………Senator Prince Johnson denounces CDC’s broken economy assertion
By: Jerromie S. Walters
Monrovia, Liberia: Following years of controversies surrounding the economic status of the state when he ascended to state power in 2018, Nimba County Senator Prince Y. Johnson has alleged that upon viewing the turnover note of former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, he discovered that a total of $USD 150,000,000 (one hundred and fifty million United States dollars) was left in the country’s reserve.
As one of the President’s closest allies when he took over in 2018, Senator Johnson in an interview mid-Thursday, February 2, 2023, said he was fortunate to have read the turnover note, and said amount was vividly embedded in it to start the Weah’s administration in 2018.
“I saw something in the copy of the turnover note, one hundred and fifty million US dollars straight, in the reserve.”
However, the Nimba County lawmaker is calling on President George Weah to publish the turnover note he received from former President Sirleaf in order to give Liberians a clearer picture of his frequent assertion that he encountered a broken economy.
“Let me be called a liar by the publication of that turnover note; the turnover note was signed by Madam Sirleaf, and he attested to it, and he received it.”
Referencing the information act, Senator Prince Johnson is admonishing lawmakers up Capitol Hill to join him in putting the President’s feet to fire, to make the turnover note available through publication.
“I’m asking the legislature to join me in requesting that our leader, who wants a second mandate, publish the turnover note that contains properties of the Liberian people, including one hundred and fifty million dollars in the reserve,” he added.
Additionally, Senator Prince Johnson said he has long called for the past government to be audited, but his efforts have been ignored.
He believes it’s important that Liberians be aware of what President Weah accomplished in the country’s history when he took over in 2018.
“Ellen said she left so much in the treasury when he took over, and he said it was empty, so the best way to convince the Liberian people and all of us in the legislature is to make available through publication that handover note, to convince the Liberian people that there’s honesty and transparency in his government,” he added.
Upon taking over in 2018, President Weah disclosed that he met a broken economy to which many reacted differently to.
Following the President’s disclosure, former president Sirleaf debunked the assertion, noting that sufficient money was left to commence the new administration.
Dozens of other supporters of the former ruling establishment, including officials and members of the Unity Party, have also refuted the president’s claims.
Since 2018, the issue of a “broken economy” is one that supporters of the George W. Bush administration have paraded with to basically justify their lapses and weaknesses.
