By: Rufus S. Berry II, MBA
Apolitical and Anti-corruption Activist
I lived in Northern California for over 30 year, served as president of the Liberian community and experienced numerous earthquakes, including the devastating 1989 San Francisco Loma Prieta earthquake. For the record, an earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s lithosphere that creates a seismic wave.
On Monday, the 15th of August 2022, a devastating political earthquake occurred in Liberia, when the mother country of our republic – the government of the United States, through the Treasury Department sanctioned three senior and extremely powerful Liberian government officials, including President George Weah’s Chief of Staff, for what it says is their ‘ongoing involvement in public corruption.’
This is a national disgrace! For the first time in our nation’s history, a foreign government has imposed sanctions on the President of the Republic of Liberia’s Chief of Staff, Nathaniel McGill, Liberia’s Chief Prosecutor Sayma Syrenius Cephus, and Liberia’s Chief Gateway Manager, Bill “Gbekugbeh Jr.” Twehway, the Managing Director of the National Port Authority. Taking into account the US far reaching global influence and the historical link between the United States and Liberia, it would be extremely difficult for these three officials to maintain their respective positions.
The vast majority of the Liberian people, including myself are in total agreement with the decision of the America government. However, I would have hopped that the US would have also gone after members of the Ellen government including her son Robert Sirleaf, who enriched themselves at the expense of the Liberian people. The Liberian people are still being victimized by the terrible legacy of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, when she institutionalized corruption (bribery) at the National Legislature and in the general public consciousness. Bribing lawmakers to confirm her nominees, pass bills, and to ratify concession agreements was the acceptable norm during her administration.
I hold the Weah government responsible for not proactively calling on the experts – the financial experts – to investigate and go after those extremely corrupt officials of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf government. I certainly would have volunteered my professional services to my country in the battle against corruption.
The sanctions block the three senior government officials from accessing the U.S. financial system, freeze any of their U.S. assets, and bar Americans worldwide from dealing with them.
“Through their corruption these officials have undermined democracy in Liberia for their own personal benefit,” Brian Nelson, Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement.
The designations “demonstrate that the United States remains committed to holding corrupt actors accountable and to the continued support of the Liberian people,” he said.
These targeted sanctions like those authorized under the Global Magnitsky Act and similar programs can hold accountable the world’s worst human rights abusers and corrupt actors.
On Friday April 8, 2022, President Biden signed into law, the permanent reauthorization of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
First enacted in 2016, the Global Magnitsky Act spurred the U.S. government for the first time to create a targeted sanctions program to help hold accountable hundreds of human rights abusers and corrupt actors around the world. The landmark law sparked global momentum to adopt similar targeted sanctions programs in Canada, the U.K., the E.U., and Australia.
The Liberian people will support the president in whatever decision he makes in this extremely serious matter. However, other are saying that It is important for President to ask for the resignation of those officials or fire them outright to retain a modicum of respectability. Perhaps, they’re awaiting the final outcome of President Weah’s actions, not just the cosmetic suspension he has issued.
May God bless us, strengthen, encourage and uplift us as a body and as a nation this day and in the days ahead.
Can you be more specific about the content of your article? After reading it, I still have some doubts. Hope you can help me.
buy acillin amoxil sale buy amoxil paypal
buy dutasteride without prescription buy zantac 300mg sale oral ranitidine 150mg
order simvastatin 20mg pills buy valacyclovir 500mg generic valacyclovir for sale
order imitrex 25mg online cheap order sumatriptan online cheap cheap levofloxacin 250mg
ondansetron ca buy ondansetron 4mg generic how to get spironolactone without a prescription
esomeprazole over the counter nexium 20mg for sale topiramate usa
tamsulosin pills tamsulosin 0.2mg uk celebrex pill
where can i buy metoclopramide cheap maxolon buy losartan for sale
order meloxicam celebrex 100mg usa celebrex 200mg tablet
methotrexate 10mg sale methotrexate 10mg uk warfarin 5mg over the counter
oral inderal 20mg buy plavix 75mg generic buy clopidogrel 75mg sale
academic writing uk custom research paper writing buy a term paper online
depo-medrol online oral methylprednisolone cost medrol 16mg without a doctor prescription
ketorolac oral order toradol generic gloperba generic
order tenormin 100mg pills atenolol 100mg over the counter tenormin sale
flexeril 15mg ca buy flexeril pills for sale ozobax where to buy
metoprolol pills buy generic lopressor buy lopressor 100mg for sale
order motilium pills buy motilium generic sumycin over the counter
order prilosec 10mg generic order omeprazole generic prilosec brand
rosuvastatin order online purchase rosuvastatin generic buy ezetimibe cheap
cheap zestril zestril 5mg canada cost lisinopril
buy generic zovirax order allopurinol order allopurinol 300mg pills
cheap norvasc 5mg order amlodipine online amlodipine us
atorvastatin 40mg without prescription oral atorvastatin 80mg order lipitor without prescription
buy generic orlistat online orlistat buy online purchase diltiazem sale
glycomet tablet generic glucophage 500mg order glycomet 1000mg online
order dapoxetine 90mg generic dapoxetine 90mg pills cytotec for sale online
aralen us aralen 250mg oral buy generic chloroquine for sale
loratadine 10mg generic claritin pill order loratadine generic
cenforce price purchase cenforce for sale purchase cenforce without prescription
cheap desloratadine clarinex pills order clarinex 5mg for sale
how much is cialis cheap tadalafil 10mg tadalafil 10mg ca
aristocort 4mg cost buy triamcinolone 4mg online cheap order aristocort without prescription
purchase monodox without prescription doxycycline buy online buy monodox generic
brand semaglutide generic rybelsus 14 mg order rybelsus generic
order furosemide 40mg pill order lasix generic purchase lasix sale
sildenafil 25mg for sale order viagra 50mg pill sildenafil 50mg brand
neurontin 600mg brand order gabapentin 600mg neurontin 800mg tablet
clomiphene 50mg for sale clomiphene 50mg usa buy clomiphene 100mg pills
buy generic omnacortil online prednisolone 40mg oral prednisolone 5mg generic
buy levothyroxine pills synthroid price levothroid order online
zithromax 500mg drug purchase zithromax for sale generic zithromax 250mg
buy clavulanate no prescription buy augmentin without a prescription where to buy clavulanate without a prescription
amoxicillin uk purchase amoxicillin online buy amoxicillin 250mg for sale
ventolin 2mg oral albuterol 4mg cheap purchase ventolin inhalator for sale
absorica online order buy isotretinoin generic buy generic accutane 20mg
prednisone 5mg cost order prednisone 40mg pills generic prednisone 10mg
where to buy tizanidine without a prescription tizanidine online buy buy tizanidine without prescription
ventolin pills order albuterol inhalator online purchase albuterol inhalator