PHOTO: Leaders of the opposition CPP
By Frank Sainworla, Jr., fasinworla@yahoo.com
Leaders of the CPP have not only been conspicuously silent on the sex scandal one of its executives, Mr. Mo Ali, Secretary General of the former ruling Unity Party is in, but some of their top figures have even taken to the Social Media to denigrate the 20-year-old young woman who was pressured into committing abortion.
The Collaborating Political Parties, which is currently headed by a female Senator from Grand Bassa County, Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence has not even come out to express concern about the leaked audio in which Mr. Ali is heard insisting that the 20-year-old lady he supposed to have impregnated abort the pregnancy, although she maintained her resistance to do so.
CPP is a four-party collaboration comprising former Vice President Joe Boakai’s Unity Party; Karnga-Lawrence’s Liberty Party; Alexander Cummings’ Alternative National Congress (ANC); and Benoni Urey’s All Liberian Party (ALP).
Days after the leaked audio became public knowledge and floated on Facebook, neither Sen. Karnga nor any other CPP leader have issued a statement expressing concern and/or calling for investigation or even consoling the 20-year-old at the center of the forced abortion pressure.
Even though the UP Standard Bearer Joe Boakai was given 45 minutes interview on the Henry Costa Show on the Social Media on Friday, April 16, 2021, not one mention was made by the former VP and top CPP leader about the ongoing sex scandal involving his party’s Secretary General.
Their insensitivity towards the scandal involving the fate of the young OK Fm radio intern has come up for strong criticisms in the Liberian society, including Liberia’s Former Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IM), Attorney Isaac Jackson.
Liberia’s former IMO Rep Atty. Isaac Jackson
“Recently, some members of the CPP ridiculously jumped to the defence of Mo Ali even though his conduct, i.e., impregnating a young lady who is not his wife, and forcefully asking her to abort the pregnancy is disputable – he’s been vigorously defended by folks in CPP,” Mr. Jackson says in a statement sent to www.newspublictrust.com on Saturday, April 17, 2021.
Atty. Jackson, who was Deputy Minister of Information in the government of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf continues:
“Blinded by the ridiculoupsity of footballification, the CPP chair, who is a woman has not issued any condemnation against Mo Ali’s action. Based upon these circumstances, how can anybody intelligently believe that things will get better any time soon in Liberia? We cannot expect to build a better Liberia by people turning off their moral compasses to make their corrupt friends feel comfortable. The issue of personal morality is at its lowest in the country. Besides, nothing serious is being done to bring back public morality, I mean, decent public standards to our national politics and national discourse,” Atty. Jackson, a top member of the opposition Liberty Party adds.
Henry Costa, who is vehemently critical of people particularly outside the opposition persistently calling for upholding of integrity and morality on his talk shows, rained insults on the OK FM’s intern and humiliated the young woman earlier this week in a video posdcast. Hours after intense backlash from Social Media followers, Costa came up to acknowledge that he was abusive against the 20-year-old woman in question.
“You go get pregnant, why she couldn’t take birth control. But you want to extort US$5,000.00 Mo Ali…”
In the same vein as he talked other followers told him to stop doing that. But Mr. Costa replied: “Somebody is telling me to stop talking that but I will not stop talking that. This girl needs to be shamed….”
Using foul language, Talk show host Cost then accused the young woman of “blackmailing” the UP Secretary General, saying this is “Hopojoe” behaviour, which means in our local Liberian parlance, meaning a prostitute.
Many, including Liberia’s former IMO Representative, see the current public indifference of the opposition CPP leader as a broader demonstration of the intense level of political hypocrisy and double standards on issues of national concern, including corruption, impunity, lack of integrity, injustice, etc.
“Yes; I indicated that one of the tragedies facing our country now is the footballification of our nation politics, wherein people take a side, and slavishly defend their side even though their side maybe wrong. For example, CDCians are sycophantically defending president and some of his officials in government even though whey are aware that things are not working well. Conversely, members of the CPP are slavishly defending some their members even though they are aware that some of their members are utterly corrupt. Take for example, Musa Bility – a condemned FIFA fraudster. Even the case with Brownie Samukai looks like an albatross around the neck of the CPP,” Atty. Isaac Jackson tells this news outlet.
Liberia’s former IMO Representative then adds:
“Imagine, some people Judiciary were trying to defend the revisionistic attempt by Chief Justice, Korkpor to downplay the massive human rights violations that took place during the rice riots by the security forces of the TWP government. How could the Chief Justice say political activists, who were unlawfully incarcerated and charged with treason for exercising their article 17 right weren’t political prisoners, when in fact, treason is a political crime? Yet, the Chief Justice has people defending him, to.”
Earlier this week, a prominent Liberian intellectual, Josiah Joekai published a piece in this news outlet and others calling on the CPP to speak out in the wake of the sex scandal involving one of its top officials.
“The allegations are grave. They have moral, ethical and legal implications. By no means, we should turn this matter into a regular joke, or an ordinary laughing matter. Mr. Mo Ali is an official of the Unity Party, one of the constituent political parties of the Collaborating Political Parties. The Unity Party should suspend Mr. Ali with immediate effect and launch an investigation into the allegations. During the period of the investigation, Mr. Ali should have nothing to do with the Unity Party and CPP pending the outcome. The Unity Party should also inform the public about such investigation and assure the public of impartiality in the process,” said Mr. Joekai.