VOINJAMA, Lofa County – In his long-awaited public assertion, former Commissioner Normal of the Liberia Immigration Service, Steve H. J. Zargo, has issued a scathing critique of President Joseph Boakai’s administration, accusing the ruling Unity Occasion — notably its internal circle of loyalists — of political entitlement, exclusion, and betrayal of coalition allies who helped convey the occasion to energy.
By Selma Lomax, [email protected]
Talking on Let’s Speak So and Speak, the flagship program of Radio Wologisi in Lofa County, Zargo broke 9 months of silence, leveling pointed accusations on the so-called Unity Occasion “boys” whom, he claims, have monopolized state energy and systematically sidelined members of collaborating political events, together with his personal Liberty Occasion.
He argued that when there are points involving a Unity Occasion individual in authorities, they’re resolved rapidly, however when it considerations somebody from a distinct political occasion, it takes longer to be addressed.
Zargo’s look adopted weeks of hypothesis about his political future and the explanations behind his prolonged silence after being suspended from his publish at LIS practically a yr in the past.
Whereas no official cause was ever supplied for his suspension, Zargo made clear that he believes his elimination was politically motivated, orchestrated by influential Unity Occasion insiders who seen him as an outsider regardless of his years of loyalty to President Boakai.
He reminded listeners that he supported President Boakai for 19 years, at a time when others now benefiting from the administration didn’t wish to. He added that he even sacrificed extra for Boakai’s presidential bid than his personal re-election to the Senate in 2023 as a result of he felt the folks of Lofa deserved to provide a president.
As a former senator of Lofa County and chair of the Senate Committee on Protection, Safety, Intelligence, and Veteran Affairs, Zargo was a key participant within the opposition coalition that propelled Boakai to victory in 2023. Nevertheless, he now says that loyalty was repaid with betrayal.
He recalled that he was suspended for 3 months with out rationalization and, after the suspension, was quietly changed quite than formally dismissed. He stated he feels “deeply harm” by the method and believes justice was not executed, particularly contemplating the position he performed within the 2023 election.
Zargo’s strongest condemnation was reserved for the inner dynamics of the Unity Occasion itself. He stated these across the president misled him about his character and intentions, just because he comes from a distinct political occasion.
He accused the ruling occasion’s internal circle of treating the federal government as a private inheritance and downplaying the contributions of different political actors who helped safe the Unity Occasion’s return to energy.
He didn’t maintain again in figuring out names both. Zargo accused Inner Affairs Minister Francis Nyumalin, a cousin to President Boakai, of being one of many architects of his elimination. He alleged that Nyumalin, throughout the marketing campaign interval, overtly threatened that he would undergo beneath a Unity Occasion authorities if the occasion gained. Zargo claimed that Nyumalin’s affect over the president is so sturdy that no matter he tells the president turns into last, and that he performed a significant position in his ouster due to his proximity to the Government Mansion.
Makes an attempt by FrontPageAfrica to contact Minister Nyumalin proved futile as much as press time.
Reflecting on the 2023 elections and the spirit of coalition-building that introduced the opposition collectively, Zargo stated the therapy he has obtained isn’t just private — it displays a deeper drawback throughout the Unity Occasion’s strategy to governance.
He stated the federal government that was envisioned collectively has now grow to be a one-party affair, with Unity Occasion members utilizing state energy to reward their very own whereas marginalizing others. He lamented that coalition companions at the moment are seen as intruders and that the administration has failed to understand the sacrifices made by the Liberty Occasion.
Including insult to harm, Zargo revealed that regardless of his loyalty and tireless assist for the Unity Occasion, the occasion went so far as to discipline a candidate towards him — Garlakpai Kortimi — throughout the 2023 senatorial election in Lofa County. He stated this was a deliberate effort to weaken his political base and additional alienate him from the Unity Occasion’s internal circle.
His radio look attracted hundreds of listeners throughout Lofa County and past. Zargo described it as a second of fact and reckoning, saying the honeymoon interval with the Boakai administration is over. He stated it’s time for him to talk and transfer ahead with readability, figuring out that he did his half to assist result in change, solely to be excluded afterward.
