A tribute to a Fallen Social Hero “Chief Armah Marsa Kpissay”

 No one is immune from death and the pains that it brings to those who lost their love one. On December 27, 2012, the Towns of Gatima, Lowoma, Kondesu & Sasazu lost a great son, father, uncle, & grand father to the cold hands of death. On that evening, news of elder Armah Marsa Kpissay’s death spread around the world like undulating tornado in the dry desert in the Far East. As I pen this tribute in tears, I’m left with painful memories of occurrences and events leading to elder Kpissay’s death. I’m also left with bunch of unanswered questions that only God can provide answers to.

When one finds him/herself in such a painful and tearful dilemma, all one is often left with are memories of painful occurrences. Some (like me) narrates or voice out their feelings while others keep those memories as semiprecious stone worth millions of Dollars care. Papa Armah “as he was affectionally called” viewed life in a totally prism form than lots of other people do. He most time saw and treated things in a very special way that probably no one will do after he’s finally laid to rest.
Today, I pen this tribute in a special way in memory of an elder who opened his doors to students who were faced with the daunting task of struggling to meet the expense of their survival and education in a very far away town of Gatima in what used to be called Lower Lofa County (now Gbarpolu County).
Many days we roamed the hallway of elder Kpissay’s home in search of daily bread. In those difficult times, he usually reminded us that he did not define family as those he biologically fathered. He often told us “as long as you are willing to add value to yourself (by going to school), you are one of mine”.

When I received the phone call about elder Kpissay’s unexpected and untimely death on that quiet night of December 27, 2012, the night became darkened and unending, revealing all the struggles he personally helped encouraged us to successfully pass through. He thought us to begin each day with a new enlightened way so that we would find in solitude the answer to his many traditional proverbs.
I managed to but could not hide my emotion from my two young kids who were with me when I received the phone call. I sat in complete disbelieve that I will never forget or escape.
Elder Kpissay, you are physically gone today but those of us you leave behind will never be the same, we will walk around and through Gatima and Mormazu without your physical guidance. Now you are on your own, we are here alone.
In the great beyond, you will march with your eyes so bright; your thoughts will become untangle. Today, your wise words, your generosity, & your courage have led lots of us across the world with pride and strength to cope with any form of difficulties. You left behind a dent that will never be filled in your absence.
May the Lord Almighty lead you through eternity & light perpetual shine on you.

 

By: Sam Kamara Zinnah

Did Kofi Woods influence FPA grading system?

 By: Sam K Zinnah

On Sunday December 16, 2012 at about 23:58 hours, just minutes after I concluded the part one of “The unmasking of Kofi Woods”, FPA released what is now appearing as one of the most criticized annual grade point ever in it publishing history. The release entitled “who made it, who flunked”, caught my attention. I repositioned my laptop and began carefully perusing the report card. As I went deep down the report, I began to see the level of biasness and subjective reporting. On Saturday December 15, 2012, just day before the report was released, reliable sources from the ministry of public works saw Rodney Sieh dinning with minister Woods. Further investigation into the alleged meeting revealed that Minster Woods and Mr. Sieh’s meeting decided who gets what in the so-called bias report card that has receive more than 80% negative comments since the publication on December 16, 2012. The December 15 meeting was mainly intended to focus on several ministers who minister Woods sees as possible contenders in the 2017 presidential elections that President Johnson-Sirleaf will not be taking part in. Labor minister Varbah Gayflor is not one of the focus persons for the 2017 project but she received one of the worst grades as a result of minister woods interest at the labor ministry.

 

Investigation into Minister Gayflor’s “D” average revealed that one of the deputy ministers (name with held for now until minister woods challenge this report) at the labor ministry is minister woods very special interest and have been at logger head with minister Gayflor since she took over as minister of Labor. Internal memo obtained from the labor ministry showed that minister Gayflor once ordered the suspension of the deputy minister concern but minister Woods intervention help to halt the situation. Minster Woods allegedly influenced FPA’s Rodney Sieh to give “D” average to minister Gayflor with the intention to make minister Gayflor unpopular with president Johnson-Sirleaf.

Minister Woods targets are; Finance Minister Amara Konneh, Defense Minister Browine Samukai, and Foreign Minister Augustine Ngafuan. He intend to use Rodney to do the dirty work by using the media to make the above cabinet ministers unpopular ahead of the 2017 presidential elections. Rodney Sieh gave Kofi Woods “A” on grounds that the ministry of public works is about to pave the major streets in Voinjama, Lofa County. How can grade be awarded even before work begins? Is this not a clear indication that something happen behind the scenes that the reading public is yet to know about?

In 2012, the road between Ganta and Voinjama is inaccessible. The old executive mansion on Broad street is leaking profusely, the Belle Yalla road which receive millions of tax payers’ money is abandoned, the Gardnersville-Paynesville red lights or Somalia drive is one of the worsts in the world, Jamaica road is not different from diamond mine, and Rodney is blindly busy giving Kofi Woods “A”

At the ministry of public works, Woods unofficial brother-in-law serves as assistant minister for planning at the same time serving as  SES Consultant for M&E thereby defrauding the ministry and Government of money.

Minister Woods have had complex media connection over the years thus giving him enough time to politically market himself over his cabinet colleagues. During the last cabinet meeting, minister Woods was overtly heard criticizing his fellow cabinet ministers about not doing enough to stamp out corruption from Government. Minister Woods continue to remain silent about his handling of the abandoned Belle Yalla road project that Government has spent millions of tax payer’s money on. How could Rodney Sieh not see all of those blunders?  

 

 

 

 

 

The Unmasking of Kofi Woods’ Deals: the Belle Yalla Road Project, part I of II

By: Sam K Zinnah
 editor-in-chief

One opinion piece and one direct respond to issues raised about the most publicized and now abandoned Belle Yallah Road project has drawn what observers referred to as “serious attention” to Liberia human rights activist tuned politician Kofi Woods, II. The tough talking minister is beginning to lose grip on media control as many attempts by him to stop the publication of my opinion piece in several local news papers and online magazines have caused the minister some inner stairs that might not be easily repaired. The unfortunate lesson which the Honorable Minister is yet to learn is that he is beginning to lose control of the media gradually. With all the maneuvering he did after my first publication, he failed to stop other papers from publishing the second one. I must admit that the Daily Observer, InProfile Daily and www.limany.org stood up to the task of promoting free speech in Liberia. Unlike Mr. Rodney Sieh, Publisher of Front Page Africa online, who has made promoting Kofi Woods’ impossible mission of becoming Liberia’s First President with an Ashanti name from Ghana one of his top priorities. The media institutions showed their commitment to the promotion of free speech unabated. Since Rodney Sieh started his publication, he has repeated shown how bias he is about some public officials and other issues affecting public and private Liberians at home and in the Diaspora. A simple example is the issue of the Dual Citizenship bill. Mr. Sieh deliberately refused to publicize the bill and debate until one or some of his favorite politicians were entangled in the political web concerning their alleged dual status. In fact, there are other unconfirmed accounts about Rodney and Kofi plan together at times and Rodney can go after potential contenders for the presidency, all to the liking of Kofi Woods. Anyway, I will leave this discussion for another time.

What remains widely undetected by the majority of the Liberia populace is how Minister Woods has successfully managed his complex media connections to mask reports about his inability to properly and technically draw an effective project plan for the Belle Yalla Road. In my recent opinion piece “When a Human Rights Activist becomes a politician: The case of Samuel Kofi Woods, II”, I attempted to exposed some of the Honorable Minister’s covert activities and further detailed the case involving the Belle Yalla Road.

In this two-part series, I will go little bit further compared to the previous two. The problems surrounding the Belle Yalla Road can largely be blamed on Minister Woods’ lack of both technical and common sense managerial skills. Why do I say so? Because it has now become clear to the public that the Belle Yalla Road started without plan which would include starting point, width, number of bridges, the end point and duration. To add insult to injury, the project was never bided but I will deal with the bidding issue separately. The larger question is, why would anybody start a project which Government put in US$3million without a plan? Without even a competitive bid! Does this point to the other side of Kofi Woods which he has been masking for years from the public? Does it show that the Honorable Minister is or has been in bed with corruption? Not now! I will deal with this issue in separate article about why I believe Kofi Woods is not who he has portrayed himself to be all along. To this end, I would like to send out this SOS call for information on Kofi Woods current and past activities both in civil society movement and in government. Send them to szinah@yahoo.com. Your identity will strictly be protected.

My investigation has revealed that Public works initial estimate cost for the construction of the Belle Yalla road was put at US $3million for a dusty road which is less than 60 kilometer.   Because President Sirleaf was objectively eager to have the Belle Yalla Road project completed quickly and was willing to put more taxpayers money into it. Minister Woods saw an opportunity to take a ride on President Sirleaf (a Former Prisoner at Belle Yalla Prison Compound) eagerness. With many Liberian Road Building Contractors waiting at the doors of Ministry of Public Works to take the contract, Minister Woods instead gave this US$3 million project as a NO BID contract to a Nigerian Businessman by the name of Praise Lawal. Why a Nigerian Businessman, not a Liberian Engineering Firm? The truth many do not know because of the Minister’s “Kofi” name is that his Father actually came from Nigeria to Liberia via Ghana. His father was originally born as a Nigerian and left Nigeria as a result of the Biafra Civil war. May be this will help us understand why a Nigerian Businessman got a no bid contract at the expense of Liberian Contractors. At the time of Mr. Lawal’s initial involvement, the Ministry of Public works did not include the kilometers or miles from totoquelle to Belle Yallah in the contract.

After President Sirleaf spent the historic 2009 Christmas in Belle Yalla and left, Mr. Lawal put forth a new argument that the initial information given him by the ministry of public works was misleading, as such, he couldn’t complete the contract unless the money was increased from US$3 million dollars to US$14 million. Mr. Lawal’s argument won him a fair opportunity to shift the blame from his PEALAT construction company to Ministry of Public works thus leaving the Government through the ministry of public works to contract an independent firm (believed to be a Ghanaian engineering firm) called LAMDA to conduct full calculation of the road and submit the cost to the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of public works. Surprisingly, the cost of the Belle Yalla road jumped from the initial us $3million to us $14 million.

My investigation uncovered that LAMDA was asked or directed by Minister Woods not to publicize the report. According to my investigation, the Nigerian businessman, Mr. Praise Lawal, managed to get hold of copy of the report thereby prompting renew argument by his PEALAT construction company to review the contract. The million dollars and unanswered question remains “where in the world you can re-negotiate contract value after being signed, work started and money paid in the amount US$3 million? Not only that, the new contract value is nearly five times more than the signed contract”. Please, let somebody help me here. The significant development is that all these happening under the watchful eyes of the self-declared corrupt-free and anti-waste in government advocate! Is this the Minister who recently blasted his colleagues at the recent cabinet commissioning ceremony about not doing enough to fight corruption?, he maybe right!! They are not detecting or doing enough to expose his deals. For example, the $3 million dollars no bid contract awarded to Mr. Lawal’s PEALAT construction company is a clear violation of the public procurement procedure. Did the PPPC take any action? I leave that with the public.

The Minister who is known for talking tough against contractors for poor performance has until now remained silent about the Belle Yalla road issue even though materials for the road are seeing damaged and abandoned on the road. It is difficult to imagine that the project which started in 2009 is still not completed and Minister Woods has again requested Government to put in additional money for the same project in the  2012/2013 National Budget.

Whatever took place between the Minister and Mr. Lawal remains a top secret. But the symptoms are reflected in how some employees close the Honorable Minister deal with this contractor. For example, on Saturday December 8, 2012 at about 1:00 pm local Liberian time, a public works ministry employee identified as Paul Kanneh, who was disgracefully dismissed from the GAC under auditor general John Morlu for writing false statement with the intent to steal GAC issued laptop in his possession, went to harass Mr. Lawal with alleged message that Minister Woods sent him to request for money from Mr. Lawal to counter recent articles in the local and online news papers about the Belle Yalla road project. The contractor was frustrated due to the constant wave of harassment from public works employees.

Surprisingly, Minister Woods, out of fear for his possible replacement recently wrote President Johnson-Sirleaf requesting for an excuse to attend matter outside of the ministry’s work for a good portion of the dry season. A portion of minister Woods letter to president Johnson-Sirleaf states:

“Ref #: SKW-M/MPW-RL/04116/12P

 Ref: Request to travel

 To attend the international advisory board meeting of the Catholic organization for development (CORDAID) scheduled from January 24-25, 2013”

 

Besides, minister Woods is additionally asking president Johnson-Sirleaf to permit him to travel to the U.S.A from January 26 to February 22^, 2013 to continue his medical checkups.

According to the December 3, 2012 press release published on the executive Mansion website announcing the postponement of President Sirleaf’s visit to Gbarpolu County, the ministry of Public works attributed the bad road condition to the heavy rains caused by climate change.

What is surprising about this request is that the Minister has blamed bad road and his inability to complete projects on time on “climate change” implying too much rain. If the Minister is genuine about this, why is he taking away good portion of the dry season which he should be working to attend to personal matter? For the records, CORDAID is one of the donors funding Minister Woods personal NGO, ‘FINHD’. FINHD has been invited to CORDAID scheduled conference to defend its request for continued support. Therefore, Minister Woods is now using both his profile in government to solicit support for his private organization. If this is not another form of corruption, then I do not know what else is it?

 

Singing his own praises, a direct respond to Joe Lacky Freeman, a.k.a Kofi Woods, II

Barely five days after the publication of my opinion piece about Liberia’s former human rights activist turned politician and public works minister Samuel Kofi Woods, you “Joe Lacky Freeman”, a man believe to be operating under a pen name swung out in defense of the minister. What you failed to clearly address in your Russian-style covert propaganda are the issues raised in my opinion piece. Instead, you overtly opened and raised your ‘political vuvuzela’ and began signing your own praises under a newly combined western and traditional style name (Joe Lacky Freeman). Unfortunately, the praise singing ‘vuvuzela’ failed to realize that my opinion piece is solely based on documentarily facts and not fallacies. In your rejoinder entitled “the benefit of a human rights activist becoming a politician, the case of Liberia’s public works minister Kofi Woods” you outlined bunch of praises and left out the issue of the abandoned Belle Yalla road project with the intent to put your audience under the impression that my opinion piece was just another noise from a minority corner. As I mentioned in my article, it is easy to condemn, criticize and challenge a relatively inconsequential regime that you are not a part of and refer to others in such regime as “humiliating leaders”.

I am not usually carried away by shower of empty praises especially coming from pen names. How can you “Joe Lacky Freeman” not read my point that minister Woods is known to carry from one ministry to another his Comptroller and Procurement Director, thus undermining continuity principle of government and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the civil service Agency?”. During my investigation while in Monrovia, I visited the Labor and public works ministries, the Monrovia YMCA and was able to confirm that the current Financial Comptroller at Public Works was the Finance Officer at YMCA when Kofi Woods was Executive. When he took over Ministry of Labor, he sent for the same man, Abraham Samukai (Defense Minister brother), to return and work with him at Labor. As expected, he took him again to Ministry of Public Works when he became Minister in 2009. This time, he took six employees from Labor with him to Public Works. Interestingly, all of them from the Finance Department and Procurement Department and appointed them to the same positions at Public Works. The fundamental question is, why the Former human rights man carries with him from one public office to another the same people in finance and procurement? What is he hiding that he cannot work with other Liberian financial experts? Is the Minister not aware of the rights of Liberians he has removed and replaced them with his handbag comptroller and Director of Procurement? Is he not aware of the Civil Service Standing Orders? These are some of the questions raised in my article which the praise singer Joe Lacky Freeman (aka Kofi Woods) failed to address. In my judgment, the evidence I have gathered about Belle-Yella Road project are so overwhelming that the Minister can only resort to singing praises of what he has done at MOL and MPW. But that is not the issue! The issue is, the Government of Liberia has spent over $7million United States dollars on a farm-to-market road which is just 40 minutes driving distance and the project has been abandoned. There is clearly an appearance of collusion and corruption under the Minister’s watch. This is the Minister who recently blasted his Cabinet Colleagues for not doing much to stamp out corruption in government. The reality is Public works ministry under minister Woods is no different from previous failed and disappointing administrations. It is business as usual!

According to Joe Lacky Freeman rejoinder in defense of Minister Woods, Ministry of Public Works contracted out the Belle Yalla road but the ministry is not responsible for damaged materials. What you again failed to tell the public is “who is the contractor in charge of the Belle Yalla road project”. Information gathered from credible sources revealed that a Nigerian contractor was awarded the Belle Yalla road project. According to information gathered during my investigation, the Nigerian business man allegedly paid back 30% of the US$7million Belle Yalla Road contract money as a kick back for awarding him (the Nigerian Business man) the contract. My source informed me that the Minister who is known for talking tough against contractors for poor performance has until now remained silent. It is difficult to imagine that the project which started in 2009 is still not completed and Minister Woods has again requested Government to put in additional money for the 2012/2013 National Budget.

My investigation shows that some of the contractors who have been awarded contracts based on Fiscal Budgetary Allocation for 2012/2013 include Lebanese businessman Farwaz ($7.9 million) and $3 million dollars to the Nigerian Business man who have abandoned the Belle Yalla road project while other Liberian owned construction firms roam around the public works ministry without receiving a penny from their own Government. The current state of affairs at MPW is disappointing and a disservice to the taxpayers. Anyone who doubt my information would do well to contact Liberian Engineering Firms who are seeking contracts with Public Works under Minister Woods, do not take my word for it. I have credible information which I cannot release now until I return to Liberia in two weeks to take another group of Journalists to inspect the Belle-Yalla Road project.
Mr. Freeman gave some specific technical information in his rejoinder which I strongly believe came directly from Minister Woods’s desk. His three pages long rejoinder exhaustively contains disinformation which have been discredited by many and will soon further expose his Minister. In your rejoinder, you asserted that “there have been sustained media reports about the failure and slow pace of the Belle-Yella road project. Contrary to those claims, the Belle-Yella Project is ongoing, but experiencing some delays in term of implementation.

When I recently asked Deputy Public Works Minister for Technical Services, Victor B. Smith about the status of the project, he acknowledged that there were delays, but quickly attributed these delays to several reasons including financial difficulties”. Perhaps your biggest disinformation which flew in the faces of all the journalists that went with me on the Belle Yalla road assessment have further exposed your poor media propaganda intended to mislead the public. I challenge your false rosy hymnal praises. I will be in Monrovia in few weeks. If in fact a Joe Lacky Freeman actually exists, I will invite you along with several journalist of your choice to go with me to verify your claim that the Belle Yalla road project is ongoing. Please make sure to come with proper academic and national identity to ensure that there is a real Joe Lack Freeman.

I cannot end this piece without a pledge to the people of Gbarpolu county and to officials of the Ministry of Public Works. To my people of Belle Yalla, I have your backs and I heard your cry loud and for long. I say the night has been long and your day is coming soon. For the Ministry of Public Works officials, you have me to content with for the rest of 2013. I will follow every single thing which the Ministry of Finance has put in the budget for road construction in Gbarpolu, particularly, starting with the Belle-Yalla Road. If it takes me to organize street protest before your offices to draw public attention to the full completion of the road, it will happen. To achieve this, I am returning to Liberia in December 2012 to prepare for the cause. We will help President Sirleaf to stamp out corruption in Government by playing our civic role as good citizens.

To ensure a system of transformation with the intent to touched various aspects of the Liberian society, from consciousness to culture, values and community with the goal to rebuild our nation’s image so as to stimulate growth, and to provide opportunities for local and national involvement in productive activities in not only Monrovia but rural Liberia as well. I firmly believe these things can be done by providing farm to market roads and secure environment. In this respect, road, one of which matters most to the people of Belle Yalla and its environs should not be taken for granted especially by the man who condemned and criticized others so loud when he was not in Government.

When a human rights Activist becomes a politician:

                        When a human rights Activist becomes a politician
                                       The case of Koffi Woods

 

By: Sam K Zinnah

Clayton, Delaware

szinnah@yahoo.com

Clayton, Delaware; When one of Liberia’s most vocal human rights activists “Mr. Samuel Koffi Woods” was tapped as Public Works Minister in 2009 by Liberia’s president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, most Liberians were of the hope that Public works ministry would get some administrative facelift at last. What was absent from the hope was the fact that most experts of these advocates of human rights understand at least that when the microphones are off, work begin in the real world. In that case, eyes and other attentions becomes focused on reality and the influence over internal abuse of resources draws local and international attentions. In activitism, it is easier to condemn, critise and challenge a relatively inconsequential regime that you are not a part of and refer to others in such regime as “humiliating leaders”. As a Human Rights activist, little did Koffi Woods know that sometimes quiet diplomacy is more effective than a public rebuke. As the old saying goes, “what goes around, comes around”.

After three years of sitting in the driver’s seat as Liberia’s minister of Public Works, the real world has encircled minister Woods, as his operations are becoming “dismal,” characterized by constant drumbeat for his immediate resignation. In May 2009, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf promised to spend her first ever Christmas in a Town, once notoriously known for hosting tax invaders and political prisoners in Liberia. The announcement was heavily criticized by opposition politicians and other individuals who had different perception about the president’s intentions. Some said President Johnson-Sirleaf’s action was intended to score political point while others saw it as a favor for Gbarpolu County.

But the road to Bella Yella was impassable, a road that represented how backward Liberia has sunk after 14 years of civil war. Minister, Kofi Woods “after the unceremonious departure of his predecessor, Luseni Donzo from public works” was tasked with the responsibility of executing the president’s promise, principally building the road to Bella Yella. Five years later and with more than US$7 million dollars budgeted, allotted and expended, the Belle Yalla road project has become a dismal failure, and exposed Minister Wood’s real colors, as a man who has spent considerable time on public gimmicks than real performance. Covertly Spending on the media and fortune hunters thinly disguised as student leaders to give him undeserved image boost as an anti-corruption campaigner.

Over the years, Minister Woods has successfully made effective use of the media thus making him to appear as the most effective Government minister. Several attempts to expose minister woods' poor handling of major road construction projects in Liberia has been suppressed by the minister’s complex networks of media connections. But his media cartel connection can only bury so much and no more. It is becoming priceless for the minister to keep covering up.

On July 31, 2012, I escorted a team of journalist to inspect the Belle Yalla road project. Driving from Totoquelle to Belle Yallah, the road is nothing but a mere political propaganda site designed by the public works ministry to give false impression to the president. The condition of the road could not permit the team to cross Mbelekpalamu bridge. After making excessive use of our 4wheel drive vehicle, we were forced to park our vehicle on the top of Mbelekpalamu hill and rolled up our pants and make our way to one of the abandoned bridges. At the Mbelekpalamu bridge, we saw huge pile of damaged bags of cement left behind by contractors. While taking pictures, we saw a gentleman walking towards us. As he approach us, Daily observer journalist Steven Binda, asked “how are you sir, do you work here?”. The gentleman answered “hello, yes I work here, I am the security here”. At that point, all cameras turned to the gentleman. Journalist Binda requested an interview and he agreed to grant an interview.

Holding firm my camcorder, I carefully focused on Journalist Binda and the gentleman. In his first question to the gentleman, Journalist Binda asked “what’s your name sir?”.The gentleman answered “my name is Mohammed Siryon”. The full interview which is currently in my possession, revealed that the abandoned construction materials meant for work on the Belle Yalla road are now being carried back to Monrovia by the contractors, while Minister Woods and his crew continue to put president Sirleaf under the impression that works are ongoing on the Belle Yalla road project.

Few days after my return from the Belle Yalla road, I visited several news papers and released few of the pictures from my trip to those news papers for publication. In response to my investigation, one of Minister Woods’s deputies appeared on Truth FM to tell the Liberian people that the contractors were working on the Belle Yalla road and that critics were nothing but opposition detractors. I immediately picked up my phone and call the studio to challenge the deputy minister’s claim. I explained to the Journalists in studio that I had just returned from the Belle Yalla Road with enough evidence to show that the project was abandoned. I volunteered to drive to the studio with my evidence to disprove the deputy minister’s claim, but I was told by the journalists that the program was almost at the end and that they could not entertain me. My hope was that the journalists in studio would provide a balanced debate by giving me a formal invitation on their talk show to proof my case against the public works ministry but that hope became a mere imagination and dream that was never realized until I left Liberia on September 23rd 2012.

My visit on the most publicized, but now abandoned, Belle Yallah Road gave me more reason to lunch more probe on the minister’s activities. My follow-up investigation In Monrovia revealed a lot about Minister Woods’ operational and financial activities. He is known to carry from ministry to ministry his Comptroller and Procurement Director, undermining continuity principle of government and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the civil service Agency. I visited the Monrovia YMCA, Labor Ministry, and public works ministry and was able to confirmed that some of the positions named above came with the minister from YMCA to Labor Ministry and now public works. I also obtained a copy of a private communication between a highly placed person and Minister Woods, in which Minister Woods was asked to resign from the Sirleaf government since 2007 if he was unhappy with what was happening in the Government at the time. This followed after there was a leak about his secret undermining of the Government image in the early months. According to the communication, Minister Woods appeared before the sender of the communication and complain about salary differences that existed between some ministries/individuals in Government. The Minister pleaded with the highly placed person and negotiated his salary.

After more than four years as Minister of public works, Minister Woods is still fighting to shift blames on his predecessor for major projects that are stay in ruins. How can anyone believe that former public works minister Donzo is responsible for the bad road conditions that exist on the Somalia drive? Why did the Minister not refuse supervision and implementation of Agreements signed by Former Minister Donzo? What is remarkable, however, is that minister Woods activities are still shadowed by the believe that he’s a Human Rights activist but the issue of the abandoned Belle Yalla road should be used to re-evaluate the minister’s real activities since he joined government.

Why any of these matter in Minister Woods’s administration? It turns out to our peril, that the Human Rights activist activities are being exposed gradually. One would expect Minister Woods to expose these ills “such as the Belle Yalla Road project” but he is now quiet and even suspected to be deeply involved in covering up. In addition to a pundit class that continues to draw deeply from the well of comforting moral certainties and platitudes that are suppose to be Minister Woods greatest Human Rights legacy, more than four years worth of pure Liberian style politics is beginning to slip the Rights activist into political and reality positon. Many things are coming out under his administration that is making people to believe that the Minister is “just another Liberian politician” as he is slowly failing to actively promote and protect human rights every where he can through different means other than micro phone criticism.

Did Justice Minister “Tah” order Police (PSU) brutality in Gbarpolu County?

By: Sam K Zinnah

On April 26, 2012, life once again became unpleasant & unbearable for residents of portion of Kongba District in Gbarpolu County when some members of the Police Support Unit (PSU) led by Officer Theopheolus Dunor arrived in Kongba District and began beating, looting & shooting between the legs of civilians thus leaving hundreds of affected towns residents to flee for safety. The PSU officers’ actions brought flashback of painful memories to residents of Kongbar when they began discharging fire arms among peaceful civilians. A victim narrates “I swear! I thought the rebels were back again. They were behaving like real rebels. They reminded me of NPFL days”.


Like any war victim, it is very difficult to dismiss memories of the civil war that left painful memories with Liberians. When one experiences war such as the brutal and senseless Liberian civil war, all that one often remembers are memories of painful occurrences and otherwise. Many store these memories as images of their experiences. Some keep them as stories worth telling later on while others use them as their daily guard against mistakes.

On April 27, 2012, more than 15 victims of PSU brutality in Kongbar District in Gbarpolu County gathered at the Capitol building in Monrovia to log complain to their county law makers and to demand justice. While in Monrovia, Gbarpolu County senior Senator J.S.B Theodore Momo Jr called and asked me to gather some information from the victims while he rush back to the capitol building. I immediately drove to the capitol building and met the victims. There was frustration expressed in the faces of the victims. Some were sitting on the ground while others were standing in small groups discussing the horror experienced by them. I introduced myself and softly explain to them the message from the senior senator. In the process of explaining myself, the victims regroup and listened attentively. After my introductory speech, I asked the group to designate one person to explain the occurrences to me. They quickly designated three people who were victimized in different locations to each explain their encounter with the PSU officers along with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) rangers in Kongba District, Gbarpolu County.



According to eyewitness & victim Patrick W Gwaikolo,” On April 26, 2012, PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor and his co-officers entered Timber Village in Kongbar District and put civilians under gun point. While under gun point, Officer Dunnor informed the Town residents that he was sent in the District by Justice Minister Christina Tah to effect arrest of people believed to be doing illegal mining and hunting in the District. After few hours, Officer Dunnor reportedly left Timber Village and proceeded to Amtel Camp where he reportedly entered and search houses while holding pistol/fire arm.

On the same date (04/26/12), PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor reportedly preceded to another Town called Kumgbor. While In Kumgbor, PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor allegedly hand cuff few residents and discharged fire arm between the legs of several residents thus causing pandemonium in the town.

After spending the night in Kumgbor, Officer Dunnor went to Camp Alpha on April 27, 2012 and continued his looting, intimidation and assault on civilians. During his looting extravaganza, PSU Officer Theophilus Dunnor went to Wango village where he and his team assaulted and brutalized tribal (Gio) Governor John Tuah leaving him (Tuah) severely injured. Tribal Governor Tuah was rushed to Monrovia and was admitted at the John F. Kennedy hospital where he spent few days undergoing treatment. After victim Gwaikolo’s narration, I suggested that Police be contacted. We were joined by Gbarpolu County electoral district #3 representative Hon. Getrude Lamin. We went to the Liberia National Police headquarters where we contacted the CID department to report the incident. After few questions from the CID officer Alfred T. Quire, we were told to report to the LNP headquarters on Friday April 27, 2012.

On Friday 04/27/2012 upon return to the LNP headquarters, the CID Department chose Tuesday May 1, 2012 as the date to conduct preliminary investigation into the report. On Tuesday May 1, 2012, victims, and other Gbarpolu County citizens assembled in the conference room located in the CID Department on the second floor of the LNP headquarters to witness the preliminary investigation of alleged PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor and victims of his looting, intimidation, assault and brutality. The CID team was led by C/Supt Alfred T. Quire. The process was observed by Gbarpolu County public defender Cllr. James Lebah. Also in attendance was Chairman of the Gbarpolu County Association in the U.S. “Mr. Sam K Zinnah who is also a law enforcement officer in the U.S. State of Delaware.

The process turned into intimidation instead of investigation. C/supt. Alfred T. Quire was seeing screaming and yelling at victims with intent to intimidate the victims while the alleged perpetrator , PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor was in full uniform and was seeing relaxing and laughing. At some point, Officer Dunnor was seeing whispering to the investigators thus making him part of the team investigating his victims. Prior to the investigation, one of the victims quoted Officer Dunnor as saying “this case is a dead case; you guys are wasting your time, I told your that I was sent by the Justice Minister”. After CID/supt Alfred T. Quire’s yelling contest, victims were told to return to the LNP headquarters to get their charges. The day after, the man who was severely brutalized “John Tuah” was rushed to Monrovia on motorbike. Tuah, whose condition was critical, was taken to the LNP headquarters to be seen by the so called investigators.
 Tuah was taken upstairs on the second floor and placed on the floor of the CID conference room where he stayed for hours without being attended to nor seeing by and of the CID officers. Upon my arrival at the LNP headquarters to follow up on the status of the pending charges against the brutalized victims, I was notified that John Tuah was in the CID office but was unable to sit nor talk. I immediately went to the CID conference room where I saw John Tuah laying flat on the floor. I snapped few digital pictures of victim Tuah and decided to go to CID/supt Alfred Quire’s office to notify him about victim Tuah’s condition. I walked towards officer Quire’s office which is located three doors from the CID conference room. Upon arrival at officer Quire’s office, I attempted informing officer Quire about victim Tuah’s condition but officer Quire burst into harsh and unethical verbal attack on me. He screamed “get away from my office! Go to the CID commander and tell him your story!!” at that point, I decided to respond to his unethical behavior. I said to officer Quire “sir, do not scream at me! I’m not here to beg you for any thing, am simply here to make sure you look into this case. I sat in that conference room and watch your unprofessional and unethical behavior yesterday. I’m very disappointed in someone like you who suppose to be a professional Officer”. Officer Quire appeared very surprise at my bluntness.
 He sat behind his desk holding his head like it was about to explore. At that point, I gave him one of two options “either you do your job or I go down stairs and bring a pressman who will do your job”. Officer Quire stood up behind his desk and began screaming at the top of his voice again “you can’t bring press man inside here”. I responded to him by saying “unless you tell me this is your private building or you are hiding something inside here, I will bring press man in here. I went down stairs and search for a journalist. When I finally located one journalist from Truth F.M, I took him upstairs in the CID conference room where victim John Tuah was laying flat on the floor. We took some photos of victim Tuah and took him away from the LNP headquarters where he stayed for hours without any attention from the CID officers. We took PSU victim John Tuah to several real where the story was told to journalists and later took him to Sky TV where another interview was done. The story was broadcast on two TV stations and several radio stations.

On May 3, 2012, Gbarpolu County senior Senator J. S. B. Theodore Momo addressed a detailed letter to Justice Minister Christiana Tah and CC to Police Director Chris Massaquoi, VP Joseph Boakai. In the letter, the Senator described the alleged Police brutality in Kongba District Gbarpolu County and urged the Justice Minister to investigate and take appropriate actions where necessary. During a follow up inquiry visit paid to the LNP headquarters by Senior senator Momo and junior Senator Armah Z Jallah and few of the victims on July 6, 2012, the head of the LNP CID department col. Flomo was asked about the status of the case since in fact the case has been languishing between the Justice Ministry and the LNP for more than two months. Col. Flomo explained that he was instructed by his boss to charge the victims and send them to court. He said “I was not instructed to investigate the case; I was only instructed to charge these people and send them to court”. When asked why he has not charged the victims as instructed by his boss, col. Flomo said “there has been lots of intervention from all ankles thus making it difficult to move forward with this case”.

Col. Flomo announced that the Police was in possession of items reported to his office by PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor who led the looting extravaganza in Kongba District, Gbarpolu Couty. Col. Flomo named the items as LD10.000.00, 26 pieces of diamond, and several gram of gold dust. Col. Flomo told the two senators and the victims that the LNP was ready to return the items to the victims. The Col. Instructed one of his staffs to dial the acting Police Director’s number to enable him to establish contact. When acting Police Boss Rose Striker was contacted, the two senators and the victims were instructed to proceed to the Acting Police Boss office. Upon arrival at Acting Director Striker’s office, Senior Senator Momo laid the premises for the visit and the potential danger or clash that lies ahead if the issue in Kongba was not properly investigated.

In her respond, acting Police boss Rose Striker offered her sincere apology to the victims and regreted any inconvenience the action of the PSU or the LNP may have caused the PSU brutality victims and the residents of Kongba. She promised to conduct full investigation into the allegation and deal with any LNP officer(s) found guilty or liable. The LD10.000.00 was returned to Ms. Botoe Kanneh while the 26 pieces of diamond was displayed on acting Police Boss Striker’s desk to be reviewed by Senator Momo and Senator Jallah and the victims. The diamond and the gold could not be signed for because the owners were not present.

Opinion

To ensure a system of transformation with the intent to touched various aspects of the Liberian society, from consciousness to culture, values and community with the goal to rebuild our nation’s image so as to stimulate growth, and to provide opportunities for local and national involvement in productive activities in not only Monrovia but rural Liberia as well. I firmly believe these things can be done by providing secure environment. In this respect, security, one of which matters most to the people of Gbarpolu County and Liberia as a whole should not be taken for granted especially by the head of Liberia’s justice Ministry.

If nothing is done to punish PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor and his co officers for their alleged involvement in the PSU brutality in Kongba District, Gbarpolu County, many political pundits and observers will believe that officer Theophilus Dunnor’s action in Kongba was ordered by Justice Minister Christiana Tah. Prior to the preliminary CID investigation into the allegation of PSU brutality in Kongba District, Officer Theophilus Dunnor was overtly heard telling his victims “nothing will come out of this case, you people are wasting your time”. Officer Dunnor’s statement has come to reality. To date, nothing has happen to the officers that allegedly took part in the brutality in Gbarpolu. The question “did Justice Minister ordered the PSU brutality in Gbarpolu” remains unclear.

PSU looting backfired in Gbarpolu County

By: Sam K Zinnah

What appeared to be a well planned looting extravaganza in Kongba District in Gbarpolu County has back fired in Monrovia. On Friday April 27, 2012, a group of marketers and victims ran to Monrovia from the diamond rich and mining town of Kumgbor to blow alarm on Police Support Unit (PSU) Officer Theophilus Dunnor who claimed he was sent to Kongba District by Justice Minister Christiana Tah to effect arrest of people believed to be involved in illicit mining and hunting in the District.
According to eye witnesses and victims report, PSU Officer Theophilus Dunnor and his team of looters arrived in Timber Village on April 26, 2012 and placed several residents under gun point while they randomly search and loot houses in the Town. One of the victims narrated that Officer Dunnor displayed a letter he claimed was given to him by Justice Minister Christiana Tah to carry on a mission in Kongbar District in Gbarpolu County.

A well detailed letter from the office of Gbarpolu County Senior Senator J. S. B. Theodore Momo addresses to Justice Minister Christiana Tah and CC to Acting Police Director Chris Massaquoi surfaced at the Capitol Building ahead of Acting Police Director Chris Massaquoi’s confirmation.

Preliminary investigation into the alleged brutality by PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor shows that Officer Dunnor walked away from the police investigation or intimidation room in grand style while his victims were charged with bunch of bogus charges including “criminal facilitation”. The investigation which later turned into intimidation was led by C/Supt. Alfred T. Quire who was overtly seeing screaming and yelling at Officer Dunnor’s victims while Officer Dunnor was peacefully relaxing near the investigators.

Gbarpolu County Senator J.S.B. Theodore Momo writes Justice Minister Tah

Minister Christina Tah,


Our attention has been drawn to the action of PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor who claimed he was recently sent to Gbarpolu County by your office. According to eye witnesses and victims account, Officer Theophilus Dunnor and three other officers arrived in Kongba District on April 26, 2012 and began arresting, beating civilians and allegedly shooting between the legs of several residents of Kumgbor thus leaving many of our citizens in fear while many others are still believed to be seeking refuge in neighboring Villages.


According to one of the victims “Patrick W. Goikolo,” On April 26, 2012, PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor and his co-officers entered Timber Village in Kongbar District and allegedly put civilians under gun point. While under gun point, Officer Dunnor allegedly informed the Town residents that he was sent in the District by Justice Minister Christina Tah to effect arrest of people believed to be doing illegal mining and hunting in the District. After few hours, Officer Dunnor reportedly left Timber Village and proceeded to Amtel Camp where he reportedly entered and search houses while overtly holding pistol/fire arm.


On the same date (04/26/12), PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor reportedly preceded to another Town called Kumgbor. While In Kumgbor, PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor allegedly hand cuff few residents and discharged fire arm between the legs of several residents thus causing pandemonium in the town.

After spending the night in Kumgbor, Officer Dunnor went to Camp Alpha on April 27, 2012 and continued his looting, intimidation and assault on civilians. During his looting extravaganza, PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor went to Wango village where he and his team allegedly assaulted and brutalized tribal (Gio) Governor John Tuah leaving him (Tuah) severely injured. Tribal Governor Tuah was rushed to Monrovia and is currently admitted at the John F. Kennedy hospital where his condition has been described as “critical”.

After the above allegations against PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor, some residents/victims and marketers from Kongbar came to Monrovia and went to my office at the capitol building and notified me and other Gbarpolu County Law Makers about the incident. We immediately contacted the CID Department at the headquarters of the Liberia National Police to report the action of Officer Dunnor.

On Friday 04/27/2012, the CID Department chose Tuesday May 1, 2012 as the date to conduct investigation into the report. On Tuesday May 1, 2012, victims, and other Gbarpolu County citizens assembled in the conference room located in the CID Department on the second floor of the LNP headquarters to witness the preliminary investigation of alleged PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor and victims of his looting, intimidation, assault and brutality. The CID team was led by C/Supt Alfred T. Quire. The process was observed by Gbarpolu County public defender Cllr. James Lebah. Also in attendance was Chairman of the Gbarpolu County Association in the U.S. “Mr. Sam K Zinnah who is also a law enforcement officer in the U.S. State of Delaware.


According to the observers, the process turned into intimidation instead of investigation. C/supt. Alfred T. Quire was seeing screaming and yelling at victims with intent to intimidate the victims while the alleged perpetrator , PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor was seeing relaxing and laughing. During the so called investigation/intimidation process, PSU officer Theophilus Dunnor was overtly seeing whispering to the investigators. Prior to the investigation, one of the victims quoted Officer Dunnor as saying “this case is a dead case; you guys are wasting your time”.


Hon. Minister Tah, from all indications, your administration has proven and continued to proof to be ready for a system of transformation which has touched various aspects of the Liberian society, from consciousness to culture, values and community with the goal to rebuild our nation’s image so as to stimulate growth, and to provide opportunities for local and national involvement in productive activities in not only Monrovia but rural Liberia as well. We believe these things can be done by providing secure environment. In this respect, security, one of which matters most to the people of Gbarpolu County and Liberia as a whole has come under question as a result of Officer Theophilus Dunnor’s team and the CID Department of the Liberia National police. On Tuesday May 1, 2012 while three of Officer Dunnor’s victims were placed on criminal bench and charged with criminal facilitation, Officer Dunnor walked away in grant style and said to his victims “I told you this is a dead case”.


To clear doubt, I’m requesting a full investigation of the above allegations with the involvement of independent civil organizations and details of same be made available to the Gbarpolu County legislative caucus as soon as possible.


Senator J.S.B. Theodore Momo


Senior Senator, Gbarpolu County


Republic of Liberia

The timely departure of Gbarpolu County Superintendent, "what's next?"

 By: Sam K Zinnah
      Editor-in-chief
      Post-Conflict Liberia

On January 11, 2012 the news of Gbarpolu County Superintendent Boima Quaye Taweh and his deputy for development Rev. Emmanuel Kerkula’s dismissal spread around the world like a hurricane wind blowing sand in a Far East desert. Gbarpoluians in Gbarpolu, Liberia and other parts of the world are now looking forward to the constitution of a new team to join the newly elected law makers of the county.


Several Liberian news papers reported that the Gbarpolu County Superintendent and his deputy’s dismissal were as a result of misapplication of county development funds. With the schedule induction of the newly county elected law makers on January 16, 2012, there is a huge need for alternative county wide introspection in Gbarpolu County.

Ahead of the official announcement of the Superintendent and his deputy for development dismissal, report surfaced that the newly elected junior Senator Armah Zulu Jallah had already submitted the names of Mr. Isaac Varmah as acting Gbarpolu County Superintendent and Mr. Thomas Koiwu as development superintendent but sources closed to the internal affairs minister described the junior senator’s recommendation as a mere political joke. One source said the trend of political governance in Gbarpolu County needs to be seriously review by the incoming law makers.

Reliable sources have confirmed that the current and incoming law makers are faced with the dilemma of selecting the replacement of the outgoing Superintendent. According to the source, previous selections have been done differently. This time, the source note “we are not basing our selection on district preference, we will be choosing our next superintendent base on qualification and delivery capability”.
In my personal opinion, the main objective for political governance in post-war Gbarpolu County and Liberia should be to secure democracy by instilling checks and balances, which have been absent throughout the County and Liberia's long history. Such political system “in a way” would limit or reduce the abuse, misuse and misapplication of the county and public funds and to limit certain group of peoples’ extraordinary influence over the fate of the majority and by so doing provide the conditions for sustained growth and development.

Political democracy on the other hands has produced different definitions based on continent and form of Government. In matured democracies, political democracy is expressed and practiced in different ways because of systems put in place to track, monitor, identify perpetrators or violators of the system and provide punishment based on laws and rules put in place by the system. In Gbarpolu County and Liberia as a whole, the first task of political democracy should be to ensure equal and unhindered access for all to decentralized form of Government, which as history has shown had been the most contentious issue in Liberia’s political system that to a large extend continued to fueled the level and form of imperial leadership in Liberia.
Since the creation of the county development funds which is meant to decentralized government control over the level and process of development in Liberia, local leaders have either lacked a vision or the will to enforce whatsoever vision they had for the development of the county (ies).

In order to put some form of system in place to punish wrong doers, there’s still a need for constitutional reform. In my opinion, The objective of constitutional reform is the decentralization of state management - giving more power to the regions to determine local policies and development priorities, including such areas as education, social infrastructure and human development, as well as the power to implement these policies such as forming their own budgets, financing developmental policies, collecting certain types of taxes etc.. Likewise local authorities should be held accountable for what happen in their regions and they should be made less reliant on central authorities.

Local authorities should have a share in managing state assets on their territories and gaining incomes from it as well for financing projects. To avoid outright manipulation of local authorities, particularly Paramount, Clan and Town Chiefs, article 56, clause B of the 1986 Constitution be revisited and the power of the President to remove these local officials be transferred to a credible and well scrutinized National Legislature acting upon a specific number of signatures of the local population in the respective localities of these officials, certified by the national elections commission as valid. In this way, we might not have town chiefs coming to bring resolutions of support to high ranking government officials out of fear of losing their jobs.

Social transformation
Social transformation has been one of Liberia’s’ complex issues yet to be well analyzed by Liberian government or Liberian sociologists. From all indication, what has worked for one county or group of people have not work for the next. Triggered by the planetary crises, Liberia should be undergoing a whole-system of transformation of all aspects of it society, from consciousness to economy, from values to politics, from technology to organizations. Some of these forms could be used to transform cultural, society, and community in Liberia.
Liberia’s social aspect’s long-term goal should be to rebuild the country's damaged social infrastructure in such a way to serve as a stimulus for economic growth, as well as to provide opportunities for ex combatants, internally displaced persons and refugees to get involved in productive activities. In this respect, the things that matter most to ordinary Liberians would need to be addressed such as health care, infrastructure, education and jobs. One of the mistakes of the past was that development in Liberia was never people-centered. It was always centered literally speaking in the Executive Mansion & in the President’s inner circle’s pockets. This time, the government is allocating county development funds which audits have shown been skimmed into the pockets of either county officials and their cronies and the rest to the counties. Once these funds land in the local areas, the intended beneficiaries are left waiting in limbo. This explains why the people as a whole feels themselves estranged from the process of state governance and this in turn provide an inducement to the population to eventually take to violence as a means to realizing themselves when and as soon as this became possible.

The simple fact is that there will never be integration or healing the wounds in Liberia unless people begin to feel empowered, that they have a stake in the county or country's future. The Liberian legislature should pass a historic law that will comprehensively establish national development benchmarks that will serve as a blue print against which all current and future national development policy from one administration to the next in a consistent manner to ensure speedy and systematic development of Liberia.

Political ax to fall in Gbarpolu County

By: Sam K Zinnah
Editor-in-chief
Clayton, Delaware,

Report coming from Gbarpolu indicates that Gbarpolu County Superintendent Boimah Quaye Taweh and some members of his leadership team are set to be suspended for time indefinite. Full details of Superintendent Taweh’s indefinite suspension are not known yet but independent and other sources are suggesting that the Superintendent and his team are said to be involved in some uninvestigated financial mal practices. According to reliable sources from Gbarpolu County’s political capital “Bopolu”, The junior Senator elect, Hon. Armah Zulu Jallah” has immediately recommended Mr. Isaac Varmah as acting Superintendent and Mr. Thomas Koiwu as acting Development Superintendent pending investigation into the alleged involvement of Superintendent Taweh and his County Team into the financial mal practices in the County.
Few county official s were contacted this morning to verify the unconfirmed reports but they all refuse to comment on the issue because of it sensitive nature at this very important political time in the history of the county. Efforts are underway to confirm the report and follow the trend of the investigation of the County officials involved.

Unconfirmed sources also disclose that the recommendation made by Junior senator elect Armah Jallah has met stiff resistance from the Internal Affiars Minister who is to verify and made recommendation to the President for proper appointment or nominations. The source states "Hon. Jallah is from the opposition bloc, his remarks during the just ended campaign and elections were kind of derogatory, he’s likely to be seriously and politically monitored during his administration as junior senator for Gbarpolu County”.
Full details of this story will be published as it becomes available.
Stay tuned.