By Lewis S Teh
The only member of President Weah’s cabinet from Nimba County, Posts and Telecommunications Miniter, Cllr. Cooper A. Kruah, is under serious fire, with call for his resignation for attending the ceremony of former Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai’s naming of his running mate at the headquarters of the opposition Unity Party over the weekend in Monrovia.
Ambassador Boakai, standard bearer of the UP, named Nimba County Senator Jeremiah Koung as his running mate on Friday, 28 April for the October 10th presidential and general elections at which Minister Krauh, also from Nimba, was visibly present.
But an executive of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), Montserrado County Electoral District# 8 Representative Moses Acarous Gray, is branding the Minister a traitor and wants him to immediately resign from the CDC-led government, for attending the opposition program.
Minister Kruah was visibly seen sitting in the front roll clapping his hands, as one of his kinsmen, Senator Koung was named vice presidential candidate by the former vice president much to the dislike of the ruling establishment.
In his Facebook podcast on Saturday, April 29, Rep. Gray described the minister as a traitor, who should muster the courage to resign immediately from his governmental post to avoid any future embarrassment.
Gray: “The Traitor Cooper Kruah, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications must resign and resign now! You are a dangerous sellout and good to have lunch with you on Monday; no room for political polytheist quislings.”
It’s not clear whether Minister Kruah is a member of the ruling CDC, but being a member of President Weah’s cabinet, his presence at the opposition rally might have sent mixed signals to the administration, as regards divided loyalty.
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Kruah has not publicly responded to calls from the ruling party to step down. But commenting on the news, Senator Prince Yormie Johnson of Nimba and leader of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR) party that Koung was picked from, said every qualified Liberian citizen under the Constitution is entitled to employment in government irrespective of political affiliation or difference.
Sen. PYJ called on the Weah administration to go ahead and dismiss all citizens of Nimba County in his government if he (Weah) so desires but this will not dampen their resolve to vote Mr. Weah out in October for his failures.
Speaking to Spoon Talk late Friday, the Nimba Senator, who withdrew support from President Weah last year, accused the President of denying the county social development fund totaling US$80 million.
Earlier, addressing thousands of partisans at the UP headquarters, Vice President Boakai said his decision to have chosen Senator Jeremiah Kpan Koung as running mate was not a search for a sinless angel but a real human being whose imperfections and belief in God compels him into seeking redemption and imbibes with humility and willingness to work with a team that will make Liberia better.
Boakai maintains that his search for a running mate was based on one who understands that life is about people, not self.
“Today, after several years, months, weeks and days of intensive consultations, alignments, realignments, vetting and soul-searching, we have come to announce RESCUE TWO, our Partner for the ensuing October 10, 2023 Presidential Elections in our mission to rescue Liberia”, the former Vice President for 12 years notes.
“My dear Liberians, the person I have selected as running mate, like many of you, shares my vision about building this country better than it has ever been, and like many of us, have a humble beginning, working very hard through the years to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps to provide for family and their community. “
He points out that both Senator Koung and him will not only win these elections, but intend to redirect the tragic course on which Liberia is now set.
The naming of running mate took Ambassador Boakai nearly a year amid public anxiety, with barely four months to elections. Editing by Jonathan Browne
