MONROVIA – Former Minister of Mines and Energy Wilmot J. M. Paye has issued a warning to members of the ruling Unity Party (UP), urging them to confront what he describes as “enemies within” ahead of the party’s Homecoming Day scheduled for Saturday, December 6, 2025. In a lengthy statement released on Friday, Paye positioned the event as a defining moment for the party’s future and a test of the pledge its leaders made to Liberians in 2023.
Paye, who also served as National Secretary-General and National Chairman of the Unity Party, declared that the Homecoming must be more than a ceremonial gathering. He said the event should be an “absolute display of unity,” representing the first time the party will publicly present a united front since returning to power in 2024. According to him, unity must not be mistaken for celebration. “December 6 is not about politics for the sake of it,” Paye said. “It is not a day for pomp and pageantry. It is a recommitment to the pledge we made in 2023, the pledge we made to Liberia.”
In his statement, Paye emphasized that the party’s re-emergence should not suggest that Liberia’s challenges have vanished. He described the country as still grappling with injustice, poverty, inequality and governance failures. “We are not coming out because the woes of inequalities, injustice, poverty and bad governance are now extinct. “We converge because the eternal destiny of this great Movement unites us,” he noted, invoking the memories of late political figures William Gabriel Kpolleh, Edward Binyah Kesselly and Jackson Fiah Doe, Sr.
He argued that a significant threat facing the party and the nation comes not from political opponents but from individuals within the Unity Party who he said seek personal enrichment at the expense of national progress. “This Homecoming must unite us against the enemies within, who are more dangerous than the Opposition,” Paye warned. “These are determined to prevent Liberia from reaching its GOD-ordained destiny.”
Paye cautioned that internal divisions, greed and corruption risk derailing governance gains the party claims to have made since returning to power. He said those attempting to undermine the party’s ARREST Agenda, President Joseph Boakai’s anti-corruption and reform platform, must be confronted directly. “December 6 must rekindle hopes, revive the spirit of Unity. We must insulate our Party against those who want to replace the ARREST AGENDA with their greed,” he stressed.
The former minister criticized individuals he accused of joining the Unity Party after it regained power merely to access state resources. He said many of them contributed nothing to the party’s struggles. “December 6 is not about those who come when the battle has already been won,” Paye said. “The battle was not about them. “It was about Liberia for all Liberians and not for a few, no matter how powerful they think they are.”
Paye also condemned what he sees as widespread theft, collusion and resource plundering. He admonished party members to denounce corruption with a unified voice. “Those who have crept in to loot or steal must be stopped right here, and now!” he declared. He questioned why Liberians should continue living in hardship while the country’s enormous natural resource potential remains mismanaged or exploited by dishonest actors.
Paye highlighted the revenue generating capacity of Liberia’s extractive industries to support his argument that corruption, rather than scarcity, is the nation’s primary obstacle. He referenced mining figures, including an example he said proved that Liberia does not need to rely heavily on foreign aid. “In one week in March this year, Bea Mountain Mining Company generated US$31 million from gold alone,” he stated. “At that pace, that is US$1.6 billion a year. So why are we crying all over the place for help?”
He argued that Liberia’s mineral wealth is vast enough to transform the country but warned that greed could destroy its progress. “All we need is to stop the enemies within. The greed must be stopped. Otherwise, it will stop all of us,” Paye cautioned. He further described the iron ore potential along the Yekepa–Buchanan corridor as a trillion-dollar opportunity being mishandled.
Throughout his message, Paye insisted that the Unity Party must rise above personal ambitions and internal factions. He said the party must focus on what is best for the country rather than what benefits a select few. “The Unity Party cannot fail. It represents Liberia’s last frontier,” he said. “This Party, our great Movement, cannot fail. We cannot allow yesterday’s thieves to have any moral voice just because we have lowered our guard.”
He called on the party’s leadership, including members of the National Executive Committee, to dismantle cliques and give other qualified individuals the opportunity to serve. He criticized the culture of hoarding positions, urging leaders to remember their responsibility to ensure government fulfills its promises. “Break up the clique. Remove the plague. Make way so some can have the chance to serve too,” he charged.
Paye also challenged government officials appointed by the Unity Party to conduct themselves with integrity and patriotism. He said service in government must never be an opportunity for personal gain. “Serve Liberia. Stop serving your pockets and purses,” he urged. “Fight corruption. Resist the temptation. Isolate greed.”
He reminded the party that trust, not money, wins elections, stressing that character and accountability would be critical as the Unity Party seeks a renewed mandate in 2029. “Elections are won with votes. Votes come from people. People are won with trust. Trust comes from character,” he said.
Paye concluded his statement by calling on the party’s youth, elders and supporters across the country to “wake up” and protect the party from what he called internal saboteurs. He encouraged Liberians to see December 6 as the beginning of a renewed struggle for integrity and justice within the governing party. “Wake up now or never,” he declared. “Wake up, Unity Party! Wake up, young people! Wake up, women! Wake up, elders! Wake up, Liberians!”
Paye said he would not attend the Homecoming event because he will be in Nimba County for the funeral of his uncle, Elder Joseph Paye Mahn, but pledged US$500 toward the occasion. He ended his message with a prayer: “GOD bless the Unity Party. GOD bless the Standardbearer and expose the enemies within. GOD bless Liberia.”
