-Local Think-tank calls for declaration of State of Emergency
A Liberian public relations and development think tank has called on President George Manneh Weah to declare a state of emergency and move with deliberate speed to investigate the grave economic scandal that has befallen the country, amid growing tensions and anxiety amongst Liberians in the wake of the reported disappearance of billions of Liberian dollars.
The Justice Ministry earlier this week confirmed earlier reports of investigation of the disappearance of nine billion Liberian dollars in containers and bags from the Freeport of Monrovia and the Roberts International Airport. But Information Minister Eugne Nagbe told the Voice of America and State Radio hours later that the total amount in fact was close to 16 billion Liberian dollars that disappeared without trace.
The call for declaration of a State of Emergency is being made by the group, What Weah Must Do Movement, which was formed after the inauguration of the CDC Standard Bearer and it is a subsidiary of Paragon Consultants.
“The moral and political image of the President as well as the very survival of the state is challenged by the scandal,” the group said in a press release issued on Thursday.
It says the scandal has serious national security implications and therefore requires only emergency powers that the President can use to thoroughly handle the scandal and those involved.
The What Weah Must Do Movement is calling on President Weah to set up an independent panel comprising individuals from civil society as well as private national and international economic crime investigators to take over the investigation.
The group in its press release signed by Lead-Consultant Sherman C. Seequeh says the involvement in the current scandal of state security investigators—who are often associated with the movement of newly printed monies from the ports of entry to public vaults—will reduce public trust in the conclusion of the final report and undermine its credibility.
Conversely, the group says, the involvement of independent experts in this critical matter would rather increase public believability and confidence in the final report and save the President the rising tides of conspiracy theories emerging in the country.
The What Weah Must DO Movement says the impact of the scandal on the image of Government and Liberia is catastrophic but it can only be redeemed by the President’s actions that are proportional to the magnitude of the damage done.
If President Weah had not taken any national issue serious, he cannot afford to do so now because the matter of missing millions is grave and has far-reaching negative implications for him as a person, the government at large and his many supporters.
The group also says the scandal provides a golden opportunity for the president to reset and rebrand his administration towards regaining public respect and admiration, by punishing and possibly severing anyone or group working to taint his record and popularity.