Gbarpolu County Senator Amarah Konneh has alleged that President Joseph Nyumah Boakai has informed him that his inner circle was displeased with his presence on the governance team.
He claimed that it led him to immediately resign from the presidential transition team after Mr. Boakai's victory.
Konneh backed President Boakai in the run-off election, in which the opposition candidate defeated sitting President George Manneh Weah.
The Gbarpolu Senator and Liberia's former Finance Minister initially worked with the presidential transition team before stepping back.
In a conversation on Spoon Network, Senator Konneh disclosed that following his trip with President Boakai and his team to the United States, many surrounding the president began to feel uncomfortable due to his presence.
According to him, when they visited the United States, particularly Washington, D.C., he ensured that the then President-elect met with top individuals from the World Bank, African Development, and many other institutions.
In those meetings, he said the institutions committed support to the Liberian economy.
Based upon that, the Gbarpoul lawmaker said they developed a team and cluster of concentration for President Boakai's leadership which was working except for the economic cluster he is so interested in.
He added that at some point, the economic cluster team members were not responding to him, claiming that they were sluggish in attitude regarding returning calls and text messages.
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He said that suggested to him that there was no interest in tapping into his experience.
"The thing that killed my entire spirit on providing my experience is that the President, when elected, called me and told me that people were complaining that I was too vocal in the transition, and so they are unpleased and uncomfortable with my presence," Mr. Konneh alleged.
"President Boakai just told me that they were complaining. So I decided that I should not be a distraction," he narrated further.
"I had to quit because I could not compromise in making President Boakai different from former Presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and George M. Weah," he noted.
According to Mr. Konneh, President Boakai's alleged statement made it clear that some individuals wanted to manage space.
Since he is in his space as a lawmaker, he said he wanted to help them from the Legislature.
"Because of that, I decided to focus on my legislative work. What all they did, I called that political maneuvering. I came to the entire Unity Party with no hidden agenda," Konneh explained.
"I just wanted to help as much as possible to the best of my commitment in lifting Liberia. My concern was in helping President Boakai ...," he said.
He indicated that he is still committed to helping the Unity Party and that it should consider him an ally who helped create the party.
"Those that told the President all kinds of things about me, it's up to them. This is Liberia, and I'm used to it because, as Minister of Finance, I saw it many times," Mr. Konneh continued.
"I know that there are people in President Boakai's senior council who feel intimidated by my presence. I believe that at this point, we should help the President, regardless of our issues, to succeed."
