MONROVIA: Yekeh Kolubah, a lawmaker representing District #10, Montserrado County, said he will find it difficult to follow the political direction of the standard bearers of the former ruling Unity Party(UP) and the Collaborating Political Parties(CPP) Joseph Nyuma Boakai and Alexander B. Cummings for their inability to exert their influence on lawmakers representing their respective parties in the national legislature while scolding his colleagues for playing deceit and sycophancy with the lives of the Liberian people.
Representative Kolubah made the assertion over the weekend when he hosted a press conference to vent his anger on his colleagues in the lower chamber of the national legislature for rectifying a USD65m loan agreement between the Government of Liberia and the International Development Association (IDA) without critically examining it to know whether it will be favorable or not against the interest of the Liberian people.
“I always tell the Liberian people that if you are waiting for your lawmakers to liberate you, you are wasting your time. Can you imagine that a USD65m loan agreement signed between the Government of Liberia and the International Development Association was sent to us by President George Weah on the 21st of June and while we were sitting down in session and copies of the agreement were being distributed in our offices, it was placed on the agenda for us to pass it without looking at it.
“My office received my copy at 1:30 pm and by 1:45 pm the instrument was passed by us without seeing it, to know what is in it for the Liberian people, whether it will benefit our people”, Rep. Kolubah said.
He said before the commencement of the plenary session where the agreement was approved, Representative Thomas Fallah of District #5, Montserrado County who Chairs the Ways and Means Committee approached him and told him that his (Yekeh) earlier communication sent to the plenary will be put on the agenda for discussion for the day if he (Yekeh) consented to allow the rectification of the agreement to be discussed during plenary. He said he accepted the suggestion but instead of discussion, the plenary called for outright voting and besides him, all his colleagues including opposition lawmakers voted vehemently in support of the agreement.
“Now, that was done by the other lawmakers who you call opposition lawmakers who are a serious embarrassment to this country. Those who only come to you during the election saying we will straighten the government.
“Why do you want to straighten up now that you haven’t done since 2017. Now everyone is saying George Weah failed. No. He did not fail. We make him fail. We refused to tell Weah what to do but now that we want to change the government, we are saying we should be together but I am not going to be part of it”, he said.
Kolubah who is a known critic of President Weah said it was out of place for the opposition to talk about change when they have not demonstrated any effort to bring a real change outside of just calling for the removal of the President from power using the same people who have been on the side of the government through the last six years.
He said it has not been an easy struggle to single-handedly wage war against corruption and the campaign for his colleagues to do the right thing for the Liberian people.
He said if Boakai and Cummings are to be taken seriously about bringing the needed change in governance they should stop being partisan on crucial national issues and first demand their lawmakers to speak for the Liberian people.
“We expect Boakai and Cummings to ask their lawmakers to tell the Liberian people who signed the agreement and why they signed for it. They should stop taking side with their lawmakers and be bold to tell them their faults.
“Let them stop deceiving the Liberian people because our people are suffering. Not every lawmaker that is not supporting Weah should be called an opposition. Some of them are telling me that if they were the speaker, they would drag me outside of the session all the time”, Kolubah said.
He provided some of the highlights in the agreement, among which he said it will take effect in 2023 and terminate in 2073 with high interest rates which will affect the common man in the country.
“We just committed this country to an agreement that will last up to 2073. Liberian people, we just sold you, don’t you know it is a scam? Why are we treating Liberian people like this?
“Now we are coming back to you again because it is election time. Why didn’t we do what we are promising now 6 years ago but it is left to you to decide because it is you that will suffer it “ Kolubah said.
He said it was high time for him to dissociate himself from political parties who are only bent on removing President Weah from power in the name of a united opposition but are not doing anything different to show that they care for the people. He said for 2023, he will distance himself from any party affiliation and go as an independent candidate and has been working with his people to ensure that he files his papers on time.
“I want to thank my supporters for coming around anytime I need them. I have decided to go as an independent and since my arrival, I have given them the marching order to get 300 persons to sign the papers and we take their photos.
“Since Saturday and Sunday, the people have been coming here, the number was huge, up to 700 and we told the other people to go back. They paid their own way back. We are doing all the paperwork and we will file our application to recontest in this election”, Yekeh said.
The Montserrado County lawmaker said he was proud of the brand of politics he preaches and believes in though others including those in the opposition called him “uneducated and crazy”
“They said I am not educated, I am a crazy man. Yes I agree I am a crazy man but I have common sense and will not steal from the Liberian people. I will always speak for them and stand with them”, he said
He warned the government against any attempt to rig the election using the coercion of state security, stressing that such a plan will be resisted by the Liberian people.
This thing of a lawmaker (Yekeh Kolubah) needs to be behind bars. It is so good his rejection by the voters of his constituency in a couple of months is now a foregone conclusion.