In the wake of President George M. Weah’s declaration of a State of Emergency on April 8, 2020 to tackle the deadly Coronavirus pandemic, the Political Leader of the Liberty Party, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence took to the social media questioning the rationale of President Weah declaring a State of Emergency without providing a comprehensive health plan to the Legislature. As The Analyst has learned, Senator Lawrence’s social media post elicited a flurry of reactions from the government, some not so savory. In a scathing counter-reaction, the Liberty Party has now issued a stinging attack on the Minister of Information, Eugene Lenn Nagbe. Below is the LP Press Release signed by its acting National Youth Chair, Dean N. Tuolee.
Liberty Party Press Release
“On April 11, 2020, the Political Leader of the Liberty Party and Leading Voice in the Liberian Senate, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lwarence wrote a message on the social media reminding the President of Liberia that his declaration of a State of Emergency as part of strategies to curb the spread of COVID-19 without providing a corresponding comprehensive health plan to the Legislature was a slow and poor approach to the fight against the virus that poses a serious threat to our existence as a people. The open reminder by Senator Lawrence came after several passionate calls both in the Senate and on several media outlets for the Executive Branch of Government to consider swiftly crafting a National Plan to tackle COVID-19. Senator Lawrence believes that the exigency of her request for a National COVID-19 Plan of Action is driven by the many challenges confronting our health sector and the need to avert the ripple effect that COVID-19 would have on all sectors of our national existence.
Unsurprisingly and in his usual unscrupulous approach, the Minister of Information took it upon himself to provide what has been termed a response to Senator Lawrence’s call for a National Health Plan to fight COVID-19. The April 15, 2020 edition of the Ducor Herald Newspaper quotes Mr. Nagbe as saying among other things that Since February 2020, the President of Liberia provided the Senate with a detailed health plan through the head of Senate’s Committee on Health and member of the Special Presidential Advisory Committee on Coronavirus (SPACOC), Hon. Dr. Peter Coleman. Mr. Nagbe further seized the moment to live up to his notorious acclamation as a Presidential Attack Dog rather than the Spokesperson of Government by indicating that Senator Lawrence makes “Zero contributions on the Senate Floor.” It surprises nobody that a man who worked as a Presidential Attack Dog of Former President Sirleaf, but later denigrated her to secure his current job with his new servant would choose to make such dishonorable comment about our Political Leader who is a leading voice at the Liberian Senate and is credited for regularly generating issues that border on the interests of the Liberian People. Even his Boss, President Weah, a former Senator of Montserrado County knows who the real “Bobo” was during his time at the Senate and would acknowledge that Senator Lawrence has never been a silent voice; otherwise she would not be occupying a very important leadership position at the Liberian Senate.
Liberty Party wishes to educate Minister Nagbe on the fact that Presidential Communications to the Liberian Senate are channeled through the Office of the Protemp and not an individual Senator as he deceptively asserts. Even if a health plan was submitted to the Senate through Senator Coleman as Mr. Nagbe would like to have the public believe, as of the time of the posting of Senator Lawrence’s reminder to the president for a National Health Plan to tackle COVI-19, the Senate had not received any such document. It is worth noting that the communication forwarded to Senator Coleman is dated April 14; a day prior to Mr. Nagbe’s rants against our Political Leader. Mr. Nagbe must have either been at the lowest ebb of his intellectual depth, or was as usual blinded by the need to execute his role as a Presidential Attack Dog when he bemoaned our Political Leader’s use of the social media to communicate with Liberians. If the use of the social media was an inappropriate mode of communicating governance issues as he insinuates, why does his Ministry use the same medium to communicate government’s policies to the people? It is unfortunate that the chief spokesperson of the government would still have the appalling and primitive mindset that governance issues such as a life-threatening health crisis should be concealed in deep secrecy.
Finally, we wish to inform Mr. Nagbe that Senator Lawrence shall remain a Leading Voice in the Liberian Senate and that the fight against COVID-19 is one moment when she will persistently be heard advancing the interests of all Liberians, particularly the poor and vulnerable population. Unlike Mr. Nagbe whose loyalty is limited to the President and his pay cheque, our Political Leader is under oath to protect the interests of all Liberians. It is understandable that a man whose sole source of survival for the most part of his productive life has been one presidential appointment after another would go at any length to protect his job. However, Mr. Nagbe must understand that even the biggest gambler knows when to call it a day. This is a moment when he must take a sober reflection and realize that the ultimate measure of his intelligence and patriotism cannot always be the need to protect a government job. We would like to caution Mr. Nagbe to for once bury his perverse interest and see the global COVID-19 pandemic as a threat to his very survival as a Presidential Errand Boy, and a threat to our collective existence as a people.”
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