Koijee Pleads for Zargo’s Reinstatement -Says LIS Boss Doesn’t Deserve to Suffer Such Indignity

MONROVIA – A prominent son of Lofa County, former Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson Tamba Koijee, has added his voice to the cacophony of calls for President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to reconsider his decision and reinstate suspended Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) Commissioner General Stephen Zargo. Mr. Koijee has called on the Boakai administration to understand that among the six tribes existing in Lofa County, the Lorma people were the ones who overwhelmingly voted for the Unity Party in the 2023 presidential election, therefore it doesn’t make any sense for Mr. Boakai’s administration to belittle the most prominent official of his government who happens to be a Lorma man.

“In the first place, I do not support Honorable Zargo to do wrong, but I am concerned that when your decision only targets Lofaians, especially the Lorma people, it is of concern,” Mr Koijee stated when he spoke over the weekend on a local radio talk show in Lofa County,

Voicing his misgiving about what he termed as the unfair treatment and indignity that the suspended LIS boss is undergoing, Koijee reminded the Liberian leader that already, the people are saying his government is a Lofa County government.  He cautioned President Boaaki to be mindful of such negative public sentiments because there is a dark history in this country where people went after one another based on perceptions that their tribes were the only ones that benefited when their government was in power.

“They always say that the Lofa people have overtaken the Unity Party government, but the real people they should be talking about are the Kissi and the Gbandi people. The government is dominated by Kissi and Gbandi people,” Mr. Koijee said.

Continuing, Koijee disclosed that the head of the Liberia Revenue Authority Dorbor Jallah is a Gbandi from Lofa County, likewise the Minister of Finance Augustine Ngafua, a Gbandi; while Central Bank Governor Henry F. Saamoi is a Kissi from Lofa County.

“Lofa has six tribes. But no other tribe voted for the Unity Party more than the Lorma people. It was the Lorma people that supported the Unity Party the most during the 2023 elections.

“There is no group of people in Liberia that voted for the Unity Party more than the Lorma people. And to think that we cannot have a prominent Lorma son or a daughter to serve in a mainstream ministry is concerning. I don’t think Mr. Boakai is doing well for the Lorma people. I think it is wrong.

“For Mr. Boakai to go and suspend the true prominent Lofaian is unfair. Why is Mr. Boakai so unhappy with the Lorma people? If the Lorma people did something that he doesn’t like, the Lorma people will apologize to him. But any government is about interest.

“There are so many in the Boakai administration who did a lot of things, and they are not prosecuted. Why is Mr. Boakai targeting the only prominent son of Lofa County who is from the Lorma tribe? What has former Senator Zargo done that you will go after him and disgrace him? If you disgrace Zargo, you disgrace the people of Lofa County. The first two persons that he chased out of his government are Lofaians,” former Mayor Koijee said, noting that former Commerce Minister Amin Modad is from Lofa County with roots from the Gbandi tribe.

Queried as to why a prominent member of the country’s largest opposition political party will come out to defend a member of the ruling party that helped to oust his party from power, Mr. Koijee said his call for President Baoaki to have clemency on the LIS boss is devoid of politics.

“Let’s forget about politics. I am a CDCian and I will remain a CDCian forever. Former Senator Zargo and I do not agree politically. His political views differ with my political views. But if anything affects a Lofaian should be a concern to another Lofaian. No Lofaian should sit down and celebrate the downfall of another Lofaian. I don’t think it is culturally right for us. We might be politically different, but we should be culturally collective.

“In Lofa County, I am Kissi, and the majority of the tribes call us uncle. But among all the tribes in Lofa County, our dearest nephews happen to be the Lorma tribe. We have many other nephews, but God said that David was a child after his own heart. The Lorma people are so close to us. Even when we differ with them, we believe they are very close to us,” Koijee reasoned.

The former Monrovia City Mayor used the occasion to call on the Boakai administration to prioritize the plights of Lofaians because he Boakai hails from Lofa, therefore he cannot detach himself from his umbilical cord.

He said it is sad to see that under a perceived Lofa County government, you have students in Voinjama, Kolahun, Foya, and other districts who cannot afford to go to school.

The situation of Lofa County, Koijee said, can be likened to a child who is given a basket full of ripe bananas, toting it on his head and parading around Voinjama.

“Lofa is carrying the ripe banana on its head but is not allowed to eat the banana,” Koijee lamented.

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