THE NOTORIETY OF EUGENE LENN NAGBE 

An opinion by Wou Paye

A loosely bound group of men of the ruling Congress for Democratic Coalition (CDC) seems to be on the offensive against Liberia’s renowned human right lawyer and the Liberian People’s Party, presidential aspirant Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe. They pick issues with Gongloe carrying a broom and his condemnation of corruption and his intention to sweep corruption out of Liberia when he is elected president.

Arrogantly, they claim to be better and smarter in running Liberia, even though their so-called pro-poor policy is a failed policy. They are ever so censorious, contrarian, and supercilious.

They have no original claim to their pretensions other than they are privileged to be in the corridors of power. They got so engrossed with Weah’s sense of importance that they began to imagine Weah as indispensable to Liberia. It is dangerous to have such a navel-gazing, narcissistic group inflict themselves with so much ferocity on an otherwise impressionable public. We are in reality dealing with a bunch of hypocrites in Liberia.

With exceptions so few, they don’t care about Liberia as a sovereign,  but the political spoils that accrue from it. And so they will stop at nothing to discredit those with the right track record of honesty and integrity and a genuine plan to transform Liberia for the better. Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe has unfairly become the target of their pitiable frustrations. Underneath their superfluous appearance, lies an unspoken class disdain directed at Gongloe.

Eugene Lenn Nagbe, one of the most destructive and vindictive persons in Liberia was on Spoon TV  and accused the Liberian People’s Party, presidential aspirant, Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe of being the less performing minister during the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration for which he was fired and later asked to resign. Nagbe also accused Cllr. Gongloe for not enforcing the employment of Liberians for positions designated for Liberians at Firestone when he was Minister of Labor.

‎As if we don’t know Eugene Lenn Nagbe. From Charles Taylor, Gyude Bryant, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, to George Weah: It is said that you are a nobody in Liberia if Eugene Lenn Nagbe has not knelt to you, only to either disappoint or betray you. Nagbe has an incurable knack for lying. His penchant for incompetence and reputation-savaging is almost pathological. There is no Liberian politician that Eugene Nagbe has not lambasted and each time, his hypocrisy is always exposed.

His recent attack on Cllr. Gongloe, a man calling for a better Liberia is possible by combating corruption and promoting the rule of law is nothing but sycophancy at its finest. Eugene Nagbe is suffering from an unending capacity for deception. He tells himself so many lies, ‎get so used to them and willingly substitutes them for the truth. Added to this is his failure and refusal to learn from mistakes.

Eugene Lenn Nagbe was a fighter of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) and a founding member of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Party (NPP) and held top positions during the tyrannical regime of Charles Taylor and also held a ministerial position under Gyude Bryant led transitional government. Nagbe, then Chief of Staff to the vice President of Liberia, Moses Blah was accused during the trial of Charles Taylor of depositing Sam Bockarie, popularly known as General Mosquito’s body at the Samuel Stryker Funeral home in Monrovia. The autopsy report prepared after an examination of Bockarie’s body read in court during Taylor’s trial revealed the RUF commander had four bullet wounds in his left chest, two in his back, and one bullet stuck in his pelvis.

Eugene Lenn Nagbe joined the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) and served as its secretary general. He later resigned in 2011 from CDC and joined Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s Unity Party (CDC) and became the UP-Secretary General. As UP Secretary General, Nagbe served as minister for Transport in 2012; in 2013 as Minister of Youth and Sport; 2016 as Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs, and Tourism. He resigned from UP during the 2017 presidential election. After the election, he retained his position as Information Minister before President Weah appointed him to head the Liberia Maritime Authority.

Eugene is a perennial and opportunistic politician and it is the political strategy of Eugene Lenn Nagbe to always lie whenever there is a problem. Eugene Nagbe, then Unity Party’s Deputy Campaign Manager in 2011 accused Weah and his CDC of throwing a petrol bomb at his home that set ablaze his government vehicle worth US$28,000. In 2014, Eugene Nagbe along with George Weah was entangled in the FIFA Qatar 2022 World Cup bidding corruption scandal. Qatari Mohammed Bin Hamman,- and one-time President of the Asian Football Confederation – offered $60,000 to Weah at the precise moment that George decided he was a MASSIVE advocate of hosting the World Cup in a place so hot that FIFA’s medical staff seemed kind of worried the players would explode into flame before half-time. Eugene Nagbe revealed on Spoon TV that Weah will be in Qatar for the opening of the World Cup. How timely!

Eugene Lenn Nagbe, as a Minister of Information, told the Voice of America “We can confirm that the money was brought through the Freeport of Liberia and the Roberts International Airport, and for now it is L$16 billion that we have confirmed An estimate of a little over 15 billion Liberian dollars as far as we are concerned from the ongoing investigation as of today, it came through the two ports of entry” only for his CDC buddy and Finance Minister Samuel Tweah told the world that no one should listen to or give credence to what Minister Nagbe reported before regarding the missing money story and the actions being taken by the Liberian government in getting to the core of the problem. In order words, Tweah told us, Eugene Nagbe is a LIAR.

Lenn Eugene Nagbe was quick to dismiss the concerns of the Liberian people after his boss, President Weah demolished his 9th Street beachside property for reconstruction and constructed a 41-unit state-of-the-art multi-million-dollar complex in the Baptist Seminary community, off the Robertsfield Highway. Eugene told the world that those criticizing the reconstruction of the President’s residence as defeated politicians who are still nursing their wounds from the just-ended Election.

On March 22, 2018, at a live news conference with visiting United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Madam Amina Mohammed, President George Weah accused Journalist Paye-Layleh of being against him when he was fighting for human rights in Liberia. Eugene Nagbe told the world that Mr. Jonathan Paye-Layleh, BBC’s correspondent in Liberia, was closely involved with the activities of the NPFL and worked with a pro-Taylor newspaper, therefore, justifying President Weah’s comment that Paye-Layleh has always opposed his works, especially when he served as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Paye-Layleh’s coverage of the civil war informed the world on the dire humanitarian crisis created by the upheaval during which time some of the President’s trusted aides (including Eugene Lenn Nagbe) were passionate supporters of warring factions.

Former CDC Chairman George Solo accused former Eugene Lenn Nagbe of telling Pres. Sirleaf about CDC having guns in their fence in 2011 during the November protest. According to Mr. Solo, Nagbe was the person who told President Sirleaf that ‘CDCians had guns in the fence of their headquarters on the protest day, a situation that made the former President send security forces who reportedly fired live bullets, leading to the death of one CDCian and wounding several others.’

When we look at Eugene Lenn Nagbe, we are appalled that people of such pedigree can be called Honorable. What is honorable about Eugene Lenn Nagbe? It is more accurate to refer to him as Your Repugnancy! Eugene Lenn Nagbe is a picture of a mere opportunist and sycophancy personified.

It is laughable when flatterers like Nagbe accuse Gongloe of being the less performing minister during the first term of President Sirleaf. This is coming from a man that Sirleaf bounced from ministry to ministry (Transport, Youth & Sports, and Information). Unfortunately, the greatest “sins” committed by Cllr Tiawan Saye Gongloe, for which his traducers want to crucify him is his criticism of bad governance under Weah’s administration and his stance to adhere strictly to the rule of law in tackling corruption and moving the country in the right direction.

Cllr Gongloe is a victim of an organized mob and mobs like we know, lack the capacity to reason because they are usually angry and worked up. The only problem is that their anger is usually misdirected, as in this case, against Cllr. Taiwan Saye Gongloe. The scene in that epic work; the mob mentality, violence, and outright intimidation of anyone with opposing viewpoints, is not any different from the situation in Liberia today. The majority of those hounding Cllr. Gongloe over the corruption and lack of public trust challenges confronting Liberia is unfortunately not interested in a solution. Cllr. Gongloe has creditably discharged his responsibilities to his country and his traducers can continue to hound him, while massively misjudging the security challenges.

Setting The Record Straight

Tiawan Saye Gongloe is a Transformational “Public Servant.” He was the first Solicitor General since the independence of Liberia in 1847 to have appointed college-educated lawyers as county attorneys in all 15 counties of Liberia, thereby improving the protection of rights and prosecutorial powers of the Liberian government. As Minister of Labor, Gongloe issued Regulation Number 17, which increased work permit fees for non-Liberian residents from US$400 to US$1,000, compelling foreign employers including Firestone to hire more Liberians by reducing or getting rid of non-Liberian employees.

On November 3, 2010, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf dismissed her entire Cabinet to provide herself with what she called a “clean slate” ahead of next year’s presidential election. No other reason was given for Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s announcement but it comes amid a crackdown on corruption investigations of some public officials a year ahead of the presidential elections. Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe on November 17,  2010, told a hatai shop audience yesterday that he was personally angry at the President’s decision to send the entire cabinet on administrative leave without convincing explanation thereby generating public speculations.

On November 17, 2010, Gongloe wrote an open letter to President Sirleaf in the FrontpageAfrica Newspaper titled “GONGLOE BREAKS WITH ELLEN: On Leave Minister Cites Dictatorship, Imperialism. Gongloe resigned from his ministerial post in November 2010 over a policy disagreement with the President of Liberia.

Gongloe’s most recent leadership role at the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA) speaks for itself; he left the organization solvent, with over US$100,000 in its coffers, which were raised over three years, even though the Bar was in severe debt when he took over. He constructed the first floor of a three-story headquarters of the LNBA, currently under construction on the Robertsfield Highway in Margibi County.

As a politician, he has been able to disrupt the entire political system and raise the consciousness of Liberians on the negative effects of corruption by carrying a broom and sweeping corruption of which Eugene Nagbe and his party, the CDC is deeply worried. His recent 3 weeks in most of the towns and villages in Bong and Nimba counties have rejuvenated our people.

Gongloe is the only presidential candidate that has presented a 10 points agenda in tackling the health deficit, educational deficit, agriculture deficit, infrastructure deficit, corruption, unemployment, the deficit of public truth, etc. While many deem it fit to commend him for his unwavering efforts and the tenacity to change the narrative, we still have some who have not gotten his message right and align with his approach and thought process, but truth be told whether Gongloe’s traducers like it or not, no politician has given us the prescription for fighting public corruption like Gongloe.

Gongloe’s stance on fighting corruption, despite strong opposition to it, opened a can of worms that made it known to the whole world that for decades, millions of dollars would have been spent on live-enhancing projects in all sectors, which would have had a direct bearing on the lives of the masses in Liberia, was going into private pockets of fat cats. Many will also agree with this writer that Tiawan Saye Gongloe deserves commendation for mustering the political will to expose the ills in our society. Source: theperspective