Ruling Coalition for Democratic Change Chairman Mulbah Morlu, says organizers of Monday’s (January 06, 2020) protest had hidden agenda that was bigger than mere protest.
Addressing a news conference in Monrovia Tuesday, January 7, Chairman Morlu noted that for protesters under mandate from their leaders to have lit fire on the grounds of the Capitol where they had assembled suggest their plans were deep.He says nowhere in history where protesters will carry fire at such a national premises, but only in Liberia due to tolerance of President George Manneh Weah.
“Today, protesters can take the streets of Monrovia without being harassed by security forces; during our struggle under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf regime, I was jailed 14 times only for speaking against power. But they took fire to grounds that play host to the Executive Mansion, Temple of Justice, the Capitol Building, the Foreign Affairs and Information Ministries and the University of Liberia, without being arrested. They should be grateful to President Weah for this kind modern democracy that Liberians enjoy today,” the ruling Coalition Chair asserts.
According to him, despite the much publicized protest, the CoP could not bring 1000 persons in the streets, saying, “The threats that they are coming to the streets was proven with less than 1000 persons. I mean four political parties, including the former ruling Unity Party, the All Liberian Party, the Liberty Party and the Alternative National Congress failed to pull the crowd.”
Morlu continues that due to the low turnout, the leadership resulted to creating chaotic scene by bringing coal pots in the premises of the Executive Mansion, something which it knew would not be accepted by the police.
He laments that since the inception of the Weah administration, the CDC- government has being greeted with more protests than any previous administration in the history of the country and whenever protesters take the streets, the government provides security.
Meanwhile, Chairman Morlu calls on the Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean to invite Representative Yekeh Kolubah and the head of CoP, Henry Costa for questioning in regards to separate statements allegedly made by the two gentlemen that threaten the peace and stability of the country.
Commenting on claim by the Liberia National Police that it discovered fire arms in a car that belongs to Montserrado County District#10 Representative Yekeh Kolubah, he says government should take the matter serious, on grounds that Representative Kolubah is a former rebel.
Rep. Kolubah fought during the 14 years of civil crisis as a member of the defunct National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebels. He subsequently headed the Special Operations Division of the Liberia National Police during the regime of jailed ex-President Charles Taylor.
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The much publicized January 06 protest organized by the Council of Patriots ended in chaos after officers of the Liberia National Police fired teargas and water cannon at protesters on the grounds of the Capitol in Monrovia.
Protesters had peacefully assembled early morning hours until the leadership of the CoP headed by talk show host Henry Costa, Mo Ali, Montserrado County Senator Darious Dillon and Representative Yekeh Kolubah approved the cooking of food on the grounds of the Capitol opposite the Executive Mansion, official home of the Presidency.
Despite an appeal from the National Human Rights Commission for protesters to abandon their plan to light fire and cook food at the Capitol because it is a sacred premises, they insisted on preparing their food on grounds that they were hungry, having been out for the entire day without food. But the police forcibly dispersed the crowd, leading to several injuries and arrests. By E. J. Nathaniel Daygbor–Editing by Jonathan Browne
