GoL has no intention to pursue him
Mr. Isaac Vah Tukpah, the former Chief of Office Staff to Alternative National Congress (ANC) political leader Alexander B. Cummings was prevented from traveling for his own safety, the Liberian Government said Wednesday, Feb. 2.
Mr. Tukpah, co-authored of the now controversial book ‘George Weah, The Dream, The Legend, The Rise To Power,’ attempted to leave the country via a border crossing checkpoint in Tianeh, Grand Capemount County at about 11:45 PM on Tuesday night but was prevented by Immigration officers from doing so because the borders were already closed.
The Government in a statement issued Wednesday said it has no intention of arresting the former Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) steward while dismissing media reports about his arrest.
“Mr. Tukpah was without the appropriate travel documents, in addition to attempting to cross when the borders were officially closed. This claimed the attention of the assigned immigration officer who acted in accordance with law and decided that he be held for safety reasons, given the late hours of his surreptitious attempt to leave the country,” the government explained in a statement signed by Information Minister Ledgerhood J. Rennie.
“Mr. Isaac Vah Tukpah was brought to the Liberian Immigration Headquarters in Monrovia on Wednesday morning and turned over to his lawyers,” the statement added.
The release also quoted President George Weah as saying Mr. Tukpah is not being sought after by the Government, and he is, therefore, free to live in Liberia or travel out of the country if he so chooses.
“If there is a legal recourse, whether here or in the U. S. that decision is left to the President’s family and all those maligned”, Mr. Rennie said, while emphasizing that the Government believes in the rule of law and human rights.
Mr. Rennie further stated that he was surprised that Mr.Tukpah will attempt to leave the country through unrecognized points when there are well-known border posts.
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He argued that a plausible motive for Mr. Tukpah could be his well-calculated intention to malign the Government by suggesting that it was after his life if he had succeeded in his diabolical orchestration to flee the country.
Meanwhile, whether the controversial book now in question was authorized by the President or not remains to be put to rest publicly.
In a related development Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Nathaniel F. McGill dispels rumors that President George M. Weah is planning to take drastic actions against Mr. Isaac Vah Tukpah for co-authoring a book that contains sexually explicit comments against First Lady Clar Marie Weah that he attributes to the President.
Mr. Tukpah who was picked up by Liberian Immigration officers apparently while attempting the leave the country late Tuesday, February 1, 2022, via the Liberian-Sierra Leonean border in Grand Cape Mount County, had co-authored the book with a fellow Liberian identified as Emmanuel Clarke.
He was asked Tuesday to relinquish his post as Chief of Staff to the Political Leader of the opposition Alternative National Congress, Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, immediately after news about the publication broke here.
But Minister McGill in a telephone conversation with Prime FM early Wednesday, February 2, 2022, said the Government of Liberia absolutely has no plan or intention to go after Mr. Tukpah contrary to speculations in the public.
“We have no intention to go after Isaac in ways that are being interpreted by the public”, says McGill.
He says the options to go after Isaac will be determined by the Office of First Lady Clar Weah, so he can move about freely because nobody, nor the President, has an interest in going after him.
However, barely hours after the minister of state made these comments Wednesday, Mr. Tukpah was seen escorted by armed police officers from the Bushrod Island suburb of the capital that leads from Grand Cape Mount to Monrovia. The three-car convoy included Mr. Tukpah’s vehicle with license plate: SOK1.
The situation involving the former Chief of Staff of the ANC political leader has generated huge concerns from the public with mixed reactions.
Some talk show callers accused Mr. Alexander Cummings of being the mastermind of the act, while others laud him for exercising astute leadership by promptly asking Mr. Tukpah to resign.
One of the callers is the former executive director of the National Investment Commission under the former Sirleaf regime, Mr. George Wisner, who also condemned the act.
“I listen and welcome the assurances given by the Office of the President and the Immigration Service that there’s nothing untoward regarding the safety and security of Mr. Turkpah.
I think this is welcoming even though it might be offensive as it is the fact that it includes some people, but it’s important that we take advantage of the law, and ensure that every citizen of Liberia is accorded full security”, Mr. Wisner underscores.
He says the public should hold the Office of the President true to its words that it does not have any security issues with Mr. Tukpah, as the authorities claim that he was just intercepted at the border and brought to Monrovia where he is being kept in protective custody to be released subsequently.
Neither the government nor the First Lady, has brought legal charges against Mr. Tukpah, who is also a former executive of President Weah’s governing Congress for Democratic Change chapter based in the United States.https://thenewdawnliberia.com/liberia-isaac-vah-arrested-or-missing/ Editing by Jonathan Browne
