By Mark N. Mengonfia
Liberia-All is not going according to plan for the Unity Party-led administration in the wake of different happenings believed to have serious bearings and consequences on ordinary citizens and state security, according to Activist Vandarlark Patrick.
Instead of focusing on how it can work to realize its agenda of transforming the country as promised, the party is said to be taking actions that have the proclivity to break the country apart.
Activist Patricks, a staunch campaigner against the administration of George Mannah Weah, has called out the Boakai’s administration handling of the state of affairs, saying that citizens are unhappy with the way government is proceeding in running the affairs of the country.
Appearing OK FM Morning Rush Monday, Patricks who went to jail multiple times during the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf administration said the public is fared up and readying to take action on the many missteps of the government, which he said appears that President Boakai is not in charge.
Wondering if the Liberian leader is in charge or not, he quipped: “I am assuming without admitting that the president is not in charge.”
Also, Patricks laid out challenges the JNB and JKK government are faced with, including accusations of corruption from nearly every corner of the government.
He specifically underscored allegations of corruption at Public Works Ministry, government unwillingness to adjust salaries for civil servants, reported huge salary of Commissioners of the Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA), government’s inability to fight drugs and many others.
According to him, the reasons provided are sufficient enough that Liberians might respond in a hash way or actions if the government fails to take remedial steps or act accordingly.
“The government has set the stage for citizens to act against their will,” Patricks said, adding “It is time for the government to set their agenda well because there are news of corruption everywhere in Liberia.”
He said he is ready to raise the red flag just as it was raised against the George Mannah Weah led government to be able to do the needful.
He also commented on the recent action of the Officer in Charge (OIC) at the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency- LDEA, Christopher Peters, saying that ordering a raid on the headquarters of the CDC was provoking.
Patricks recalled how Liberian youth are dying from the use of drugs and other narcotic substances, thinking that President Boakai would have been truthful in the fight against drugs when he declared the drugs a public health emergency and even tested for drugs along with his vice president.
Patricks also insinuated that the President’s declaration of drug as public enemy seems not to be working evidenced by the appointment of someone who he [Patricks] thinks is inexperienced to do the job.
He said: “The president declared war against drugs [Although the drug test was not done at JFK but at his office at the Executive Manson, he went to JFK with his VP to take drug test”
According to Patricks, President Boakai is not ready for the fight he declared against drugs because “regretfully and disappointingly, the LDEA has less than three million dollars in the first budget.
“This is not just a fundamental contradiction, it speaks volume of the president insensitivity to live by what he said to us. Every sector of our country is affected. You are affected, I am affected,” he stressed.
Speaking directly to the OIC of LDEA, Patricks said his action would have plunged this country into chaos if the Liberia National Police did not intervene, to rescue the situation in Congo Town near the CDC headquarters.
“No sound LDEA boss will take unarmed LDEA personnel by 4:00am to raid a ghetto that you perceive to have a huge quantity of drugs,” Patricks intimated.
He claimed the LDEA boss acted without accurate intelligence, effective surveillance collection and management before moving to raid the ghettos he thinks were inundated with drugs close to the CDC headquarters.
“First, you failed to understand that drug dealers are not jokers; they can kill anyone with guns to spectate justice. The LDEA does not even have batons, yet you took those poor and unarmed LDEA officers early in the morning by 4:00am to raid a ghetto of drugs. There was no proper coordination and tangible evidence that drugs were actually in that ghetto,” he revealed.
He regretted the fact all of this happened when the country was vulnerable, with President Boakai in the US, VP Jeremiah K. Koung in India, National Security Advisor out of the country as well as Minister of Justice and the Police Director.
“That was risky and it borders on a serious security threat to the country,” he intoned.
“I do not care how people think, but former President Weah’s tolerance should not be taken for granted,” Patricks stressed, and added that provoking such a situation near the CDC headquarters was untimely.
“No one should dare dream of provoking the CDC, especially at this time when they are still nursing the wounds of their unexpected defeat. Weah put love for the country first over love for greed and power,” the onetime advocate noted.
