Although there’s no good news, recent news
that the head of Liberian presidential motorcade, Perry Dolo was caught red
handed ferrying drugs is good news. Dolo’s alleged to have used presidential
escort vehicle famously known as Escort 1 to smuggle 297 kilograms cannabis
from neighbouring Sierra Leone.
AFP
quoted Anthony Souh, Director of Liberia’s Drug Enforcement Agent (DEA) as
saying, “He took the car during his day off to go do this thing. He was not on
duty, but he used the official car.” Again, whether Dolo had a day off or not
is another issue. Many still wonder. How
such a sensitive device could be taken as easy as that. Does it mean that the
state house has no supervision to know as to when Escort 1 is at work or not?
Does it make sense to say that Escort 1 was taken without authorities being
aware if at all its function is to lead presidential motorcade? Whose motorcade
did it lead when it went to a neighbouring country to smuggle cannabis? How many
times has Dolo been doing this? How many Dolos does Africa have?
Being President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
confidante, many are still looking for the connection so that they can connect
the dots. Again, how could Dolo confidently involve in such crime without
backing or the knowledge of those above him?
When it comes to scandals, Sirleaf is
not new to scandals and controversy. Before Dolo’s scandal, there was the
scandal involving her family. It came to light that her two sons are holding
high position in her government something that many interpret as nepotism.
Sirleaf’s son Charles is deputy governor
of the Central Bank of Liberia. Another son, Fumba is head of the National
Security Agency. The third, Robert, is a senior adviser and chairman of the
state-owned National Oil Company of Liberia. What makes things worse is the
fact that those two sons of the president were appointed by the president
herself. Such a move, apart from being construed as nepotism, it is seen as
pointlessly turning Liberia into Sirleaf’s kingdom if not a family estate. All
this defeats the expectations Liberians had when they voted in Sirleaf as a
first female president. The world was used to hear such things happening in
kingdoms such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other venal states such as former
Zaire, Congo, Guinea Equator, Togo and Gabon where rulers turned those
countries into private ventures they’d share with the members of their clans
and families.
When Sirleaf’s scandal involving her
sons surfaced, Sirleaf’s noble prize co-recipient, Leymah Gbowee registered her
dissatisfaction with the way the country was being manned by Sirleaf, Gbowee
was quoted as saying, “I've been through a process of really thinking and
reflecting and saying to myself 'you're as bad as being an accomplice for
things that are happening in the country if you don't speak up.” So she decided to speak up.
When Gbowee was asked for her comment on
Sirleaf’s son’s allegations of corruption she minced no words, "He's a
senior economic adviser and that's well and good - but to chair the oil company
board - I think it's time he stepped aside."
Although Sirleaf has been making
Liberians to believe she will thwart corruption, it came to light that she is a
pillar of corruption. The 2012 U.S. State Department has report had this to say
about Liberia, “Officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.” So too,
the report talked about weakness in the country’s judicial system and a lack of
political will to fight corruption.
Mid last year, the Head of Liberia
Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), Cllr. Frances Johnson-Allison said that
friendship and family pressures were seriously hampering President
Johnson-Sirleaf's stance against corruption and other negative vices in the
country. Interestingly, neither president herself nor her spokesposen denied or
disputed such allegations.
Looking at the above mentioned scandals
involving president Sirleaf, it is going to be difficult for her to distance
herself with Escort 1 scandal. Now that it is an open secret that presidential
vehicle has been smuggling drugs into Liberia, how many such greedy and myopic
persons Africa has in many state houses? Is this the reason why some African
countries have become a good hub-cum-corridor of drugs? Is it why some African rulers have nary even
wasted any time to launch war against drug trafficking? Again, was Dolo acting
solo or in conjunction with others?
There are many more questions than answers.
Source: Business Times Jan. 24, 2014.
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