THE TERM “WITCH HUNT” is variously referred pointed to some meanings and contexts, but when used in relation to politics, it refers to a situation where people or groups are unfairly accused and persecuted for their beliefs or actions or misclassification, often in a way that is driven by hysteria or a desire to find a scapegoat. It is typically used to describe a situation where someone is being targeted without sufficient evidence to support the claims made against them.
WE STRONGLY BELIEVE that the above premise is a perfect fit of what is occurring in the polity of the day in the country with the ruling Unity Party alliance government seems to be plotting from all corners to cage the opposition through various schemes and machinations such as the well-orchestrated plan to remove some government officials from their tenured positions.
AS THE NEWS of former President George Manneh Weah’s concession of defeat to then candidate Joseph Nyuma Boakai hit the corners of the country, Liberians had looked forward to seeing a robust political environment where the incoming government will be civil and legally redeem its commitment to the Liberian people especially in terms of auditing the former regime to ensure that the culture of impunity that has long dogged the country came to an end.
HOWEVER, IT HAS been a huge disappointment that since inauguration of President Boakai and both the President and his lieutenants have been awkwardly taking the issue of implementing the agenda of the new administration to be a direct battle against the former regime.
HOWEVER, AS SOON as President Joseph Nyuma Boakai was inaugurated, the nation’s political scene got more tension packed and his actions to pursue corrupt people and to remove individuals serving in tenure positions have called into question the genuineness of the President’s anti-corruption war.
WE DO NOT mince words about the process initiated by President Boakai to remove those on tenure positions under the impression that they violated the code of conduct, a document that guides civil servants especially conflicting their functions and duties and meddling in national politics which is unethical.
IN THE FIRST place, the action of the President completely contradicts his professed stand on rule of law and the need not to politicize the fight against corruption and flagrant violations of constitutions that have made impunity to be unchallenged for a long time. Without any form of conviction or an official indictment through established legal means, President Boakai went ahead to announce new appointments into the positions currently being occupied by those he had removed illegally and forwarded the names of those he appointed to the Senate for confirmation where applicable.
BESIDES REMOVING OFFICIALS with unexpired terms through written communications and announcing their replacements, the President and his lieutenants, are alleged to be intimidating and harassing some officials through the use of teleguided workers to cause the state of turmoil and anarchy at those workplaces and as well as such actions that adversely impact the everyday happenings in the country.
ONE OF SUCH negative occurrences was the stage managed protest which was, from all indications supervised and carried out by some elements among the workers at the National Fishery and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) where they presented grievances against the NaFAA boss, Madam Emma Metieh-Glassco.
HOWEVER, GOING BY how the episode was stage-managed, the action by the government and its agents was in total disregard of the existing laws In the country as clearly the aim of the so-called “workers protest” was to disgrace, intimidate, dehumanize and ridicule her and her family through sheer cheap propaganda, sensational investigation and media trial that this government has put in place.
LET THE TRUTH be told that this paper proudly stands on one of its fundamental reasons why it came into existence and that is the resolve to speak the truth and to stand with it despite all the odds against good governance in the country. Therefore, no matter how the tides are stronger than could be imaged, we remain very unbending in our quest for the enthronement of true democracy that everyone will be proud of even in absentia.
IT IS IN this vein that we urge the government to preserve the integrity of the political process, including taking forward investigations without any prejudice on one side or the other, following the evidence and taking action where it is justified.
THERE ARE A lot of instruments available from our jurisprudence that the country, especially the government and its agents could explore to bring to book all those accused of being on the wrong side of the law. No amount of threats and unorthodox means of exerting the mechanism to force on the people in the name of fighting corruption should be encouraged including the recent form of intimidations the dissent voices against tyranny have gone through.
THE GOVERNMENT’S DECISION to withdraw all its moves against people said to be serving in unexpired terms could be trusted in another window, but more has to be done to erase this negative perspective the public has developed against the government that it has been promoting witch-hunt.
IT IS HIGH time that efforts should be exerted to improve our judicial system so as to ward off this creeping tendency of witch hunting opponents in the name of combating corruption on the part of the government.
Comments are closed.