Liberia: Solomon George Described as Repugnant to Rule of Law

The Vision and Standard Bearer of the opposition People’s Liberation Party (PLP), Dr. Daniel Cassell, has branded as a domestic terroristic threat the recent declaration by Montserrado County Representative Solomon George, that he will eliminate, or cause to “disappear” critics of President George M. Weah and the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) if appointed Inspector General of the Liberia National Police (LNP).

Dr. Cassell says the pronouncement by Representative George is grossly irresponsible, dangerous, and undemocratic. 

The PLP Vision and Standard Bearer said the Lawmaker’s pronouncement must be denounced by all Liberians, especially President Weah. 

The Lawmaker represents District Number Seven in the House of Representatives of the Liberia national legislature.

According to media reports, Representative George spoke recently in Montserrado County at a town hall meeting held in District Number Seven during a visit to the district by President Weah and executives of the CDC. 

The provocative Montserrado County lawmaker declared, “Mr. President, you know me. Maybe you want to win the Nobel Peace Prize, but as for me, I do not want to win the Nobel Peace Prize. I want to be police director for just six months or one year, people will disappear.”

In a press release issued on Monday, August 29, 2022, Dr. Cassell described Representative George’s declaration as repugnant to the rule of law. 

He said it has serious security implications; and it has the potential of eroding the Liberian democracy, and the peace and stability the country now enjoys following years of repeated civil wars. 

The defunct National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) led the first Liberian civil war started on December 24, 1989, in Buutuo, Nimba County. 

It was preceded by other civil uprisings. The wars claimed more than 250 thousand human lives and displacement of thousands of Liberians in the West African subregions and other countries in the world. Liberia’s brutal civil wars ended in the year 2003.

Dr. Cassell called on the US government and the international community to take note of the Lawmaker’s statement which poses a serious threat to the well-being of opposition political leaders in Liberia. 

He said the statement also reinforces the current waves of violence across Liberia. He maintained, “Let the international community and the Weah administration intervene in probing Representative George for the threat made against the people of Liberia.”

Meanwhile, Cassell says the Party welcomes the US Department of the Treasury’s recent targeted sanctions imposed on three eminent members of the ruling CDC government. 

On Monday, August 15, 2022, the US government through the Department of the Treasury sanctioned the now suspended Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Nathaniel McGill, Solicitor General Sayma Syrenius Cepheus, and the Managing Director of the National Port Authority (NPA), Bill Twehway, for engaging in corrupt practices in the public sector for their benefits. 

According to the US Department of Treasury, the reported actions of the sanctioned officials undermined Liberian democracy and the country’s ability to thrive. 

The PLP Vision and Standard Bearer further applauded the US government for the action taken in the fight against blatant acts of corruption in the Liberian government. 

He said it is a shame for President Weah to sit in Monrovia unmoved while a foreign country takes the lead in identifying and weeding out corrupt officials in the CDC administration.

In a related development, the US-based chapter of the PLP says it will this week start a tour of two states in the Midwest region of the United States of America (USA). 

The tour, the Party says, will be led by its Vision and Standard Bearer, Dr. Daniel Cassell; and it will begin on Saturday, September 3, 2022, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

On September 3, 2022, the Party will convene a town hall meeting at the Office of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota, based in Brooklyn Park at 5:00 PM midwestern time (10:00 PM Liberian time).

On Sunday, September 4, 2022, the tour will continue with a visit by Dr. Cassell and the PLP Liberian-owned acclaimed Liberian-owned Ebenezer Community Church located in Brooklyn Park for a worship service. 

Following the service, the tour will continue with a visit to Fargo, North Dakota 4:00 PM. Another political town hall meeting will be held at 4:00 PM at the Christ United Ministry House of Testimony located at 705 E Main Avenue, West Fargo.

The purpose of the Midwest tours is for the Standard Bearer and the PLP leadership to educate Liberians and friends of Liberia based in those states about the mission and vision of the Party as it prepares for the 2023 general and presidential elections in Liberia.