Photo: Boakai Fofana/allAfrica.com Governance as most one-track-minded-people perceived it to exclusively mean supremacy, domination, power, authority and control can not, and has not been able to stand and survive on its own with such posture without attracting stiff resistance and badly tempered oppositions in all manners forms and shapes. This is while the great Philosopher Henry David Thoreau once wrote that government is best that governs the least. By the same token, it is a known fact that power corrupts; that absolute power corrupts absolutely and perpetual power corrupts perpetually. This we have seen it far too long, and predicated upon such development, a known personality in the Liberian society, Dr. Togba Nah Tipoteh once told the 17 non-commissioned soldiers and politically self-recruited, totally inexperienced and green horn to the administration of statehood, that the worse crime that any government can commit, is to lie to its people. Now, with this government keeps jumping into one tarnishing crisis to another and showing no stern pragmatic actions on such issues, the public is confused and is seriously wondering whether the latter is doing it out of sheer weakness or disrespect or the combination of both, as The New Republic captures public's views opposed to the recent commission's report on the saga of the Diplomat Passport and the "fake" Danish Liberian Ambassador-At-Large which has dampened the image of the nation its commitment to fight corruption from within its own inner circles.
One phrase gathered from the many opposing views towards the just-released commission's report following investigation conducted into the Danish Journalist, Mr. Mads Brügger Cortzen's saga debunking the finding, is "charade and cover-up".
The many contrasting radical views which blasted the airwave this week, expressed complete lack of confidence in the report with some including Darius Dillion calling for the arrest and trial of the reported point man, Cllr. Varney Sherman coupled with all the higher-ups allegedly linked to the syndicate as well as recalling former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Toga Gayeway McIntosh to face the music.
Earlier, Cllr. Sherman told the public in a phone-in-talk show hosted by one of the local radio stations in Monrovia at which time he fought to set the record straight and insisted that he did not do anything wrong.
Notwithstanding, the critical voices raised serious concern about the manner in which Mads infiltrated the set up at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and obtained a diplomatic passport with other important documents grading him as Ambassador-At-Large that has now indicted the image of the country due to the alleged feeble-mindedness of the custodians of such national trust.
The lid of the entire episode got blown up when Mads released his documentary titled The Ambassador which was shown on many networks in Europe and later placed on the internet thereby reportedly implicating the Unity Party's National Chairman along with a chain of some higher-ups at the Ministry for facilitating his "stint operation" posing as a businessman who is desirous of being Liberia's Ambassador-At-Large to the Central African Republic (CAR); a calculation to test and expose the government's inability to march words with deeds in its declared fight against what it professes to be public enemy number one-corruption.
In the startling revelation, a controversial Danish journalist, Mr. Mads Brügger Cortzen alleged that he fraudulently purchased a Liberian diplomatic position of Ambassador-At-Large/Consul General and a Diplomatic Passport for US$150,000.00 from certain officials of the Foreign Ministry.
Based on the grave embarrassment this unfavorable story has caused the government and the image of the state, the President ordered a thorough investigation into the scandal; and after some time of working the commission released a report that raises more questions than answers; and interestingly, finding no wrongdoer rather to hold Mads responsible as a criminal.
Paragraph two of the quizzical report noted that "the investigation uncovered no official misconduct in the process of the appointment. The procedure of the vetting leading to the appointment was adhered to. Mr. Mads Johan Brygger Cortzen, an admitted and dedicated fraudster who happened to be a Danish Journalist, simply slipped through the crack."
But what the report did not also say is who and how was the crack created in the first place, how long this crack has been in existence; when and by whom was it discovered and how much did the discoverer(s) know about the crack and why was it left the way Mads met it without instituting an internal control mechanism that would seal up the crack far ahead to save the system from suck dubious woe?
Paragraph two states that "using several aliases and pseudonyms, he succeeded in securing Danish Police clearance and passed rigorous background checks by the National Security Agency and international intelligence networks The only authentic document Mr. Cortzen received from the Liberian Government was the Commission appointing him Honorary Consul to the Central African Republic in July 2011. His Diplomatic Passport was a forgery and his title was bogus. The passport carries issued date of September 2010 with the title Ambassador-At-Large/Honorary Consul".
Interestingly so, let's look at some flaws. Firstly, was the government in a hurry that it could not countercheck the aliases and pseudonyms, the Danish Police clearance, rigorous background checks by the National Security Agency and international intelligence networks especially in this computer age when the internet can be engaged at all levels to ascertain every inch of information presented by Mads? What was the most convincing aspect from Mads that won him the commission appointing him Honorary Consul to the CAR and who were those government officials involved with that particular process?
Did Mads, despite the alleged act of forgery, obtain the Diplomatic Passport in the Liberia or outside of the country? If outside, who facilitated the process, and if he received it in Liberia, who then at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs engineered the exercise?
In the same vein, political pundits say while they are not perturbed the least regarding what's unfolding at the Minstry of Foreign Affairs due to the government's consistent sending of mixed-signals about its inability and the complete lack of political will-power to purge the dreadful and chronic virus of cronyism which also justified the obvious expectations of the style and tactics employed by the Unity Party regime, it is gradually becoming glaring that such attitude is rocking the boat of public's confidence.
The report concluded that "meanwhile, thee Government of Liberia has reaffirmed its fullest confidence in Dr. Toga Gayeway McIntosh, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission. Dr. McIntosh has served Liberia in many capacities over the years with utmost dedication and impeccable integrity. He has also represented the country abroad and held many highly sensitive positions in major international institutions with dignity and respect. Government is convinced he will continue to bring credit to the nation in his current post at ECOWAS".
However, pundits believe that in such a matter it would have been in the interest of international best practice for the alleged accused former Minister of Foreign Affairs to vindicate himself from the criminal allegation and ensure that the result be made public, instead of sitting into judgment for him, adding that it is an open secret that prestige fails when it can no longer resist the force placed on it. The want it be known publically when and how Dr, McIntosh participated in the just-ended investigation conducted by the Presidential Commission that is reportedly plagued with lot of pot holes?
Again, it has been reported that the Danish Journalist is calling for a full scale independent investigation into the entire Diplomatic Passport and Ambassador-At-Large/Honorary Consul scandal.
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