Boakai’s moneyman pleads guilty

By Atty Isaac Jackson

Law-abiding Liberians may have to wait much longer for the dutiful second press release of UP Flagbearer, Joseph Boakai as his moneyman and campaign financier, Stanton Witherspoon changes his plea to guilty.

Mr. Witherspoon is expected to change his not guilty plea he entered earlier to guilty as he is being scheduled for hearing on August 24, this month. That would amount to confessing to putting thousands of American lives at risk through his grand medical fraudulent scheme.

Obviously, many of Boakai’s slavish supporters are in denial about his declining health and mental acuity, which has seen the octogenarian repeatedly display the lack of sound leadership judgments.

“How else can a reasonable mind discern Oldman Boakai’s recognition of a US federal criminal indictee as the de facto Unity Party Campaign Spokesman? Are there no lines desperate Boakai will not cross in his unhealthy search for the Liberian presidency,” Isaac Jackson, a former deputy minister during the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s regime quipped.

Lord Randolph Churchill’s quip against 77-year-old Gladstone appears justified to describe the aging former VP as an “old man in a hurry.” William Ewart Gladstone was rightly criticised for attempting to gamble British democracy to gratify his ambition. Here, we see desperate old man Boakai, long past his prime, decapitating morality and abandoning principles of good leadership to “dance with the devil” – make that dancing with several devils – only to gratify his naked quest for power. 

According to Jackson, it matters little to Boakai whether Witherspoon has put thousands of Americans’ lives at risk as long as he [Witherspoon] supports his campaign. Yes, sadly and morally, it matters little to Boakai whether Witherspoon uses his criminally acquired wealth to promote his selfish endeavors in pursuit of fame, and the country settling his medical bills in the offing. 

“When I last appeared on OK FM, about two weeks ago, I asked a rhetorical question: – Whether Boakai, as a highly experienced political figure, is convinced beyond reasonable doubts, that Witherspoon did not commit the crimes for which he was accused by the United States Government? The trouble here is that the Oldman who joyfully carries the title of an ambassador is noticeably less concerned about the sensitivities of the American Government and civilized societies at large, or any risks his relationships could engender against strengthening US/Liberia relations. Furthermore, by grappling onto Witherspoon, Boakai and his UP have no moral standing to chastise Weah and his minions for fielding US accused and sanctioned individuals. In fact, it’s an open secret that the notorious killer and US sanctioned war lord, Prince Y. Johnson, named Boakai’s running mate and hawks over Boakai as the man behind Boakai’s throne! Should Boakai win the October Polls, at high risk, will certainly be US/Liberia relations! The US notice is clear: The US will not do business with anyone who does business with sanctioned individuals. Boakai doesn’t care. He’s shielding not just sanctioned persons but US criminal indictee who admitted to risking US citizens’ lives, especially those of Boakai’s age,” Jackson wrote.

“How is Liberia supposed to get better under Boakai? He has no vision in which he can project himself. Like Mo Ibrahim said, old leaders like Boakai are only setting to “lead us to the grave”. What future can the personification of Liberia’s past lead us to?

Imagine Boakai failing woefully to demonstrate a sense of moral compunction about the crimes Witherspoon committed against the US Government and its people! For all that is now well known about Oldman Boakai and his reproachable policy choices, who in this world would sincerely believe that the United States would ever regard him as a serious and trustworthy leader of Liberia, in the unlikely event, he was to be elected as president?” He quipped.

“Boakai is a relic who is divorced from the reality of today’s world,” the former deputy information minister continued. 

“Boakai is simply not endowed with what it takes to govern our country effectively. He cannot lead our country into any future of success. Boakai can only take us backward to his era of grievances, divisions, and “squandered opportunities”, to borrow his words.  

Liberia is at a critical juncture. The last thing our country needs is an older version of the current disastrous president who has no leadership abilities.

Boakai is long past it. He has nothing new to offer the country. So, when I hear noisy junior comrades gloating about Boakai’s leadership potential, I just laugh, realizing that childish exuberance often ends in painful frustration, eventually.” Jackson concluded.