Paynesville — Eugene Lenn Nagbe, the Commissioner General of the Liberia Maritime Authority and Chairman of the Strategy Committee of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), says he is bothered by politicians who say they want to rescue Liberia after the six years of leadership under President George Weah.
Nagbe, on the Breakfast Show at the Liberia Broadcasting System Wednesday, said as the head of the Strategy Committee of the CDC, he is concerned about what he termed as "lies" coming from opposition politicians.
On April 28, 2023, former Vice President Joseph Boakai named Nimba County Senator Jeremiah Koung as his running mate with a plan to rescue Liberia from a "bad governing system." Since then, both have been called rescue one and rescue two.
Over the weekend, Grand Bassa County Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence endorsed the ticket of Boakai and Koung. Nyonblee said her alignment with the team is to help rescue Liberia.
Also, on May 16, 2023, members of the Legislative staff in their numbers endorsed the candidacy of Mr. Boakai. At the program, Maryland County Senator James Biney joined the rescue team and criticized President Weah for not taking roads in the Southeastern part of Liberia.
Nagbe speaking says all the endorsements the former Vice President has received are not strange. He added that these were the same endorsements the former Vice President got when he beat 14 counties out of 15 counties in 2017.
According to Commissioner Nagbe, some of the people who say they want to rescue Liberia have spent years in public office and have no record of rescuing a little portion of the very people that elected them.
"I'm troubled about people presenting themselves to be what their records have shown they cannot be. They can even call themselves rescue this, rescue that, it does not matter," Commissioner Nagbe said.
Despite Boakai's assertion that he was parked in the garage during his 12 years as Vice President, Nagbe said the former Vice President received over 20 million dollars and was head of two major sectors in the Sirleaf-led government.
"Mr. Boakai said he was a parked car in the garage. I was in that same government. How can you be parked in a garage when your budget in government was 20 million? I'm not talking about money for other things oh, the money for his office - 20 million dollars. He didn't even rescue one percent or two percent of Liberia with 20 million. Can he do it now?" Mr. Nagbe asked.
He added: "If he says he is a parked car, then he was to park the money too. The 20 million went to the office of the Vice President. Then I got to add another 15 million there to make it 35 million. Every year, there was an increment in the budget of the former Vice President. The money he was supposed to play with was 20 million dollars."
"I was a Minister of Youth and Sport. I reported to the Vice President, not the President. She (President Sirleaf) dedicated the youth component and the agricultural component of her government - the two largest components in the country to the Vice President. He didn't use that platform to rescue any portion of Liberia then he says he can rescue the whole country," Mr. Nagbe said.
According to Commissioner Nagbe, Senators Nyonblee and Biney have served for many years but have done little in their respective areas.
"Nyonblee, as the chair of administration, rules, and others at the Senate, manages the budget of the Senate. Did she use her position to rescue even Big Joe Town? Mr. Biney says the President did not fix the Southeastern road. As one of the longest-serving lawmakers, he did not rescue the road in his hometown where he grew up," Mr. Nagbe asserted.
"Senator Johnson Doesn't Own Nimba County" - Commissioner Nagbe Says
Additionally, Mr. Nagbe says that contrary to what many think, Senator Prince Johnson does not own Nimba County.
According to him, with a lot of development taking place in Nimba County, the people of the county are aware of the gains President Weah has made over the past five years.
He said, "The people of Saclepea are not stupid; they know that this had never happened before, and it is the President who has initiated the work to fix the road."
Commissioner Nagbe added that the ruling CDC will be putting up a candidate against Senator Johnson in the upcoming October election. He further stated that Senator Johnson will be defeated.
"He (Senator Johnson) is shaking and crying. Senator Johnson will be well defeated in Nimba County in this election by a candidate of the Coalition," he said. "Senator Johnson doesn't own Nimba County," he added.
Pres. Weah Had a Deal With the Liberian People, Not Senator Johnson
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Mr. Nagbe said, on one end of the interview, that despite Senator Johnson supporting the CDC in the 2017 run-off election, there was no deal between him and the President. He added that Senator Johnson's disassociation with the CDC is a wrong political calculation.
"Mr. President had a deal with the people of Liberia, and that deal is to provide development. He had a deal with the people of Nimba, and that deal was to provide development for the people of Nimba," he said.
Nagbe added, "He collaborated with the Coalition and supported us in Nimba. That doesn't mean that the President's constitutional responsibility that is promised to the people of Nimba should be subjugated to the whims and caprices and peculiarly personal interest of Senator Johnson."
"The President's responsibility to the people of Nimba is to ensure that they have roads, which he is doing, to ensure that they have jobs, to ensure that they have a better deal in the business climate, and he is delivering on all of his promises. And so, he did not promise Senator Johnson privately other than what he promised to the people of Nimba County for which they are gravitating toward him and respecting him," he said.
