MCC Reacts To Henry Costa

-Of Mayor Koijee’s Trip To The U.S

The Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) has condemned in a strongest term allegation from Radio Talkshow host, Henry Costa of Roots FM 102.7 that Mayor Jefferson Tamba Koijee trip to the Annual Global Development Forum in Washington DC is funded by the Government of Liberia and the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC).

Mayor Koijee is in Washington D.C. serving as one of the panelists at the 5^th Annual Global Development Forum. The forum according to a statement from the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), Media Department, has provided the city with a great opportunity not only to seek international assistance to help overcome the daunting challenges facing Monrovia, but also an opportunity to attract investors to the city.

The MCC in a statement said it is taking a back at radio talkshow host Henry Costa, being very clueless about the Mayor’s participation at the Annual Global Development Forum, opted to spill out lies and misinformation to the public that the Mayor’s trip was funded by the Monrovia City Corporation or the Government of Liberia.

“We wish to clarify that Mayor Koijee was invited by the organizers of the forum for him to share his vision for Monrovia, the challenges and the approach that not only Liberia, but Africa as a whole can adopt to modernize cities and improve urbanization. His trip was fully funded by both the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the World Economic Forum to attend the prestigious gathering of change makers around the globe at the MIT Campus in Washington D.C.

“Our Mayor, His Lordship Jefferson T. Koijee, has been seizing every opportunity to pitch ideas and opportunities to his counterparts at the forum to see the need to visit Monrovia and build a sisterly relationship with the city. We challenge Mr. Costa to provide any single receipt to prove that the Mayor’s trip was funded with state resources,” the statement said.

The MCC also said the Mayor is not attending the Spring Meeting as alleged.

“What does the Spring Meeting have to do with the Mayor of the City of Monrovia? Why will he want to be there? Why will he want to overstep his bounds? For the record, the delegation to the spring meeting departed the country one week prior to the Mayor’s trip to Washington D.C. We appreciate freedom of expression, but we should be cautious that irresponsible freedom of expression leads to stagnation of development and growth,” the MCC added.

The MCC reminds Liberians that Monrovia being the capital city of the Republic needs all patriotic hands on deck, not those who will try to derail the gains made. The statement added “We must realize that it is our collective responsibility to put Monrovia on par with other capital cities in the region.”

“As the Mayor, Jefferson T. Koijee, is taking the lead, spending sleepless nights, working assiduously to ensure that we can have a City that all Liberians can be proud of, the least we expect of the residents of Monrovia or any Liberian is to support his efforts. As part of his official visit to the U.S, in the coming days he is expected to meet with several international partners, sister cities and the Liberian community in the U.S. Our offices remain open to the public in the case of acquiring information emanating from the City Government in line with the Liberia’s Freedom of Information Act signed into law on September 16, 2010,” the MCC assures.