MONROVIA — Senior security officials dismissed from the National Security Agency and the Liberia National Police over Liberia's drug investigation are still free men, Gbarpolu County Sen. Amara M. Konneh said, arguing that the head of the country's drug enforcement agency should likewise have been fired and indicted rather than allowed to step aside on his own terms.
"The only confusion now is the senior security people the President fired from the NSA and LNP in relation to this investigation are still free men," Konneh wrote Saturday in a post on his official Facebook page.
Konneh's target was the temporary recusal of Fitzgerald T.M. Biago, officer-in-charge of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, who asked for authorization to step back from his functions after allegations that he received a Toyota pickup from people believed to be connected to drug trafficking. President Joseph Nyuma Boakai ordered a comprehensive and impartial investigation into the allegation and the circumstances around it.
"When the leading anti-drug chief recuses himself instead of facing immediate dismissal and criminal charges over a cartel bribery scandal, it clearly reflects a lack of accountability and represents a strategic retreat, choosing a voluntary recusal over a dishonorable firing and a quick corruption indictment," Konneh said. "This is not fair to our President."
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The senator cast the controversy as a two-front problem for Boakai. "Our President and Commander-In-Chief is actively fighting the war on drugs on two fronts: fighting the cartel and dealing with his own top security officials, whom he depends on to fight the cartel," he said.
Konneh said he supports the president but wants him to stop managing the crisis through appearances. "We fully support our President in this two-front war and urge him not to let his advisors hold him hostage," he said. "He should move beyond superficial optics and be the CIC to flush out all enemies in this battle against illicit drugs, a serious national security threat. This was his campaign promise."
According to Konneh, Boakai gave investigators until Monday to report back on the Biago allegations, a deadline the senator described in terms that questioned the investigators themselves. "The President has given up to Monday for those investigating themselves to report back to him on their colleague who allegedly took a bribe from the cartel," he said.
Konneh credited reporting by Spoon Network, FrontPageAfrica and Verity News, along with advocacy by activist Martin N. Kollie, with forcing action, saying people publicly named in connection with the controversy have since been arrested, dismissed or have recused themselves. "We thank them immensely for their investigative journalism and advocacy; otherwise, this would have been a cold case by now, like other high-profile cases," he said.
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He also relayed a claim by Kollie, who Konneh said has announced that his own inquiry uncovered new information about the US$317 million drug seizure. Konneh quoted Kollie as saying the investigation "has finally unraveled a very important mystery in the US$317 million drug bust that investigators have been looking for," and that it "will lead to a new arrest." Kollie promised to post evidence by Monday, according to Konneh.
"So, Monday is a big day for Cocaingate," the senator said.
Konneh closed by telling Liberians to keep the pressure on. "We must make Liberia unattractive to drug traffickers and their Liberian protectors," he said. "This is everybody's business, and I will keep speaking up for the silent majority, many of whom are victims of the drug epidemic our President is fighting."
