Chaos in Kampala: Museveni Behaves Like A Thug!

By: ralph geeplay

A woman bleeds to death in Kampala after being hit by rubber bullets

The recent chaos in Kampala Uganda which saw the hideous beating of opposition leader Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) was unfortunate. Anybody would think Africa have stepped into the 21lst century and that such viciousness as persecuting the political opposition for no reasons other then bare political convenience as was recently demonstrated by the Yoweri Museveni regime were things of the past. But no, it just happened in the Ivory Coast (the brutal assault on peaceful citizens including children and women).

These are the stories that put Africa in the news: One man readying himself to hold a whole country hostage, just so he leads at all cost. The opposition is paying the prize for challenging Mr. Museveni.

Early last week, the opposition leader Besigye was barred yet again from leaving his house in a fresh effort by the government to restrict his movements as it seeks to clamp down on the protests.

The administration has placed Besigye under virtual house arrest and practically faults the Freedom for Democratic Change leader as the main culprit for these peaceful demonstrations which are growing in strength daily despite the hard handiness of the Museveni regime.

Pundits say, Museveni can not be taken seriously as a prominent African leader and statesman, because he’s usurping his powers and denying his own people their right to free assembly. A man staying that long in power certainly must harbor dictatorial tendencies, observers say.

Uganda is coming to terms with a democratic fervor running amok across the globe, especially in places where dissent were always never thought of to happen, or welcomed.

Citizens are emotionally charged now more than ever to challenge their national governments as they seek answers in a novel attempt the world over, as far as governance is concern.

The people voices are getting louder and louder as they demand accountability from their leaders. The Arab Spring which rattles the Middle East originating from Tunisia is an example.

Governments can no longer lead at the disadvantage of the people without hearing their protests or pretending to ignore their concerns as the Museveni pattern shows.

But in this regard though, Sub-Saharan Africa has a long way to go and it is refreshing that ordinary Ugandans and its political opposition are showing the way on the continent, that this can be done!

It is uplifting, that the Uganda opposition has stood firm against this African authoritarian. In an attempt to seek answers to Uganda’s myriad problems the main opposition leader, Kizza Besigye just return from a Kenyan hospital to nurse wounds from the army which unmercifully flogged him weeks ago. Soldiers taking order from Museveni attacked his car with hammers and batons, and pepper sprayed the man. The international community’s voice has not been loud enough in condemning these brutish acts which currently become obvious in Kampala. Even dubious, is the quiet voice of African leaders.

Musivene is ruling arbitrarily

It is not surprising, that the Ugandan president have won another five year term to lead that East African country once again. It was expected. The latest presidential election verdict coming from the international observers, including the African Union asserted that the polls were unsatisfactory; add that to the high cost of living especially ordinary commodities and fuel prices and the casual observer will discern, what give rise to “the walk to work protest.”

The Kampala regime is crippled. Just before the election, Mr. Museveni spent 700 million dollars largesse on military hardware which mostly included military jets; hurting the treasury immensely. The reason for the spending is insane and unexplainable! One probable explanation however is perhaps the regime fears that no military power would invade its airspace in the wake of any electoral dispute. There have been murmurs in the country also.

These grievances are coming mainly from the opposition and protesters in Kampala. The Museveni led administration has seen this as a threat to its authority. It is hard to believe Mr. Museveni, when he claims all he is trying to do is make the country safe by violently quelling the dissent.

With these developments it is hard to see how Museveni claim any valid democratic credentials when his conduct and condescension for the very citizenry he wants to lead are been beaten in the streets and barred from expressing their displeasure with way their country is being run? He is going the mile and introducing new laws to satisfy his whims and interests.

He wants to abolish the right to bail for “demonstrators and economic saboteurs”. The move, says Ugandan academics is intended grab powers from the courts, as this would allow the president to further hassle his critics and get away with impunity. This unwarranted viciousness and iron claws against the citizens of Uganda is deplorable. The blood letting of Museveni and his regime whose term runs up to 2016 will see the Ugandan president at the helm of power for 30 years. This would also make him one of the longest serving African heads of state.

Condemnations against Museveni’s actions must come in a united front from the international community.

The East African community of states must speak stridently against this autocrat, because a worsening situation there awaits the region if the violence continues unabated, and that could disrupt the relative peace the bloc has seen in recent years since the Kenyan uprising in 2007 which also resulted from elections fraud.

No wonder, Museveni staunchly supported Laurent Gbagbo few months ago, and demanded the African union back off its attempt that would have seen the former Ivorian leader ceding authority to his rival, who was declared the rightful winner of the elections.

Thank God the Gbagbo episode is history. Yoweri Museveni knows he harbors the same tyrannical cufflinks and disdain for the opposition and his own people, if only they will leave him alone to lead carelessly with political excess, never minding if the people are fed or clothed, then he will be all the happier. An international united voice must say no to this ruffian!

Why The Liberian Press Is Still Not Free

By: ralph geeplay

World Press Freedom Day has come and gone with editorials and commentaries lauding the role of the press in Liberia, its critical role in nation building, and the persecution it suffered in the past.

The hounding and prosecution of members of the Liberian press is not a secret. In its bid to inform the masses, the media have paid a costly prize at the hands of the nation’s autocratic leaders as it sought to carry out its traditional watchdog role in a volatile region such as Liberia that lacks civility.

The hostility facing the Liberian press over the years has come largely from the political power that be, fearing the media would bring to light the shady deals and rampant corruption that has defined the current administration and previous ones.

Much still though is desirable about press freedom in 21st century Liberia, when people in high places continue to malign journalists, which according to Abdoulaye W. Dukule is simply erroneous. “Expressions such as “the press is corrupt…” or the “press is full of lies…” are value-loaded judgments… this is what leads to guilt by association," Dukule wrote in The Perspective years ago.

Even though democratic governance is taking root, the forth estate’s independence is still compromised and its pages influenced, says critics. If the critics are right, it is because the media lack an adequate revenue base needed to speak with the independence and authority it deserves as it challenges the powers that be to govern diligently on behalf of the people. How then with such impediment can it employ the men and women it needs to stand as a buffer to jealously protect its terrain as umpires in a society where fraud is rife and rumors flies like rockets?

Principle among the media critic also is the President of Liberia. On August 23, 2006, she hyped the ante when she referred to the forth estate in Liberia as "check book journalists." Her ardor was fueled by sentiments that the press had defaulted on its customary role of news reporting; accepting perks as its pages were prejudiced by unbalanced stories. She alone knows what informed those views. It is not that the Liberian press doesn’t have pitfalls, but an open-ended indictment as such was gruff.

IFEX, an international media monitoring group followed the issue and wrote, "Sirleaf unleashed the attack on journalists when she delivered the commencement address at the United Methodist University...[she] said Liberian journalists have replaced sensitization with sensationalism and, according to her, in some instances outright lies and half-truths are preferred to accuracy and truth"



The release went further: “The president, who called for reform in the Liberian media, stated that good journalism ethics have been substituted for blackmail and lies" which provoked a media outcry in Liberia. This did not stop U. S. Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield from making the same declaration. In an interview with the Monrovia-based New Democrat, Greenfield echoed Sirleaf’s sentiments when she advised Liberian journalists against the habit of “check book” news reporting. The ambassador added that this could thrust the country into another round of fighting, and also pointed out that corruption was not something that was only done by politicians but also done by Liberian journalists.

There is no way the Liberian press can be independent when local and multinational companies operating in the country starve the press and media of that critical advertising revenue. Advertising revenue is an important component of the operational cost that runs media houses the world over, and daily sales of newspapers in Liberia are paltry with all of them concentrated in Monrovia.

Least we forget on the important occasion as journalists are being celebrated the world over that the Liberian press has paid its dues: its members have been beaten, jailed and its press houses burnt to the ground all these years by the autocrats that ran the Liberian state into the ground. To strengthened the rule of law in the country it is incumbent upon the national government to take up the issue of revenue ad with the private sector as a way of encouraging a truly independent media so that its traditional role of balance and credible news reporting is neither compromised nor hijacked by the greedy few who seek to buy the press and therefore ruin its good name.

Winston Tubman Finally Gets His Bride!

By: ralph geeplay

George Weah Cries


Why was George Weah crying in Kakata a few days ago? Can anyone tell me please? I am curious because it is not like he just lost a close relative, or lost his eyesight and will not be able to see the sport that made him rich and famous. Weah is crying perhaps because Winston Tubman has taken over his party and would now be the standard bearer of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC).

In late June 2009, when the football legend signed a communiqué for a merger between their two parties in Accra Ghana, I wrote then that Tubman had one goal, and that was to top Weah’s party ticket as the ultimate standard bearer going into 2011. Weah loyalists rebuffed me at the time and thought I was silly for making such statement. I have been vindicated and my political forecast has now come to pass.

The Congress for Democratic Change members and officials who thought I was silly can now all rest assure that Weah would never be the eventual candidate of any party, including his own CDC during these forth coming elections because he has serious issues and baggage.

The recent CDC convention in Kakata that saw Weah weeping was deliberate. And everyone knows it. The 111 to 118 votes that put Winston Tubman on top was a way of finally pushing Weah to the side. According to analysts, it was intended to save Weah the embarrassment had he still insist at all cost that he wanted to head the ticket when it was evident that he George Weah brings nothing to the presidency other than name recognition and his football fame.

It can be recalled and it is no secret that the first alliance between Weah and Tubman failed because he (Weah) told Tubman explicitly that he wanted Tubman as his number two, and according to insiders, Tubman told him “no.” The former Liberian diplomat thought ‘that Weah was crazy.’ Weah felt slighted and dumped Tubman for another presidential candidate, Charles Walter Brumskine of the Liberty Party.

As he has done previously, Mr. Weah ran back to Accra, Ghana, a place he love to sign political agreements and consummated yet another communiqué on November 10, 2010 with the Liberian lawyer, with the duo declaring they would run “on the same ticket.” Of course, the deal came to the exclusive preserve of Mr. Brumskine.

Philip Wesseh, editor of the Monrovia-based Inquirer newspaper said while the option for a viable ticket existed between the two, he was holding his breathe, “Until the final whistle was blown.” And true to form, the deal lasted less than two months, with Mr. Weah still declaring he had the numbers on his side to win the presidency. Tubman, the seasoned diplomat did not give up hope and continued to court Weah, even as he expressed regrets in an interview with the New Dawn newspaper in Liberia.

At no cost was Tubman willing to let George Weah out of his sight. Weah was the running mate he desperately needed. He has never hidden this point. He would wait and strike when the time was right. And then it happened suddenly, when Weah dumped Brumskin yet again. Lenn Eugene Nagbe, the former Secretary General of the CDC was so incised over the decision he resigned from the CDC.

And therefore, the political journeyman, Winston Tubman whose political trail dates back to the grand old True Whig Party of the settler class, the National Democratic Party of the Master Sergeant-turned-President Samuel Doe, and the Liberian National Union, surfaced in March of this year at the headquarters of CDC in Sinkor, Monrovia declaring he was joining Weah to unseat Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her Unity Party.

Liberian Diplomat Winston Tubman

“No doubt Weah has a populist appeal,” says a political science professor at the University of Liberia. “It is just that his blind ambition for the presidency is absurd, a trait which is typical amongst Liberian politicians.” Weah, he says has no track record of leading and has no experience in government either. “The fact that people think you can instantly come from anywhere and just lead is a charade. You need to be tested first. It is successful mayors of major cities, leaders of political subdivisions like governors, or in our case superintendents and veteran senators who usually run for their country’s presidency.” Some of these obnoxious politicians, he says, “have been at least ministers, ambassadors or directors of public corporations, but Weah has no public or private experience.” Tubman, he continues, “gives him cover.”

All the key actors in the Liberian political opposition sees the former Monaco FC and AC Milan point man, George Manneh Weah as an asset, and also sees him only as the number two man whose proletarian appeal they crave. They see the football icon as one who lacks the diplomatic skills and the commanding presence of a major player in Liberian politics. “We don’t want another Samuel Doe, who will learn on the job and bring our country to disrepute,” Punctuate a nursing student at the Methodist founded Cuttington University College in Suacoco Bong County.

Winston Tubman has got the deal he wanted and is ready to make a push during this election. He is educated and savvy; but does not have the charisma and personality to be taken seriously, while Weah brings name recognition plus grassroots appeal to the race. Tubman also knows the alleys and backdoors of Liberian politics and if he wins the presidency, Weah could learn a thing or two from an old hand.

It is going to get interesting as the presidential campaign in Liberian starts soon. The progressive “evangelist,” Dew Mason thinks he has the gravitas to dislodge Ellen from the Executive Mansion and has grouped about four political parties already under the umbrella of his National Democratic Union. Charles Walter Brumskine says his Liberty party, which came third the last time around is ready to play ball picking a young senator from Bong County Franklin Siakor as his running mate.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has sharpened her own sword having declared herself the “formidable candidate,” challenging the opposition boldly after they claimed she is too old. To which she replied, “We will see who will run faster.” May the best man win!

Liberia Lone Star Outclass Nigeria Super Eagles

Lone Star's player trash talking generates scuffle

The 2011 WAFU Cup competition kicked off in Abeokuta on Thursday with the Eagles beating the Lone Stars of Liberia 1-0. The match was a closely fought one and the only goal in the match was scored by in-form striker Ekigho Ehiosun in the 20th minute of the first half.

Nigeria Finds a Fresh Voice

By: ralph geeplay

Jonathan and his campaign slogan.


The recent election in Nigeria is a hopeful sign that Africa is moving forward. This is Nigeria after all, a country once known for military coups and dictatorships, and where in essence free and fair elections as in most of all Africa are still a taboo.

It is interesting to note that as the April 16 vote tallying began pouring in, it became evident, the elections confirmed the deep-seated divide that has polarized Nigerian politics for decades. As projected, Jonathan got 57% of the votes and his rival, General Buhari won by 31%. Jonathan's victory was garnered in the Christian-majority southern states, while General Buhari's support came from the Muslim north. Nonetheless, the elections were a victory for all of Africa and Nigeria.

By any yardstick, Nigeria is an interesting place to take a peek. It represents, quintessentially, the African powerhouse that has been held back for many decades by corruption. "Nigerians are all too familiar with the curse of the vast oil wealth, which largely bypasses local villagers and flows into the pockets of the urban elites, grasping politicians and multinational corporations," says Finbarr O’Reilly who watches development there.

The military dictatorships of the bygone era in Nigerian life were a menace, and it did everything to stay at the helm of power. A case in point was the 1993 elections which General Ibrahim Babangida chaired. Not only was Moshood Abiola denied the presidency in the polls seen as fair, but Abiola, a wealthy millionaire and charismatic Nigerian nationalist would later go to jail and died from the ill-treatment and frustration of having being denied the right to lead his people.

The military history of Africa’s most populous country is never complete without citing the acts of General Sani Abacha. The misrule of General Abacha was the icing on the cake. He hid behind his trademark dark shades and led with iron fists, in the process hoarding a huge portion of the country's wealth in his Swiss banks accounts. The execution of the Ogoni activist and rights campaigner, Ken Saro Wiwa and eight others on November 10, 1995 by the Abacha regime drawn international condemnation and out cry. Abacha was irked because Ken advocated corporate responsibility, environmental concerns, and shared oil revenue for his people.

A Nigerian woman casts her ballot

By the way, President Jonathan is the first president who hails from the Delta region, Nigeria’s key oil exporting port. To its credit though,as the Nigerian nation encountered those daunting challenges internally, she still was a leading regional voice and player even under the Babangida and Abacha regimes. The political turmoil, which engulfed Liberia and subsequently Sierra Leone, would not have seen an end had it not been for Nigerian leadership in the West African sub region. Under the Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), from 1990 up to 2005, Nigerian soldiers died on the battlefields beyond their own borders in an effort to bring peace to the region.

When Liberia finally held its own successful elections in October 2005, Nigeria was credited as the catalyst that provided the resources that finally brought peace to the Mano River Basin comprising Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire.

Nigeria's role has been pivotal in global peace keeping as well, and its 154 million people can take pride that the recent presidential elections which was hailed by the African Union, the European Union, the United States, and the Commonwealth nations as free and fair must be a celebrated milestone, as the country seek to entrench democratic traditions and transitions from one adminstration to another.

It can also be recalled that it was Nigeria’s stance on the Ivorian crisis that helped to solve that conflict recently, in sharp contrast to South Africa, a regional power in the Southern African Development Council (SADC) that have perpetuated the rule of Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe.

However, President Goodluck Jonathan, whom the Nigerian press touted as 'the accidental president' showed leadership even before he won, and continued the tradition of his predecessors as a regional power. It is also interesting to note that President Goodluck Jonathan also provided leadership in Guinea-Bissau, a transit point reportedly for drug cartels.

It is important to note that African leaders who rule arbitrarily with no regard to any mandate from their people, are those whose misrule continually hurt the issue of governance on the continent thereby contributing to poverty and under development.

Without Nigeria's weight and voice in the sub region, it is a safe bet that there is nothing France or any other western power could have done to solve the Ivorian crisis. The recent polls there therefore are a welcomed progress, that finally, with Nigeria getting it right; it certainly can pluck its own feathers and lead, as it has shown in the past. Now, the regional power can speak loudly about the moral objectives and clarity with which it has often been vocal, and consequently this influence can find groundswell of support and a united front for all Africans to rally in a new age!

The Irony of Auditor john Morlu

By: thomas bright perkins

The controversial John Morlu

Argumentum ad –hominen is what Mr. Morlu resulted to. When a man runs out of steam, he finds diatribe as the only point of solace. In a civilized environment, when a man believes he is attacked, the best think to do is to provide a logical counter argument to defend his case.

Hurling insults at other people is just rudeness! Referring to a fellow Liberian as a dog simply because they disagree with you is just inexcusable and must not be tolerated.

When pretenders masquerade as contenders: The irony of Mr. Morlu
When Shinji Onoyasaka saw her home washed away by the unforgiving tsunami weeks ago in Fugushima, she confessed to the BBC that she contemplated on committing suicide because of her desperate state. It is highly explicable why she saw that as an alternative. She was in a horrible mood. People get so desperate to protect their properties, wealth, families, integrity, fame and fat jobs.

Like Shinji, I think desperation is the best word I can probably find to describe Mr. John Morlu’s antics. The anger as expressed by the leaked email only suggests the extent to wish he can possibly go in order to catch what has now seem to be his fat job being washed away before his eyes. Like Shinji, it is also highly understandable why Mr. Morlu has become so desperate to protect his fat job. Certainly, he is in a horrible mood too.

When the email was first read by a radio presenter quoting a local daily, I thought it was a joke. I refused to accept it as I thought it was a snag against Mr. Morlu. Well, having read the full text of Mr. Morlu’s “email”, I think it will regrettably go down as a gross betrayal of professionalism and a complete let down of confidence reposed by numerous groups like the Student and Youth Unions and other civil society institutions that have called for his re-nomination. He has morally harmed all of those groups including a congressman that joined the crusade for the extension of his contract. In any case, it is reasonable that when a man’s job is given to a boy, the boy pisses in the pool.

Mr. Morlu has shown poor leadership, ugly judgment and must be condemned by every serious minded person. His attitude shows that big change is required. Yes, we do need new breed of youthful leaders, but it should be responsible persons.

The public reaction to the email is far too serious to be assuaged by any package of response coming from a group of blindfolded following. Mr. Morlu needs to pay the price for his unethical behavior. The folks from the GAC did not do him any special favor; they exacerbated the issue further and just unleashed a can of hooked worms. At one point, they tried defending portions of the email while another instance; they said it was all trash.

Sirleaf is inaugurated president

I do not doubt by any measure what Mr. Morlu has done in the human resource strengthening of the GAC. He has done tremendously well and must be applauded. But, the issue is not about how many students are in the United States or East Africa studying as the result of Mr. Morlu’s magnanimity. Mr. Morlu has blundered and must be man enough to face his words.

Let me now piece up the pieces of Mr. Morlu’s “email”:

Far removed from the issues

Argumentum ad –hominen is what Mr. Morlu resulted to. When a man runs out of steam, he finds diatribe as the only point of solace. In a civilized environment, when a man believes he is attacked, the best think to do is to provide a logical counter argument to defend his case. Hurling insults at other people is just rudeness! Referring to a fellow Liberian as a dog simply because they disagree with you is just inexcusable and must not be tolerated.

Even in the United States where Mr. Morlu claims to get his education from, intellectual sanity is observed. Americans differ with their leaders on policies. Whatever the difference, Robert Gates will not write President Obama telling him to inform Robert Gibbs or Susan Rice to have the damn job. This is insulting to the least!

Arrogance

Hear Mr. Morlu: “Even though I informed you (Madam President) that my dear wife Angie had broken her leg before charismas and I needed to be in America to take my son to the liver clinic at John Hopkins University Medical. I fought back all quiet down”.

This is a demonstration of extreme arrogance! What does the state has to do with the broken leg of his wife? We are all aware that he can afford to send his son to the best available hospital because of the mega sum he earns. Mr. Morlu does not need to brag about his wealth. It is highly unacceptable. There are millions of Liberians whose children are dying of malaria daily all because they are penniless. Those were kids who could have been better sophisticated had their parents had the opportunities to send them to the United States too.

Hear Mr. Morlu again: “I have been never afraid of anyone, as you (Madam President) know my stamina and intellectual strength”. What stamina and intellectual strength is he speaking of? Who Mr. Morlu thinks he is? If I were to relive all of his incoherent ramblings and poorly-structured arguments, this will shut up the debate.

Unprofessionalism

Mr. Morlu says to the President: “You need to decide which side you stand on corruption as the likes of Medina Wisseh and her surrogates like the new recruit Nagbe Sloh are interested in lining pockets”. What audit has he conducted to brand Medina and Sloh as sleaze cops? What informs his position in the absence of an audit? How did he sum up his conclusions? This is sheer insinuation! Professionals do not put out garbage rather they present substantiated information.

Child’s Play

Mr. Morlu states: “I have been reading a lot of books of late. I just finished a book on 1776, the American War of Independence. I learned a few things from General George Washington for how victory can be achieved: Retreat, Change position, Fight Hardest”. What is he suggesting? Does he intend issuing a disclaimer to the email? Is this his interpretation of General Washington’s words? Anyway Mr. Morlu, please stick to your audit lessons and leave quoting people. Don’t hunt what you can not kill.

Removing the veil

Mr. Morlu states again: “We were the intellectual strength behind you in 2005, not the Nagbe Sloh’s”. Again, Mr. Morlu has exposed his black hands. Okay, so he is suggesting that he is not impartial after all. Is it that Nagbe Sloh is now taking over his post in 2005? My only disappointment is that he even had the guts to accept the job in the first place.

Mr. Morlu Rants

Sarcastically, Mr. Morlu rants: “Good day. I hope you take this email with maximum serious and not underestimate my resolve to fight back forcefully as I have done time and time again when under attacked. You all will see who has real intellectual strength and credibility domestically and internationally”. I wonder how Mr. Morlu got recruited. Did he write a paper? Look at the poor grammar! What language did he write to seek the job? Latin or Greek? How did he get his papers?

humbly agree with the president’s perspective. John has done well and has set a remarkable legacy and others can now pick up from where he has stopped. The office of the president must be at all times be respected irrespective of the difference in opinions.

I will stop here for now to allow the debate to begin as Mr. Morlu has promised. I learnt that he is truthful to his words and I am also more than sure, Mr. Morlu’s dear wife, Angie, is not going to easily forgive him for the disrespect he showed to Mr. Wisseh’s wife, Medina and by extension Madam President.

____
About the Author: Thomas Bright Perkins holds double Masters in Economic Policy Management and International Relations. He is also a PHD Candidate (Public Policy). He is Liberian and resides in the United Kingdom. He is currently visiting Liberia. You may contact Thomas on tbperkins@aol.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or tbperkins@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Ellen Retaliatory Outrage

Introduction: In this piece Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh chides president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for firing John Morlu, who as head of the auditing commission was vocal about corruption in Liberia. 

John Morlu

John S. Morlu II is no longer Auditor General of the Republic of Liberia. A president who was never a fan in the first place officially terminated the much-hated auditor general, who in the eyes of most Liberians caused the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration much headache after the president nominated him in 2007.

According to supporters of the president, Morlu was never fired. However, a statement read by President Sirleaf on the expiration of the employment contract added that the “European Union concluded an agreement with the Auditor-General to pay the salary for the first four years of the contract with the understanding that the Liberian Government will assume this responsibility thereafter.”

So after the end of the European Union’s sanctioned four years, President Sirleaf, who couldn’t hide her disdain for the outspoken auditor general who brought so much grief to her administration, and perhaps to her personally with his public indictment of her administration as being “three times more corrupt than its predecessor,” could no longer swallow the bitter pill named Morlu.