Secret negotiations are ongoing. Whether President Joseph N. Boakai has sanctioned them or not is yet to be known. But individuals within his administration are now on the rampage negotiating deals with sitting officials from George Weah's regime who have time left on their tenures, asking them to quietly tender in their resignations or be forced out.
What is striking about these secret or back-channel negotiations is that the individuals leading them are using another weapon--coercion and/or blackmail--against these targeted public officials.
These Boakai henchmen are so eager to appoint their aliases or party faithful to these positions that they have ignored or discouraged reaching "settlement agreements" with these affected individuals before pushing them out.
Instead, they have devised a strategic plan --and this is where the coercion or blackmail aspect comes in --"resign now, or we will expose your shady deals and force your resignation." Are you surprised? You shouldn't be.
In as much as some of these officials served the Weah's regime, they still have time left on their tenures and to rightly dismiss them without a probable cause, which includes but is not limited to acts incompatible with their offices, corruption, and abuse speaks volumes of the style of a witch hunt.
Boakai's men have deplored what is best known Biblically as the Harald style of hunting down one's opponents.
In Biblical settings, when King Herod killed James (Acts 12), the brother of John, and saw that it was pleasing to the Jews, he decided to take down Apostle Peter.
President Boakai's henchmen have a history to rely on. A precedent has been set at the Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA), where tenured officials were booted out through suspensions, forcing some to resign to save themselves the headache.
Such a move was greeted with great admiration and delight from party faithful and sympathizers, who saw the removal of the former LTA Commissioners as a show of strength from President Boakai, who had earlier been described as a weakling.
This move has emboldened them. Now, they believe that similar measures can be applied to the likes of Emma Metieh Glassco of the National Fisheries & Aquaculture Authority and some folks at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), where Boakai's folks are desperate to make appointments or already have successors waiting breathtakingly to take over.
There is no argument against the President wanting to appoint individuals he views as fit to carry out his ARREST agenda, but he must do so through the right procedure.
Such a procedure could involve honorably discharging these targeted individuals of their duties and paying them their just benefits instead of using coercion and threats.
What appears to be keeping Boakai's men from bringing some of these discussions into the public domain is that many of those currently being targeted for removal, though not perfect, have walked on certain chalk lines.
For example, the CBL may be engaged in an internal battle at the top due to the recent power change, but they have been carefully following through with the IMF prescriptions to bring some stability to the CBL.
They made sure that whatever decision they made met the approval of their boards in accordance with the Acts establishing these institutions, and therefore, unless otherwise, they could not be held personally accountable.
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At NaFAA, for example, Mrs. Glascco has transformed a dormant entity into one of the most vibrant institutions in Liberia's post-war history. Her leadership has attracted the World Bank and EU to support the sector.
So, why go around holding secret meetings and threatening people with forced dismissals when the parties are willing to make amicable settlements?
The problems arise when individuals are judged not based on their qualifications and performances but on their political alignments. When this happens, it is nothing less than a simple political witch hunt. Thus, President Boakai, as an early stateman with 40 years of public service experience under his belt, should understand the implications of these unfolding and take the appropriate actions.
