Boakai’s taskforce under scrutiny – Liberia news The New Dawn Liberia, premier resource for latest news

Some critics believe President Joseph Nyumah Boakai’s corruption control efforts are mere posturing to attract some crumbs from the International Community to support his government. 

President Joseph N. Boakai’s 15-man Assets Recovery Team has been placed under intense public scrutiny hours after it was announced on Friday.

On Friday, March 8, the Executive Mansion published the names of 15 individuals, whom it described as the Core Team, who are expected to follow and implement Executive Order #126, establishing the Office of Assets Recovery.

However, discussions on several local radio stations on Friday evening revealed several hidden skeletons of individuals serving on the task force, from its Chairman, Edwin Kla-Martins, to other team members.

Other team members are Ms. Maima Robertson, Vice Chair; Mr. Alexander Cuffy, Member, Special Advisor; Mr. Martin Kollie, Member, Good Governance Activist; Mr. Ahmed Dempster, Member, EFFL Emmanuel Gonquoi, Member and advocate; Dr. Ranny B. Jackson, Member, Public Policy Expert; and Ms. Angel Andrews, Member, Youth Representative.

The rest of the team are Ms. Victoria Moinsemah, a Member of the Business Community; Mr. George Moore, a Member of security; John Mulbah Gblee, a Member of security; and Mr. Trocon Martin Allen, a Member of the Private Sector Representative of the General Services Agency, Representative of the Liberia National Police, and Representative of the Ministry of Justice.

A damaging social media post purportedly written by former Auditor General John Morlu described President Boakai as following in the footsteps of his predecessors.

The Executive Order to establish an Asset Recovery Taskforce from the beginning is mere posturing on the part of JNB intended to pump air into space for the sole purpose of getting some crumbs from the International Community to support his government,” the post reads.

In the purported post, Mr. Morlu is alleged to have argued that the new regime is allegedly using the same tactics applied by Boakai’s predecessor, Mr. George Manneh Weah, with the Elton deal meant to attract Bretton Wood.

A source close to Mr. John Morlu told this paper Sunday that the former Auditor General denied authoring such a damaging critique of the Boakai’s Asset Recovery Team.

However, details about Morlu’s back-staged position are not available. Still, the rumors in some quarters suggest that some elements may not feel comfortable having him too close to the president.

In the post, Morlu is alleged to have argued that “A Kla Martin, a protégé of [sanctioned Liberian former Solicitor General Cllr. Saymah Syrenius] Cephus cannot be the messiah to recover stolen wealth scattered not only in Liberia but also in America, Europe, Asia, and other parts of Africa.” 

The post also added that “A [Alexander] Cuffy, in GAC’s RIA report, accused of multiple corruptions at the FIU, a no messiah either.”

The post continued that A [Dr. Ranny B.] Jackson, with his hand stained in Bong County Development Funds, cannot be a messiah in this fight.

“They don’t have the integrity, education, exposure, and competence to lead this fight. 

You cannot set up a serious team for the mere purpose of meeting job satisfaction, lacking competence, experience, education, and exposure,” the post allegedly quoted Mr. Morlu.

However, while many pundits are trying to verify if the post came from Mr. Morul, in a counter post by Dr. Rennie Jackson, he accuses Mr. Morlu of character assignation while revealing that Morlu was earning US25,000 monthly during his time at the General Auditing Commission.