Jewel Rebukes  Yekeh Kolubah -Warns Against Culture Of Political Falsehood

MONROVIA – Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor has turned a deeply personal grievance into a much broader indictment of Liberia’s combative political culture. Her forceful rebuke of former lawmaker Yekeh Kolubah goes well beyond merely defending President Joseph Nyuma Boakai from a disputed condolence-visit claim. By branding the allegation false and malicious, she reframes the dispute as a test of political decency itself. The intervention carries added political weight given her long record as First Lady, Senator and Vice President. It signals a widening fault line over how far opposition rhetoric may now reach during moments of private grief. Her demand for a retraction now places the entire burden squarely on Kolubah, as THE ANALYST reports.

Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor has launched a vehement political rebuke of former lawmaker Yekeh Kolubah, accusing him of pushing a false and malicious narrative against President Joseph Nyuma Boakai. At issue is the President’s condolence visit to her family following the death of her son, Charles Neilson Philip Taylor IV.

In an unusually forceful statement, Howard-Taylor flatly rejected Kolubah’s account of the visit, declaring the allegation that President Boakai behaved disrespectfully toward her family and home to be completely false and disrespectful. “No such incident occurred,” she asserted, dismissing the claim as a fabrication that she said dishonors both the Office of the President and the memory of her late son.

The former Vice President’s response injects a sharp new dimension into an emerging political dispute. She moves beyond merely defending President Boakai’s conduct to challenge what she describes as a dangerous culture of political character assassination and misinformation in Liberia.

Taylor Draws A Red Line

Howard-Taylor, a former First Lady, Senator and Vice President, appeared to draw a clear political line over what she considers the misuse of moments of national and personal significance for political attacks. She argued that the death of a child represents one of life’s most painful experiences and that her family’s mourning should not be transformed into political theater.

According to Howard-Taylor, President Boakai’s visit was among numerous expressions of sympathy extended to her family by Liberians across political, religious and social divides. Those gestures of compassion, she said, should not be distorted for political sensationalism or personal attacks.

Her intervention is particularly significant given her own political stature and history in Liberia’s political arena. She invoked her experience in national leadership to argue that political disagreements must not become a license to undermine the dignity of public institutions or destroy the reputations of opponents.

Liberia Deserves Higher Standard

Howard-Taylor’s most pointed criticism was directed at what she called the growing culture of character assassination, misinformation and vilification of national leaders for political gain. She warned that such conduct diminishes public discourse, weakens respect for state institutions and sets the wrong example for younger Liberians.

Her message was unmistakably political: opposition to a government, she suggested, must not be confused with a license to attack individuals through claims she considers untrue. “Political differences should never justify the deliberate spreading of falsehoods,” she declared, stressing that the principle should apply with even greater force amid grief and mourning.

Kolubah Challenged To Retract

Howard-Taylor has now placed the issue squarely before Kolubah, calling on the former lawmaker to immediately retract the allegation and apologize to President Boakai, the Liberian people and her family. She described the claim as malicious and unfounded, effectively challenging Kolubah to either substantiate the allegation or withdraw it from the public domain.

The demand raises the political stakes around the controversy, transforming what might otherwise have remained another political accusation into a direct challenge over truth, credibility and responsible public conduct. Her position is that Liberia’s political class must learn to distinguish between vigorous contestation and personal attacks that, in her view, cross the boundaries of decency.

Disagree On Policies, Not Truth

In closing, Howard-Taylor offered what amounted to a broader indictment of Liberia’s increasingly combative political environment. She did not call for an end to political disagreement, instead defending the right to disagree while insisting that competition remain anchored in truth and respect.

“Let us disagree on policies. Let us debate ideas,” she stated, while warning against sacrificing truth, decency and respect at the altar of politics. For Howard-Taylor, the controversy has become another test of Liberia’s political maturity and of whether the country’s leaders can disagree fiercely without tearing down the dignity of national institutions and private citizens.