-Sacked envoy to London raises questions
A war of words has ensued between Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her sacked Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Dr. El-Mohammed Sheriff.
Sheriff was recently recalled for “acts incompatible with his diplomatic status,” and conducting himself as a trouble maker at the Liberian mission in London, just days after his BBC interview saying jailed ex-president Charles Taylor “has learned his lesson and should be freed to return,”.
But Sheriff told www.newspublictrust.com on Friday that his behavior at the Liberian Embassy in London wasn’t undiplomatic as being claimed by president Sirleaf.
Speaking on her return from the return home from New York after giving her last address to the UN General Assembly as Liberia’s President, Sirleaf told Reporters October 3, 2017 that the dismissed diplomat caused a lot of confusion at the London mission and he needed “he needs to check himself.” The Executive Mansion said his exit has brought relief to staffers at the Liberian embassy in London.
‘’ I was being nice to Dr. Sheriff when I said his behavior was undiplomatic and the people at the Embassy in London are relieved of his removal,’’ Africa’s first elected woman president added.
But Amb. Sheriff, a career medical doctor, has rather taken serious exception to the President’s comment.
‘’I am a normal person, I have never been taken to mental home and I’ve never been called upon to go and fund people who want to bring trouble to this country or I have never gone out there to solicit funding for any illegal act,’’ he said in Monrovia at the weekend.
The former Liberian diplomat expressed surprise that the president would ‘make an inferior comment imputing his reputation.’
He said such a low-grade attribute to his character has the ability of creating doubts and uncertainty in his future.
He then expressed gratitude to the president for the opportunity accorded through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as diplomat representing the Liberian government in London but strongly disapproved her statement reason for recalling him.
‘’The president leaves me with no choice but to explain and protect my integrity as a father of three children because my family is greatly concerned. When a president of a country takes on you that is of a major distress to your family, your life and well being is a stick‘’ he said looking visibly upset.
Sheriff wants the President Sirleaf to give reasons for making what he considers as derogatory statement against him sending out several questions to the Liberian leader.
‘’ Judging from the comments of the president one may ask the question if she was emotionally charged with a well balance capacity to have made such a remark against me?
“I’m not accusing the president of anything but one may also ask was she exhibiting some traumatized actions considering we came from war days?”
According to the dismissed Liberian envoy, these are questions President Sirleaf should be answering.
Corruption, he noted, remains endemic and permeates most sectors of the Liberian society and responding to the fight corruption in the country.
But the former Ambassador to the UK said president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s pledged to fight corruption has proven to be rhetoric.
‘’Has the president ever gone back to check herself of defaulting on these cardinal commitments?’’ “Has she accepted that something was wrong when these promises made or were they only cheering?” he further asked.
But officials of the ruling Unity Party regime have repeatedly said Liberia has made progress in the fight against corruption since Sirleaf took office nearly 12 years ago.
They credit her with demonstrating a strong leadership on anti-corruption issues. They say this has been translated into ensuring the independence of the General Auditing Commission, supporting the establishment of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, promoting transparent financial management, public procurement and budget processes and assuring Liberia’s compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) through the Liberian EITI law. Report By Kaipee Luther Newray