By Stephen G. Fellajuah
Monrovia, Liberia; August 29, 2025 – Amid rising dissatisfaction and remorse amongst politicians and events that supported the ruling Unity Celebration (UP) through the 2023 presidential elections, extra voices are becoming a member of the refrain of discontent directed on the administration of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai.
From Senator James Biney of Maryland County to Senator Crayton Duncan, and even Liberia’s Minister of Inside Affairs, Francis Sakila Nyumalin Sr., complaints have surfaced over what’s described as unfair therapy in appointments, particularly contemplating robust electoral assist from counties like Margibi, which delivered the third-highest votes for the Unity Celebration.
Now, former Bomi County Senator, Sando Johnson, has joined the listing of critics, labeling the ruling celebration as “ungrateful.”
Mr. Johnson’s remarks have been in response to a latest controversial remark made by Unity Celebration Chairman, Rev. J. Luther Tarpeh, who said that there are solely two actual political events in Liberia, the Unity Celebration (UP) and the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), and that every one others are merely “serving to verbs.”
Talking on an area discuss present Thursday night, Johnson vented his frustration, saying “The UP members have gotten the fish. They’ve eaten the top, the tail, and now they need to chew the bones!”
He went on to recommend that regardless of sound recommendation from well-meaning people, President Boakai is being misled by what he known as “vampires.”
“After good, good individuals advise President Boakai, vampires go to him at night time and confuse him,” he mentioned passionately.
“The small creek that the person will overlook is similar creek that may make him take off his trousers,” he warned Rev. Tarpeh, utilizing an area proverb as an instance the hazard of underestimating seemingly minor points.
Taking a job on the UP’s legacy, Johnson, who was additionally a defeated senatorial candidate in Bomi County, famous that the Nationwide Patriotic Celebration (NPP) has headquarters, however the Unity Celebration, after 14 years in energy, doesn’t actually have a single room registered in its identify.
If President Boakai is just not working in 2029, I can’t assist the Unity Celebration, he additional declared.
Johnson, who presently serves as Legislative Liaison within the Boakai administration, didn’t mince phrases, stating flatly, some vampires have engulfed President Boakai.
In response, Rev. Tarpeh clarified that his controversial remarks have been taken out of context. In keeping with him, the interplay was a lighthearted change with Consultant Musa Bility, by which he joked that Bility’s celebration, the Residents Motion for Change (CMC), ought to assist the UP within the 2029 elections.
Tarpeh defined that his remark about “serving to verbs” was meant as an instance that for the reason that civil struggle, solely two events, CDC and UP, have led the nation, whereas others have joined coalitions to assist both aspect.
He insisted that it was by no means meant as a dismissal of the relevance of smaller events, including that his phrases had been distorted by the media.
Regardless of his clarification, the backlash continues. Political figures and critics from throughout the nation have condemned the remarks as divisive and politically illiberal.
Some argue that such language undermines Liberia’s multiparty democracy and exhibits disrespect to the contributions of smaller events within the nation’s political evolution. Modifying by Jonathan Browne
