Monrovia — Alex Williams, the former deputy director at LISGIS, who recently leveled several unsubstantiated allegations against Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson Koijee, has expressed his regrets and apologies to the Mayor, whom he now describes him as a father.
Williams, who is currently residing in the United States, was caught on a series of secret recordings in a conversation with Thomas Garwo, the Director of the Monrovia City Police, alleging that the Monrovia City Mayor had plotted to kill him after he exposed alleged fraud at LISGIS.
It was later revealed by Garwo that Williams, Cllr. Jerome Verdier, and Sheik Sackor had been plotting to use vulnerable Liberians visiting the United States to speak ill of the George-led government and key actors in the government, including Koijee, for political gains. According to Garwo, their plan was to extract false statements from these vulnerable Liberians, promising to help them obtain asylum in the United States.
Koijee vehemently denied these allegations and stated that Williams was seeking political asylum in the United States at his expense.
In a recent Facebook post, Williams stated, "I regret the conversation I had with Thomas Garwo regarding Jefferson T. Koijee because when I left Liberia, I promised Koijee never to discuss him. Many people ask me about Koijee, but I said nothing until Garwo. Whether he wronged me or not, I don't want to forget the many good things he did for me. Koijee is one of the major reasons I am who I am today, and so I want to publicly apologize to him. My father is dead, but I see Koijee more like a father to me. You all may not understand, but I am convinced that I should have never discussed anything about him, whether it was factual or not."
It can be recalled that U.S. Ambassador to Liberia, Michael McCarthy, expressed his concerns in March about Liberians in the United States who use various forms of media to make unsubstantiated and derogatory statements that undermine the democratic process in Liberia.
Ambassador McCarthy said, "Today, I am ashamed to tell you that the most irresponsible controversies to emerge in Liberia's media over the past month have originated from the United States. While responsible critical observations from the Liberian diaspora can be healthy, some cowardly media personalities and political figures have intentionally disseminated rumors or misinformation into Liberia's political environment from the safety of their studios and offices in the U.S. These people are motivated by disruption and a desire to break down trust in Liberian institutions. They don't care what damage they cause, and when questioned by law enforcement, they do not have evidence to back up their claims. Unfortunately, they take advantage of America's first amendment rights to spread rumors and stir up trouble in your country, which is despicable behavior."
Williams's confession and regrets come barely two weeks after Jestina Taylor, who in 2019 claimed to have been abducted, dragged, raped, and left on the Robertsfield Highway, disclosed her involvement in a conspiracy orchestrated by talk-show host Henry Costa and Benoni Urey against Koijee and the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) government at the time.
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Ms. Taylor revealed that she was instructed by her former political leader, Hon. Benoni W. Urey of the All-Liberian Party, to fabricate allegations regarding the CDC government's importation of firearms in 2019 and their transportation to a farm in Gbarnga. Additionally, she accused Monrovia City Mayor Koijee of being the mastermind behind mysterious killings in Liberia.
"All the statements I made in 2019 at the headquarters of the National Election Commission, implicating Koijee in human rights violations and alleging that the CDC government smuggled firearms into the country and stored them on a farm in Gbarnga, were orchestrated by Hon. Benoni Urey. He promised to protect me after making these wide-ranging allegations against the government, but he failed to do so," Ms. Taylor revealed.
