Liberia News:NPP Suffering

By Mark N. Mengonfia

Liberia–Former ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) is yet to see peace since the departure of its founding standard-bearer and political leader, Charles Ghankay Taylor in 2003, as it continues to suffer from endless power struggle that is doing more harm than good.

Who is who in the Party remains its ‘storm in the tea cup’ with Senator James Biney, former Representative George Mulbah and former Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor are always at each other throat, clamoring and bickering for control of the party.

The Party is presently submerged in the pool of renewed tension in light of chairperson, George S. Mulbah taking side with the Unity Party-led government’s clampdown on corruption that culminated in the indictment and arrest of former officials of the Weah-led government.

Atty. Mulbah has been proactively engaged with national developments, including the government’s fight against corruption, calling on the Government use holistic approach in the prosecution of alleged corrupt ex-government officials.

At a July 30, 2024 press conference, Atty. Mulbah said the NPP welcomed the Government of Liberia’s efforts to prosecute individuals accused of corruption, but warned against what he called witch-hunting in the process.

He said, “To prosecute those accused of corruption, the Government of Liberia should be holistic. That’s to say, if individuals in the past government played a role in corruption, they must also be brought to book.”

But days after the conference, some members of the Party took exception to his position, and even referred to the one time darling boy as a former party chair.

Acting under the banner of Concerned Partisans of the National Patriotic Party, the concerned partisans proceeded to the National Election commission (NEC) and called on them to promptly intervene in the internal conflict rocking the foundation of the former ruling party.

They urged NEC to convene a hearing involving former Vice President Taylor and Atty. Mulbah as a way of finding solution to the confusion.

According to the NPP partisans, Mulbah’s leadership has since come to an end, and that it was high time he turned power over before the party’s 7th convention.

They argued they would not sit idly and watch their cherished party completely disintegrated, including being de-certificated.

“We see that the leadership continues to act especially when they have no tenure. Now lest you forget, there can’t be no such thing as acting chairman when his time expires,” the concerned partisans voiced.

They intoned that once a chairperson time is over, he or she should peacefully leave, instead of creating tension and causing problem for the party.

But in an apparent effort to add gas to fire, Chairman Mulbah has pointed accusing fingers at the former vice President of Liberia, Jewel Howard Taylor of being behind everything, fomenting tension.

“These things are all makeup of Madam Jewel Howard-Taylor who is so desperate to own the NPP as an individual,” Atty. Mulbah said.

He disclosed that the NPP voted to leave or withdraw from the Coalition for Democratic Change following the conduct of the 2023 election, which they lost to the Unity Party.

“The real issue behind this thing is that Mr. Taylor wants to be stander bearer of the party for life-time and we are saying no,” he claimed.

He said the party constitution provides for two terms for any position in the party, adding that his two terms have not expired yet. “But for the former VP, she cannot be stander-bearer for the party for more than 25 years,” he stressed.

NPP came to being in the 1990s following years of brutal civil conflict when peace brokers and warring faction leaders came to term on the conduct of democratic elections.

Spearheaded by Charles Taylor who headed the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), NPP’s membership was predominantly followers and supporters of the NPFL war who found themselves on the other side of geographical divide or Greater Liberia.

The party, with Mr. Taylor as standard-bearer, won the 1997 elections with a landslide.

Since the departure of Mr. Tayler, the party has not known peace as they are from one conflict to another.

Ex-VP Taylor, former wife of ex-President Taylor, has been embroiled in the NPP leadership debacle, with many accusing her of attempting to own and control the party at her whims and caprices.