As the internal rift within Liberia’s biggest opposition bloc continues to widen, amidst news that the former ruling Unity Party of Ambassador Joseph Nyuma Boakai has withdrawn from the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), the Unity Party has distanced itself from a statement issued by the Liberia Renaissance Office Incorporated (LIROI), that it (LIROI) is aware of a December 18, 2021 meeting held in Accra, Ghana between CPP presidential contenders, Ambassador Joseph Boakai of the UP and Mr. Alexander Cummings of the Alternative National Congress, which centered around resolving the widening rift within the CPP, among other issues.
According to Unity Party Secretary Mo Ali, the UP does not, outside of social media, know about any group called LIROI, nor does the party know about any effort being played by this group to bring Ambassador Boakai and Mr. Cummings to any discussion table to settle on the issue of the CPP Standard Bearer for 2023.
“The UP therefore terms any release or statement from this so-called group purporting itself to be playing any mediatory role as trash and their claims as false. We therefore call on our partisans, supporters and well-wishers not to pay any credence to any statement coming from said group.
“As we have always done, we will keep our partisans appropriately informed of any development and actions we undertake for the upkeep of our party,” Mr. Ali stated categorically in a statement issued via social media Wednesday afternoon.
Mo Ali’s reaction stems from a press statement issued by the LIROI Monrovia Coordinator George Gyude Wisner, claiming that his organization is in the know of two separate meetings held with former VP Joe Boakai and Mr. Alexander Cummings in Accra, Ghana on December 18, 2021, consistent with ongoing effort to gauge the perspectives of the two leaders who are vying for the CPP presidential slot, on critical issues important to LIROI objectives of promoting democracy, economic transformation and sustainable development in Liberia.
According to the LIROI, the organization was aware of the presence of the two CPP leaders in Accra, and used the opportunity of the presence of its partners, the BW Global Group (BWGG), on a field trip in the region, to meet separately with the two leaders.
“The two meetings centered around LIROI interests in realizing the aspiration of the Liberian people for a united opposition through the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) for which LIROI was subsequently informed the two leaders separately reaffirmed their commitment to a united CPP.
“The two meetings also solicited the views of the two leaders on additional ways and means by which LIROI could be more supportive of the CPP. The LIROI and its partners were pleased with the cordial atmosphere surrounding the separate discussions and the expressions of both leaders to resolve all outstanding issues within the CPP, particularly the conflict within the Liberty Party, and promote democratic ideals as they go about the processes leading to the selection of candidates of the CPP for the ensuring 2023 Presidential and General elections. The LIROI will continue to explore and engage all the key stakeholders of the CPP in public and private to advance the objectives of LIROI in its support of a united CPP,” the statement averred, clarifying further that at no time did it or any of its partners meet jointly with both leaders neither did it facilitate negation by both leaders on the leadership question of the CPP.
“While LIROI would welcome such meeting as positive, were it to have taken place between both leaders, we are cognizant that such exercise must be voluntary and ought to grow out of the willingness of the parties and their leaders to do so,” the group noted.
The current Ghana trip brouhaha comes amidst widespread speculations within the social media landscape and amongst talk show hosts that indeed, the two opposition political leaders did meet last week in Ghana, where monetary offers were purportedly put forth for one side to succumb to the other in terms of the CPP presidential candidate slot. Throughout these allegations, Mr. Alan White’s name kept popping up.
Mr. White is renowned for spearheading the indictment that led to the prosecution and incarceration of former president Charles Taylor. Alan White is said to be an executive of the BW Global Group which is currently partnering with the LIROI.
Comments are closed.