Monrovia — Controversy arose on Monday when Henry Costa revealed that Joseph Boakai, the standard bearer of the Unity Party, had reportedly engaged in discussions with potential campaign financiers, allegedly offering them concessions at the lucrative iron ore deposit of Wologisi Mountain as compensation. While UP partisans, including Chairman Rev. Luther Tarpeh, swiftly refuted Costa's claims, labeling them as false, Joseph Boakai Jr., son of the UP standard bearer, confirmed the meeting but denied any suggestion of his father offering concessions.
Costa in a presser on Monday certain business individuals had approached him with a lucrative offer of US$30 million to participate in the race. However, due to his unwavering support for Ambassador Boakai at the time, he made an unconventional request: he asked the financial backers to redirect the funds to support Boakai's campaign instead. To his relief, his backers reluctantly agreed to consider his proposal, he said.
Costa further revealed that his request was conditionally accepted, contingent upon his selection as Boakai's running mate. This development seemed to bolster Costa's hopes for a collaborative effort toward the elections. However, his optimism was shattered when he discovered that Boakai had allegedly tarnished his reputation during a meeting with the same financiers. Costa claimed that Boakai had spoken ill of him, urging the financiers to abandon their support for him and redirect the funds solely to his (Boakai) own campaign. Moreover, Costa asserted that Boakai had even offered the financiers mining concession at the Wologizi Mountain in Lofa County, if they complied with his demands.
Costa said, "After telling me that he would commit to them that he would make me his running mate, he broke his promise and went on a rampage of trying to damage my reputation to people who I had brought to support him. He even went as far as blasting them for offering me such a deal rather than to him. He told them to dump me and give him the 30 million dollars so he could pick whoever he wanted for his running mate, in exchange he promised to give them anything they wanted in Liberia if he won. He specifically said he would give them the Wologizi mountain in Lofa County."
During an interview with VOA's Daybreak Africa, Rev. Luther Tarpeh, the Chairman of the Unity Party, refuted Costa's claims, particularly concerning campaign financing by foreign individuals. Rev. Tarpeh emphasized that the involvement of foreigners in raising funds for election campaigns is strictly prohibited by Liberia's elections law. He firmly stated that the Unity Party's standard bearer would not engage in such activities.
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He said: "Our reaction is that all that Henry Costa spilled out today out Joseph Boakai, our standard bearer is very disheartening for a young man, a good friend of our party and a good friend of a good statesman would be spilling out lies as he did today, but we don't hold that against him; we will consider that as a propaganda... It is against our Liberian law that campaign money should be raised in Liberia, not foreign money. So, to hear him say he asked for some millions he said should go to Boakai is not true."
However, in a voice recording, Joseph Boakai Jr., the son of the Unity Party standard bearer, stated that he was indeed in Accra, Ghana, for the meeting referenced by Costa. He vehemently denied the allegation that his father had offered concessions to the financiers, lest to say Wologisi Mountain.
"At no time in that meeting did the old man offer those people anything in terms of concession, in terms of Wologisi. The old man only said to them if you're business people and your support is contingent on my winning and what happens afterwards then bring your business interest let's talk about it," he said.
According to him, Amb. Boakai was surprised at the undisclosed financiers basing their support for his campaign on selecting Costa as his running mate.
