Monrovia – The Vanguard Scholar Unification Social gathering (SUP) has accused the Unity Social gathering-led authorities of drifting towards authoritarianism.
By Willie N. Tokpah
The group stated the administration of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and Vice President Jeremiah Koung is utilizing state safety to intimidate political opponents and suppress dissent.
SUP made the assertion throughout a press convention held on Monday, June 9 in Monrovia.The group condemned the latest incarceration of former Home Speaker J. Fonati Koffa and several other lawmakers in reference to the December 2023 Capitol Constructing fireplace.
SUP additionally denounced the alleged assault on Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) Chairman Janga Kowo, claiming each incidents replicate rising political repression.
In an announcement signed by Secretary-Basic Odecious Mulbah and accepted by Chairman Sylvester Wheeler, the group known as for the fast dismissal and prosecution of Liberia Nationwide Police Inspector Basic Gregory Coleman.
SUP accused Coleman of enabling state violence and intimidation in opposition to opposition figures. “This regime is dangerously slipping into dictatorial authoritarianism,” Wheeler stated.
He added that the Boakai administration is “weaponizing the state safety equipment to silence dissent, punish political opposition, and suppress the voices of the poor and marginalized.”
SUP described the Capitol Constructing fireplace investigation as a political smokescreen. The group questioned why some members of the bulk bloc within the Home of Representatives, who had been allegedly concerned within the incident, haven’t been charged.
SUP claimed the Boakai administration is selectively making use of justice to focus on critics. Chairman Wheeler stated the arrest of Koffa was a calculated try and intimidate political opponents.
He criticized the president for recognizing Richard Koon as Speaker of the Home with out what SUP described as a correct legislative course of.
Wheeler additionally condemned President Boakai’s public assertion labeling the Capitol fireplace as “hooliganism” earlier than any investigation was concluded.
SUP described the alleged assault on CDC Chairman Janga Kowo as “vicious and inhumane.” The group stated the incident highlights what it known as an increase in “state-sponsored terrorism.”
In its record of calls for, SUP known as for the removing of Police Inspector Basic Gregory Coleman.
It additionally demanded an impartial, citizen-led investigation into the Capitol fireplace.The group known as for justice for Janga Kowo and different alleged victims of what it described as police brutality.
SUP additional demanded an finish to what it termed the administration’s “creeping dictatorship.”
The group additionally criticized human rights advocate and Unity Social gathering official Samuel Kofi Woods, calling him a “sellout” for allegedly failing to talk out in opposition to latest abuses.
SUP warned of deliberate mass mobilizations to protest the federal government’s actions. It vowed to withstand what it described because the rule of “elite looters and enablers of imperialism.”
“At a time when the individuals cry for meals, jobs, schooling, and dignity, this regime responds with batons, tear gasoline, and iron fists,” Wheeler stated.No quantity of intimidation, no barrel of a gun, can break the iron will of a aware revolutionary motion.”
SUP is Liberia’s oldest pupil political group. It has an extended historical past of activism and stays influential on the College of Liberia campus and amongst progressive youth teams.
