MONROVIA – Magdalene Dagoseh’s removal as Commerce Minister has become a Grand Bassa County political brawl. A rebuttal issued in her defense makes grave claims. It alleges that Senators Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence and Abraham Darius Dillon paid money to engineer her exit. The alleged recipients sit at the heart of the Presidency. Liberty Party official Cephas MMD Flanzamaton fired back, insisting the President alone removed her. The money allegations remain unproven. No official named has publicly answered them in the material before THE ANALYST. The quarrel also exposes a fraying Unity Party–Liberty Party alliance with 2029 in view. As THE ANALYST reports, the feud now tests trust within the governing coalition and the integrity of presidential appointments.
A senior official of the Liberty Party (LP), Cephas MMD Flanzamaton, has accused former Minister of Commerce and Industry Magdalene Ellen Dagoseh of insulting the office of the Presidency and President Joseph Nyumah Boakai, following her allegations against Senate President Pro Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence and Senator Abraham Darius Dillon over her removal from office.
Flanzamaton, an Executive Committee member of the LP who serves as National Vice Chair for Inter-Party, made the accusations in a response to Dagoseh’s claims.
Flanzamaton charged that, out of frustration and due to what he called the former minister’s “inherent incompetence,” Dagoseh “blatantly accused and insulted the office of the Presidency and the President of the Republic of Liberia.” He claimed that she called the President incompetent, lacking independence in decision-making, and corrupt.
Instead of appealing for mercy and showing remorse, Flanzamaton argued, Dagoseh went on “a wide-ranging ghost hunt” and accused the “morally upright” Karnga-Lawrence and Dillon of actively orchestrating her removal.
He described as comical her denial of what he called the “empowering acknowledgement” rendered by Karnga-Lawrence that landed her the job of Minister of Commerce, saying she was thereby arguing that the Pro Tempore “doesn’t have the political colossuses to influence her appointment.”
Flanzamaton Mocks ‘Malapropisms’
Flanzamaton further accused the former minister of presenting “a narrative full of malapropisms.” According to him, Dagoseh asserted that the Pro Tempore neither acknowledged her appointment nor smoothed her confirmation process, but did “engine” her removal. “The same person who supposedly couldn’t ‘acknowledge’ you getting in now has, or had, the power to get you out! How?” he asked.
Addressing Dagoseh directly, Flanzamaton insisted that her removal as Minister of Commerce and Industry “was carried out exclusively by the President, a power granted to him by our country’s constitution.”
He described as “completely preposterous” what he called her slander of Karnga-Lawrence and Dillon, referring to her claim that the two lawmakers initially provided US$50,000 (L$9,118,000) and later added US$30,000 (L$5,470,800) to the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Hon. Samuel A. Stevquoah, and the Presidential Legal Advisor, Cllr. Bushuben M. Keita, for the purpose of influencing her exit from the ministry.
The LP official said the striking contrast between Dagoseh’s belief that she can mount a political force against the “Gbosaydeh of Grand Bassa County” and reality is what makes the matter “unexpectedly humorous,” since Karnga-Lawrence has faced and defeated some of Dagoseh’s “very so-called political bigwigs.” “Madam, I encourage you to go and seek redemption from your sister, Senator Lawrence. Just a hint,” he concluded.
Rebuttal Alleges Cash For Removal
Flanzamaton’s response followed a rebuttal circulated under the heading “Former Commerce Minister Magdalene Dagoseh Breaks Silence, Accuses Senate Pro-Temp Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence and Senator Darius Dillon of Masterminding Her Removal.”
The statement, titled “A Comprehensive Rebuttal to Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence’s Public Assertions Concerning Hon. Magdalene Ellen Dagoseh,” is written in the first person by an author whose name does not appear in the copy obtained by THE ANALYST.
The author stated that he or she listened attentively to Karnga-Lawrence’s interview on Radio Gbehzohn, during which the senator allegedly disseminated “a substantial amount of misinformation and disinformation” in what appeared to be “a calculated attempt at damage control,” ostensibly intended to garner public sympathy and political sentiment among the people of Grand Bassa County.
The statement declared it imperative that the public be adequately informed of the issues surrounding Dagoseh’s appointment and subsequent removal from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and set out what it described as misleading assertions it intended to expose to the people of Grand Bassa County and Liberia at large.
Dispute Over Appointment Role
According to the rebuttal, Karnga-Lawrence claimed that, prior to Dagoseh’s appointment as Minister of Commerce and Industry, the President consulted her concerning the appointment, and further boasted that Dagoseh herself held a meeting with her before her confirmation.
The statement categorically challenged the credibility of that account, asserting that the senator “does not possess the knowledge or authority she appears to suggest concerning the circumstances that culminated in Madam Dagoseh’s appointment.”
The rebuttal described Dagoseh as a highly ranked and longstanding member of the Unity Party (UP) who has served the party in several capacities and made substantial contributions to its growth, political advancement, and institutional development for more than three decades.
It argued that her commitment, sacrifices, and contributions can be established through the party’s historical records, and claimed that the magnitude of her contributions is unparalleled, with no individual’s contributions matching hers except those of Cllr. Varney Sherman.
The President’s decision to appoint Dagoseh, the statement maintained, was based on the unprecedented sacrifices and contributions she made to the UP over several decades, and there was consequently no obligation for the President to consult a senator from Grand Bassa County before exercising his constitutional and executive prerogative.
The author therefore considered the senator’s assertions misleading and deserving of a public explanation, adding that if her claims cannot be substantiated, she should acknowledge the misrepresentation and tender an appropriate apology to the Liberian public.
Alleged Payments To Presidency Officials
The rebuttal described as “a blatant falsehood that warrants serious scrutiny” the senator’s assertion that she knew nothing about Dagoseh’s removal. It noted that, as Karnga-Lawrence herself acknowledged, Dagoseh commenced her humanitarian interventions through the Magdalene Ellen Dagoseh Foundation (MEDF) before her appointment, and claimed that these activities have continued to generate positive impacts, particularly among the people of Grand Bassa County.
According to the statement, the growing visibility and perceived impact of the foundation’s activities generated considerable political apprehension concerning the 2029 General Elections, and Karnga-Lawrence became concerned about the potential political implications of Dagoseh’s growing public acceptance. It alleged that the senator subsequently embarked on efforts to undermine Dagoseh through repeated complaints to the President, claiming that Dagoseh intended to contest against her in the 2029 elections.
The senator’s argument, the rebuttal claimed, was that it would be politically disadvantageous for the UP to field a candidate against her while the UP and the LP remained in an alliance.
The statement, however, recalled that Karnga-Lawrence broke that political alliance shortly after the elections, when she openly informed the hierarchy of the UP that the political marriage was over and that she and her political associates had returned to the opposition.
Against this background, the rebuttal alleged, the senator actively pursued efforts to secure Dagoseh’s removal, providing an initial sum of US$50,000 to Stevquoah and Keita for the purpose of influencing the President to remove Dagoseh from her ministerial position.
When the process encountered difficulties, the statement further alleged, Karnga-Lawrence, together with Dillon, convened a meeting with Stevquoah, Keita, and two other employees of the Ministry of State “in an effort to advance a deliberate and malicious undertaking against Madam Dagoseh, her own fellow Bassa sister.” During that meeting, the rebuttal alleged, an additional sum exceeding US$30,000 was provided to those individuals. It claimed that Dillon personally hand-delivered the money to Stevquoah.
Political Motive Alleged
The rebuttal contended that the plot against Dagoseh’s growing humanitarian influence could alter the political dynamics in Grand Bassa County. It alleged that Karnga-Lawrence’s actions were intended to weaken Dagoseh financially and politically by removing her from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, thereby limiting her access to the resources she might otherwise have used to sustain and expand her humanitarian interventions.
The author nevertheless assured the people of Grand Bassa County and Liberia at large that Dagoseh remains energized, determined, and fully prepared to expand her humanitarian activities through the MEDF.
“No political controversy or attempt to undermine her public standing will diminish the importance of humanitarian service to the people who depend on these interventions,” the statement declared, expressing confidence that Dagoseh will continue working to strengthen the foundation’s programs and, indeed, triple the scale of the humanitarian activities she has undertaken for the people of Grand Bassa County.
The people of Grand Bassa County, the rebuttal concluded, deserve transparency, accountability, and the opportunity to understand the circumstances surrounding these developments, as well as assurances that political competition will not become an instrument for obstructing humanitarian work or undermining initiatives intended to improve the welfare of ordinary citizens.
“The people of Grand Bassa County and Liberia deserve the truth, and the truth must be exposed,” it stated.