts — as checks issued with their signatures might face problems and difficulty in clearing since all local banks have standing corresponding relationships with US banks — which are key for the survival of said local banks. 

Also, unless an exception applies, which US Embassy sources here informed the Daily Observer is out of the making, “any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for any of the individuals or entities designated could be subject to US sanctions.”

The extensive and complex nature of the US financial system means non-US international banks would most likely comply with the sanction to safeguard their overseas networks and US dollar-denominated transactions that are ultimately cleared in the US by passing through the US Clearing House Interbank Payments System (Chips).

This means local banks are now at risk in managing accounts and providing loan facilities and other instruments to sanctioned persons since all of them have standing corresponding relationships with US banks.

The sanctioned officials, particularly McGill, according to Allen, may not be his personal doings but that of bad close associates who might have “engaged in those acts and, as a senior official of the government, he bears the responsibility.”

Allen, who suffered such international restrictions for 12 years during the administration of former president Charles G. Taylor, added that the decision of President Weah to have suspended these officials is in the rightful direction and the best decision taken in such a situation.

“When the International Community at the time released the 13 official names of Taylor’s government, including me, on travel restrictions and economic sanctions, I reportedly advised Taylor to replace us but Taylor objected to it,” Allen narrated.

He said perhaps if former President Taylor had listened to him, he (Taylor) could have still been around but that is now history.  Allen further said that though the situation is not entirely the same, the decision of the President to have quickly suspended those individuals is a laudable venture and best practice conventionally.