The opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) has warned that President Joseph Boakai’s decision to open diplomatic doors to Russia would prove detrimental to Liberia’s future and hurt the West African nation’s longstanding relationship with the United States, and pose a serious threat to the country’s peace and stability.
Addressing a news conference in Monrovia on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, CDC Secretary General, Jefferson Tamba Koijee said the news about advanced plans by the Unity Party led government to establish relationship with Russia to the extent that an embassy would be opened near Monrovia is troubling and a spit in the face of the United States.
The CDC Chief Scribe spoke in the aftermath of an announcement that Moscow plans to open an embassy in Liberia. This development was publicly disclosed by Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov at the first Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.
SG Koijee asserted that the Unity Party government’s engagement with Russia validates CDC officials’ earlier claims that President Boakai collaborated with Russia to fund his campaign during the 2023 presidential election.
“We want to remind the Liberian people that this party revealed how Mr. Boakai was actively doing business with the Russians, but he and his ‘risky mission’ denied it,” Koijee stated. He alleged that during the election, Boakai and his political party secretly held meetings with Russian officials and sought financial support to fund their ‘risky mission’ at the expense of the Liberian people.
Koijee clarified that the CDC is not angered by the administration’s actions but is deeply concerned about the partnership with Russia, especially given Liberia’s historic ties with the United States. “Even if you’re angry with the American people, you don’t have to disrespect them in this manner,” he added.
He characterized the Boakai-Koung administration’s alignment with Russia as a disgrace and a distortion of Liberia’s longstanding diplomatic relationship with the United States. He further warned that maintaining close ties with both the United States and Russia, two global superpowers with complex relations, is a matter of serious concern not only for the CDC but also for the Liberian people.
“Mr. Boakai cannot gamble with an entire nation,” Koijee emphasized. He argued that the CDC and the Liberian people will not allow President Boakai to treat the country as his personal property.
He called on citizens and national stakeholders, including political leaders, the media, civil society, and human rights organizations, to oppose any international alliance that threatens Liberia’s stability, particularly the emerging Russia-Liberia relationship.
“We cannot sit idly by and watch our country descend into chaos as Mr. Boakai attempts to diplomatically insult the United States,” he said. Koijee clarified that the CDC has no personal issue with Russia, but is deeply concerned about Liberia’s approach to its diplomatic engagements.
He urged the Boakai-Koung administration to be forthright about its foreign policy stance, suggesting that if the government truly believes Russia can serve Liberia better than the United States, it should openly embrace that choice instead of playing a “double game” with the nation’s future, peace, stability, and foreign policy amid the tense relationship between the two superpowers.
Additionally, the 39-year old Secretary General of the former ruling party disclosed that the CDC is also concerned about the unexplained disappearance of a client of former Associate Justice Kabinah Ja’neh, Ibrahima Khalil was being tried on allegation of recruiting Liberian ex-combatants to overthrow the junta Government of Guinea.
Former Justice Ja’neh disclosed to the public that his client Khalil was arrested in Lofa by the joint security headed by the Liberia National Police.
Koijee said the alarming proportion of people disappearing from police custody is worrisome and the CDC is entreating the international community to call President Boakai and his officials to book. “Many people have gone missing and some died under mysterious circumstances without any reprimand for the perpetrators. The Joyce Musu case is one classic of example. That young lady had huge potential. She was killed in cold blood and nobody has been held accountable. We were accused but the Unity Party led administration which lied on us is in power but no step to prove their claims against us,” he maintained.
The CDC stalwart said the party is in solidarity with the former Associate Justice during this difficult time at the hands of the political group that he [Ja’neh] supported. He added that even though the former Justice Minister does not share the same political ideology with the CDC, he is supporting the call for the Police under the control of “social media celebrity” Gregory Coleman to produce the missing man alive.
