Child of 3 cities

-The Allison wahala  

Liberian authorities are revealing several names under which they claimed the late whistle blower, allegedly a Liberian lawyer, presented himself, from obtaining an American passport to penetrating the Passport Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia to obtain the name, Michael Allison.

Autopsies on his remains were necessitated by wide public speculation here that there may have been a foul play since Mr. Allison allegedly drowned on a beach just within the time he was said to have linked House Speaker Alex Tyler and another lawmaker to a scandal being investigated by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission over oil consultation funds.

However, Liberia’s Justice Minister, Benedict Sannoh, says investigators confirm that the body found on South Beach on February 12, 2015, and identified by people, who knew him as Michael Allison, was in fact that of Mr. Nkrumah Mosiah Nadir Mulmi, formerly Maurice Denzel Bryce, a citizen of Bahamas and of the United States of America.

As such, Minister Sannoh concluded that the person, who was found dead on the beach and identified as Michael Allison, led a very dubious life, taking upon identities and changing names as the circumstances demanded.

The Liberian Attorney General says the Michael Allison case is an indictment against the Passport Division here, the Bureau of Vital Statistics, and the Liberian National Bar, which admitted him.

Minister Sannoh says while the deceased represented himself as Michael Allison in Liberia, there is no evidence that this was his legal name. 

As such, he notes that the case of Allison indicts the Passport Division, Bureau of Vital Statistics and the Liberian Bar not in a criminal sense, but that it squarely exposes weaknesses of the three institutions to have [thoroughly verified] the  Allison’s fake information before admitting him into the nation’s bar.

Having addressed the medical conclusions and government’s resolve not to press charges because nobody had been implicated, Mr. Sannoh told reporters that based on investigations, the body that was found on the beach was that of Mr. Maurice Denzel Bryce, Jr, born in Bahamas on December 8, 1967.

On Thursday, February 12, 2015 at about 7pm, the Justice Minister narrates that police were informed of the body of a 48 year-oldman alleged to be a Liberian lying on South beach within the vicinity of 5th Street, Sinkor, Monrovia, wearing a swimming trunk. The corpse was soon identified to be Michael Allison, as the deceased was known here in Liberia.

The government has released two separate autopsy reports from an American pathologist Dr. Carl Wigren and a Sierra Leonean pathologist Dr. Simeon Owizz Koroma, all concluding that Allison died of natural death from drawing in water.

“The investigation did not uncover any evidence of foul play or that his death was induced by the conduct of another person or instrumentality,” Mr. Sannoh told reporters Wednesday, March 18, 2015 in Monrovia.

However, the man found on the beach [purporting to be Michael Allison] in Liberia was according to Minister Sannoh  born as Maurice Denzel Bryce, Jr, in Bahamas on December 8, 1967; and on November 16, 2005, issued a United States Passport in which he was named as Mr. Nkrumah Moziah Nadir Mulmi.

Addressing reporters at the Ministry of Information, Mr. Sannoh said the deceased’s US Passport issued on 16 November 2005 indicates that he was born on 18 December 1967 in the Bahamas.

Besides, he said the Liberian investigators also have copy of a Passport issued to the purported Michael Allison by the Bahamas dated September 13, 2005 which carries him as Nkrumah Moziah Nadir Mulmi, said to be born on December 8, 1967 in Grand Bahama, Bahamas.

Mr. Mulmi also held two Liberian Passports, the Justice Minister said, adding that one of those Liberian passports was issued to him on July 7, 2006, which listed his place of birth as New York, USA.

This passport was valid up to July 6, 2011.  But upon the expiration of this passport, Minister Sannoh said, the deceased was issued a second passport by Liberia on February 1, 2012 valid up to January 31, 2017.

The second Liberian passport listed the deceased’s place of birth as Harper, contrary to previous passports issued here.

“It is this passport that carried him as Nkrumah Moziah Mulmi-Allison, which was based on a birth certificate issued by the Ministry of Health, which lists the name of Gle D. Allison (Spelled as Gle, as opposed to “Gray D Allison”) as his father,” Mr. Sannoh detailed.

The Justice Minister says investigators here have not seen any evidence as to how the deceased became to be referred to as Michael Allison.

“There [is] no record showing a change of name through the Circuit Court as required under our laws.  One additional confirmation is that comparison of the finger prints of the deceased and that taken when the US Passport was issued to him show a perfect match,” he said.

He has meanwhile emphasized the need for more scrutiny with respect to the manner in which government institutions discharge their statutory duties and responsibilities in the issuance of identity documents.

“The Michael Allison case is an indictment against the Passport Division, the Bureau of vital statistics, and the Liberian National Bar by admitting him into Bar,” he said.

He said those claiming to be family members of the deceased can come over to claim the body and undertake the necessary funeral arrangements, subject only to a DNA test to establish their relationship.

By Winston W. Parley