UPP will not accept foreign money

The United People Party or UPP, dubbed the torchbearer of multiparty democracy in Liberia has vowed to reject foreign funds coming to the country with a motive to impose outside influence on Liberians.

UPP Standard Bearer McDonald Wento says if elected President of Liberia, a UPP-led government would not accept foreign money intended to sponsor elections here. Speaking Thursday, 15 June in an interview with journalists at the party headquarters in Fiamah, Monrovia Mr. Wento refutes perception among some Liberians that he United States has specific interest in who becomes President in Liberia.

He says on the contrary, Washington is always prepared to work with a democratically elected leader in Liberia. He continues that a UPP-led government would work with the international community, including the United Nations, African Union, ECOWAS, and Mano River Union, among others to move the country forward.

Turning to domestic politics, he promises to run a policy-driven administration with emphasis on education, healthcare, security, agriculture and infrastructure. The UPP Presidential hopeful also pledges to deal with corrupt officials under his leadership, saying, “There will be serious consequences for corruption, including prosecution, seizure of property and no opportunity for corrupt officials to return to government.”

He stresses a need to put timeline or tenure on service positions, and that the controversial Code of Conduct for public officials must be upheld without compromise for a particular person or group.

Founded by the late Gabriel Baccus Matthews in the early 70s, the UPP is an offspring of the Progressive Alliance of Liberia or PAL. Founding father Matthews, who died in 2007, following a brief ailment, ran into trouble with both the Tolbert administration and the Doe regime many times that landed him prison under the formal, and his party seriously restricted thru a ban on politics by the Doe-led military junta.

By Jonathan Browne