The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) has described the Boakai regime's recent move to cement diplomatic ties with Russia as counterproductive for the country, at least as it relates to US-Liberia relations.
Monrovia, November 13, 2024/ The opposition CDC Secretary General Jefferson Koijee said opening diplomatic doors to Russia would be detrimental to Liberia's future and hurt its relationship with the United States.
He feared that the Liberia-Russia relations could undermine the peace and security of the country.
Russia, in its effort to expand its diplomatic footprint across Africa, has announced plans to open an embassy near Monrovia to strengthen ties between the two. Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov made this announcement at the first Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.
However, addressing a news conference in Monrovia on Tuesday, CDC Secretary General Jefferson Tamba Koijee said the news about advanced plans by the Unity Party administration to establish a relationship with Russia to the extent that an embassy would be opened near Monrovia is troubling. He described it as a spate in the face of the United States.
Mr. Koijee asserted that the Unity Party government's engagement with Russia validates CDC officials' earlier claims that President Boakai collaborated with Russia to fund his campaign during the 2023 presidential election.
"We want to remind the Liberian people that this party revealed how Mr. Boakai was actively doing business with the Russians, but he and his 'risky mission' denied it," Koijee stated. He alleged that during the election, Boakai and his political party secretly held meetings with Russian officials and sought financial support to fund their 'risky mission' at the expense of the Liberian people.
Koijee was, however, quick to clarify that the administration's actions do not anger the CDC but is deeply concerned about the partnership with Russia, especially given Liberia's historic ties with the United States. "Even if you're angry with the American people, you don't have to disrespect them this way," he added.
He characterized the Boakai-Koung administration's alignment with Russia as a disgrace and a distortion of Liberia's longstanding diplomatic relationship with the United States.
He further warned that maintaining close ties with the United States and Russia, two global superpowers with complex relations, is a matter of grave concern for the CDC and the Liberian people.
"Mr. Boakai cannot gamble with an entire nation," Koijee emphasized. He argued that the CDC and the Liberian people will not allow President Boakai to treat the country as his personal property.
He called on citizens and national stakeholders, including political leaders, the media, civil society, and human rights organizations, to oppose any international alliance threatening Liberia's stability, particularly the emerging Russia-Liberia relationship.
"We cannot sit idly by and watch our country descend into chaos as Mr. Boakai attempts to insult the United States diplomatically," he said. Koijee clarified that the CDC has no personal issue with Russia but is deeply concerned about Liberia's approach to its diplomatic engagements.
He urged the Boakai-Koung administration to be forthright about its foreign policy stance, suggesting that if the government truly believes Russia can serve Liberia better than the United States, it should openly embrace that choice instead of playing a "double game" with the nation's future, peace, stability, and foreign policy amid the tense relationship between the two superpowers.
Meanwhile, Koijee also expressed his party's concern about the unexplained disappearance of a client of former Associate Justice Kabinah Ja'neh, Ibrahima Khalil. Khalil was being tried on allegations of recruiting Liberian ex-combatants to overthrow the junta Government of Guinea.
Former Justice Ja'neh disclosed that his client Khalil was arrested in Lofa by the joint security headed by the Liberia National Police.
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Koijee said the alarming proportion of people disappearing from police custody is worrisome, and the CDC is entreating the international community to call President Boakai and his officials to book. "Many people have gone missing, and some died under mysterious circumstances without any reprimand for the perpetrators.
The Joyce Musu case is one classic example. That young lady had huge potential. She was killed in cold blood, and nobody has been held accountable. We were accused, but the Unity Party-led administration, which lied to us, is in power but no step to prove their claims against us," he maintained.
The CDC stalwart said the party is in solidarity with the former Associate Justice during this challenging time at the hands of the political group he [Ja'neh] supported.
He added that even though the former Justice Minister does not share the same political ideology with the CDC, he is supporting the call for the Police under the control of "social media celebrity" Gregory Coleman to produce the missing man alive.
