By Lewis S Teh
Veteran human rights lawyer and presidential aspirant Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe has applauded the Government of Liberia for exercising maturity in the issue involving co-author Isaac Vah Tukpahm who denigrated First Lady Clar Marie Weah and Liberian women generally in his book.
Cllr. Gongloe terms the government decision not to go after Mr. Tukpah as a mark of maturity.
“The despicable action of Mr. Tukpah to write a denigrating story about the President’s wife undermines our efforts as elders in the country”, he says.
He condemns the publication in the strongest term hopes it is not repeated, while commending the political leader of the opposition Alternative National Congress Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, for taking actions that distances him from his chief of staff, something, he notes, shows leadership.
According to the former president of the Liberia National Bar Association, the government response on the issue was the best way forward, saying “let me further thank the government for not taking any action to put him (Isaac Vah Tukpah) in jail. That’s maturity and it’s inconsistent with the Kamara A. Kamara law that talks about free speech.”
Meanwhile, the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) has condemned the content of the controversial book written about the First Lady and women of Liberia in general.
The LCC president Bishop Dr. Kortu Brown, speaking with reporters said what Isaac Vah Tukpah did wasn’t right so it should be condemned by well-meaning Liberians.
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“The government did not try to prosecute him is a good idea, but we have to stand up against all forms of gender abuse and violence and this should be a wake-up call”, Bishop Brown adds.
Mr. Isaac Vah Tukpah former chief of office staff to ANC political leader Co-authored a controversial book titled: George Weah, the Dreamer, the Legend, and the Rise to Power in which he denigrated the First Lady of Liberia, but the act received sharp public condemnation. Editing by Jonathan Browne
