MONROVIA – Gbarpolu County newly elected senator from the 10 October 2023 general election, former Minister of Finance, Amara Mohammed Konneh, has slammed the George Weah-led government of being complicit in bad governance, indicating that such situation should be concerning to Liberians in the Diaspora, who he said have a stake in who becomes the country’s next president.
Konneh, who recently endorsed former VP Joseph Boakai’s candidacy over incumbent President Weah, for the presidency in the ensuing presidential runoff election slated for 14 November, informed Liberians in the Diaspora that they should be concerned about bad governance currently taking place under the watch of Mr. Weah, adding that due to this, there has been an increase in remittances Diaspora Liberians send back home to their relatives in Liberia.
He described the increase in remittances sent by Diaspora Liberians from abroad back home to relatives, as being at an all-time high, adding that for the last six years, the Weah administration has among others, destroyed the future of Liberian children by bringing into the country, very harmful drugs like cocaine and Kush.
“Many of our productive young men and women are already addicted to these harmful drugs,” Konneh lamented.
He named five other pitfalls of the Weah regime, urging Liberians in the Diaspora to therefore, rally their relatives and loved ones back home not to re-elect Weah, but vote ex-Vice President Boakai as Liberia’s next president.
A former Minister of Finance during the reign of former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Konneh, charged the Weah administration of causing many civil servants to become poorer and more destitute through what he termed an unjustified “harmonization” program, which he said, indiscriminately cut civil servants’ salaries to “finance the 100% increment in President Weah’s budget, the largest budget for any Liberian president.”
“Mr. Weah’s government has encouraged rampant corruption in the public sector, including the awarding of millions of dollars of government contracts [without] adherence to the Public Procurement & Concessions Act and a bogus US$25 million “Mop-up” exercise which, once again, was undertaken by his Minister of Finance and Mr. Weah has taken absolutely no action to prosecute or penalize government official accused or complicit in corruption in the independent audit by Kroll which he sanctioned,” Konneh averred, adding that under Weah as president, the country’s educational system which he said was beginning to show promise when the retired soccer star took over, has been destroyed by underinvestment in the sector, with the proliferation of illicit drugs being on the increase in Liberian schools, and the manipulation of public exam scores – “Our clinics and hospitals have no medicines,” he emphasized.
He accused President Weah of destroying Liberia’s reputation and good standing in the international community, indicating that this has led to various regimes of sanction by the U.S. Government and a rapid decline in foreign investment in the Liberian economy.
Howbeit, Konneh pointed out that of all the pitfalls the CDC-led government has plunged Liberia governance process into, most importantly, the former footballer’s regime has destroyed the economy of the country, killed Liberian-owned businesses, failed to create the thousands of jobs Weah promised, and has encouraged alien entities to take over vital sectors of Liberia’s economy and the society.
As a result of these, citizens of Liberia have been reduced to trading their dignity for begging and increasing remittances sent by Diaspora Liberians to their relatives in Liberia, according to Konneh, who told Liberians in the Diaspora those are issues in the 14 November runoff election.
“This election is a referendum on Mr. Weah’s stewardship of our country. Tell your relatives and friends in Liberia to vote for JNB & JKK on Nov 14 so we can revitalize the Liberian economy to empower Liberians,” Konneh rallied Liberians in the Diaspora, indicating that the impending presidential runoff election is about the issues affecting Liberians, and not about trivial personal attacks, which he accused the ruling party and its supporters of propagating – “Let’s stick to the issues,” Konneh concluded.
