MONROVIA – The Women’s Presidium of the Vanguard Student Unification Party (SUP) has issued a sharp condemnation of the Unity Party government’s handling of allegations against Deputy Youth and Sports Minister J. Bryant McGill, calling his recent suspension “placatory” and demanding his arrest within 72 hours.
In a statement issued September 19, 2025, the group dismissed President Joseph Boakai’s suspension of McGill as a hollow gesture meant to pacify public anger. “We refuse to dignify with applause the hollow gesture of suspending a suspected rapist,” the statement declared.
SUP’s Women’s Presidium accused the government of repeatedly resorting to symbolic suspensions rather than pursuing prosecution when officials are implicated in scandals. “To the politically naive, suspension may resemble justice, but SUP will never permit the incompetent and morally bankrupt Unity Party regime to manipulate the Liberian people with such empty optics,” the group stated.
The statement further alleged that McGill’s suspension was motivated by political self-preservation rather than genuine concern for justice or protection of women and children. The Presidium claimed the administration acted only after pressure from the public intensified. “Rather than acting with the urgency the situation demanded, Mr. Boakai dawdled until the eleventh hour,” the group asserted.
SUP’s Women’s Presidium also turned its attention to the Liberia National Police, accusing Inspector General Gregory Coleman of failing in his duty to act decisively. The group criticized him as “a costume-wearing, photoshoot-obsessed police IG with no real grasp of his duties” and charged that his reluctance to arrest McGill amounted to complicity.
According to the group, Coleman has been quick to suppress student protests but has shown weakness when politically connected figures are implicated in crimes. “Were it a poor, powerless citizen accused of such a dreadful and unspeakable crime, that individual would already be languishing behind bars,” the statement read.
SUP warned that if the police fail to act, the Women’s Presidium will consider a lawful citizen’s arrest of McGill. “Nothing short of a full and lawful arrest will be tolerated. Should this mandate be ignored, the Women’s Presidium will not hesitate to galvanize the women of this nation and execute a lawful citizen’s arrest,” the statement declared.
The student movement emphasized that genuine justice must be impartial and swift. They called for “a full, independent, and expedited investigation” into the allegations against McGill and demanded that President Boakai and Justice Minister Frank Musa Dean act beyond what they described as “ritualistic platitudes.”
Tracing its activism back to April 14, 1979, when SUP members joined the rice protest, the group underscored its history of siding with the oppressed. The statement argued that when the state abdicates its duty, citizens must step forward in defense of justice and human dignity.
SUP leaders further invoked the memory of revolutionary African figures, stressing that their commitment to social justice is rooted in conviction rather than vanity. “When we fight, we fight for those whose hands are too powerless to defend themselves,” the group said.
In closing, the Women’s Presidium expressed solidarity with the victim and her family, condemning the alleged act as “heinous and despicable.” The statement vowed that SUP will remain a “moral compass of Liberia, unyielding, ever vigilant” in demanding accountability and justice.
The group concluded with its rallying call: “Long live Massescracy! Long live the ideological fighting spirit of the Women’s Presidium Bureau of the Vanguard Student Unification Party! Long live SUP! A luta continua!”
