CMC Postpones September Rally -Demands full accountability in drug probe

MONROVIA – The Citizens Movement for Change has stepped back from confrontation without surrendering its leverage. The opposition group postponed its planned September 5 national rally after President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s dismissals and suspensions over the drug crisis. Yet the postponement comes wrapped in a warning: administrative sanctions cannot substitute for a comprehensive criminal investigation. CMC wants the financiers, importers, facilitators, and protectors of the narcotics trade exposed, whatever their positions or connections. The group frames its restraint as a limited opportunity for government, not a concession. Should selective prosecution or delay follow, it promises renewed pressure with opposition and civil society partners. The burden, it says, now rests squarely on the President, As THE ANALYST reports.

The Citizens Movement for Change (CMC) has postponed its planned September 5 national rally following recent dismissals, suspensions and other administrative actions taken by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in response to Liberia’s worsening drug crisis, but the group is warning that the measures must not be allowed to substitute for a full criminal investigation. In a strongly worded statement issued by its National Chairman, James M. V. Yougie, the CMC welcomed the President’s recent actions as an important first step, while describing them as belated and insufficient to address what it considers a deepening national crisis.

The group said the measures indicate that the government has finally begun to appreciate the seriousness of the narcotics situation and growing public demands for accountability. However, the CMC cautioned the administration against treating dismissals and suspensions as the conclusion of the matter.

“Dismissals and suspensions are not substitutes for a comprehensive criminal investigation, full public disclosure and the prosecution of everyone against whom credible evidence exists,” the group said. According to the CMC, the administrative actions should mark the beginning of a wider investigation rather than provide an avenue for the government to close the matter.

‘Expose the Entire Network’

At the center of the CMC’s demand is the identification and prosecution of individuals who may have played different roles in Liberia’s alleged drug-trafficking networks. The organization referenced statements from the Inspector General of Police and other security authorities suggesting that influential individuals and senior officials may have connections to the drug trade.

The CMC is therefore calling on President Boakai to ensure that investigators have the independence, protection and resources necessary to follow the evidence wherever it leads. The organization said the investigation should not be limited by political influence, wealth, official position or connections.

It wants investigators to examine the possible involvement of current and former government officials, security personnel, political actors, businesspeople and foreign collaborators, while stressing that no individual should be shielded from scrutiny because of status or influence. “Liberians have the right to know the cartel behind the drug trade in our country,” the CMC declared.

The group said the investigation should seek to establish who allegedly financed narcotics operations, imported the drugs, received and transported them, provided protection or security, stored them and stood to benefit financially from their distribution. It further called for scrutiny of financial transactions, communications, assets and institutional relationships that could help investigators establish the structure and financing of the alleged network.

Evidence, Not Political Accusations

While demanding a comprehensive investigation, the CMC sought to distance its position from calls for punishment based merely on allegations or political accusations. The organization said it is not seeking convictions through rumor, insisting instead on evidence-based investigations, due process and prosecution “without fear or favor.”

That position places the burden on law enforcement and prosecutors to establish credible evidence before individuals are charged and prosecuted. The group’s statement comes amid heightened national concern over the proliferation of illicit drugs in Liberia and growing pressure on the government to identify those responsible for financing and facilitating the narcotics trade.

Rally Postponed, Not Abandoned

The CMC also disclosed that it has been consulting opposition political parties and other national stakeholders over its planned September 5 peaceful national rally. The organization said the consultations would continue because the drug crisis should be treated as a national issue rather than the exclusive concern of one political or civic organization.

Following the government’s initial administrative actions, however, the CMC said it had decided to postpone the rally to give the administration a “limited opportunity” to transform those measures into what it described as a credible, transparent and comprehensive investigation. The group emphasized that the decision should not be interpreted as a withdrawal from its campaign for accountability.

“The rally is postponed, not abandoned,” the CMC said, maintaining that its demand for truth and accountability remains unchanged. The group added that its “foot remains firmly on the pedal of accountability.”

Warning Against Selective Prosecution

The CMC also issued a warning against what it described as possible delaying tactics, selective prosecution or an investigation that focuses exclusively on lower-level actors while shielding individuals with political or economic influence. The group said it would become concerned if only junior officers or peripheral actors were punished while those allegedly financing, importing or facilitating the narcotics trade escaped scrutiny.

“If we observe delaying tactics, selective prosecution, the sacrifice of only junior officers, the protection of powerful individuals, or any attempt to use these dismissals and suspensions to whitewash the investigation,” the CMC said, it would consult with its political and civil society partners. The organization said it would then consider “appropriate peaceful, constitutional, and democratic actions” to pressure the government.

The statement represents a cautious opening for the Boakai administration, with the CMC acknowledging the government’s recent actions while simultaneously setting a higher threshold for what it considers meaningful accountability. Liberia, the group warned, cannot punish young people at the bottom of the drug chain while protecting the powerful people who finance, import and facilitate the narcotics destroying the country.

‘Burden Now on the President’

The CMC said it would recognize the government when it takes appropriate action but would not accept administrative measures as a substitute for uncovering the broader network behind Liberia’s drug crisis. “The burden is now on the President,” the CMC declared. “The Liberian people are watching. CMC is watching.”

The group is now demanding that the government demonstrate through a transparent and evidence-driven investigation that the recent administrative actions are part of a much wider effort to establish accountability. For the CMC, the September 5 rally may have been postponed, but the pressure on the government has not disappeared. “The national demand for truth, justice, and accountability continues,” the organization said.