Learning the hard way to differentiate the age of Methuselah from the wisdom of King Solomon; The Boakai’s presidency one year on.

January 20, 2025January 21, 2025 by D.Name.U.Know

Wonderr K. Freeman, Attorney, CFCS

In 2017, as the Unity Party government of Mrs. Sirleaf was phasing out, there was an understandable anxiety. Madam Sirleaf had previously and explicitly stated that she and her vice president (i.e., Mr. Joseph Boakai) were departing together. As she rationalized at the time, it was time for a new generation of leaders. At the time, there was no shortage of rising stars in the Unity Party (UP). There was Amara Konneh – her Minister of Finance. There was Augustine Ngafuah, her Foreign Minister, Gyude Moore, her Minister for Public Works and even – Toga Gayeweah MacIntosh, Ambassador at ECOWAS or so. As 2017 drew near, Mr. Boakai, ever the devious character, feigned agreement with his boss, while at the same time plotting his solo path to the presidency – forging alliances with Cllr. Varney Sherman, Wilmot Paye, Emmanuel Nuquay/[PUP], and others to form the “indigenous ticket”. This was a direct “diss” to Mrs. Sirleaf, who is widely presumed to be of Americo-Liberia heritage. Using the argument that the “age of Methuselah was tantamount to the wisdom of King Solomon,” Mr. Boakai and his supporters were successful in eliminating all internal opponents, thus claiming the right to contest the 2017 elections on a white ballot primary.

With Mr. Boakai and his acolytes in full control of the UP, he and his people declared war on Mrs. Sirleaf and loyalists. Suddenly, the Unity Party that Mrs. Sirleaf resurrected from the grave, under Mr. Boakai’s machinations, suddenly became hostile to her. In the end, history has it that Mrs. Sirleaf, understandably, withheld her support from UP and Mr. Boakai lost the [2017] election to Mr. George Weah and the CDC. At the time, Mr. Boakai’s sole claim to leadership was his age and longevity in public office – which I will repeatedly reference herein as “conflating the age of Methuselah with the wisdom of King Solomon”.
And so, making a long story short, buoyed by the giant microphone of Henry Costa and criminal proceeds of the likes of Stanton Witherspoon and Jeremiah Koung, Mr. Boakai made a successful comeback, and was elected as President and took the oath of office on January 22, 2024. One year on, we look back to the theory that given Mr. Boakai’s advanced age (80+) he must necessarily be wise, honest, and just. And if Mr. Boakai had lived up to this expectation, then Liberia must have just clocked one successful year under the leadership of the wise and honest old man. Unfortunately, this is not the consensus. In fact, the overwhelming consensus is that Mr. Boakai’s first year was an unmitigated disaster. This was one year of monthly and even weekly disasters – to the point where one could no longer keep up with the unfolding tragedies. So, in this essay, I’ll highlight the tragic consequences of mistaking the “age of Methuselah” for the “wisdom of King Solomon,” – as evidenced by Mr. Boakai’s first year as President of Liberia.

Dishonesty, Greed, and Utter Lack of Integrity

After one year, it is now clear to everyone in Liberia that Mr. Boakai is dishonest, greedy, and lacks integrity. The evidence is everywhere. The highlight of Mr. Boakai’s dishonesty and greed is his letter to the National Legislature that he is responsible for the scandalous yellow machine deal on a “gentleman agreement”. What wise man signs a USD 80m dollars equipment deal on behalf of a nation on a “gentleman agreement”? And then, there are the useless foreign travels – at least a dozen times in 2024– simply to seek his personal interest [medical care as the state’s expense perhaps?] or ostensibly] to accumulate per diems. And then, his continuation of the budget in which hundreds of millions (USD) are allocated to NSA, Ministry of State, and EPS in the name of “covert operations” – the continuation of the state coffer pillaging that started under Mrs. Sirleaf and perfected under Mr. George Weah.

Also, Mr. Boakai, the self-described poor man, suddenly developed a taste for million-dollar “bullet-proof” vehicles and private jet usage. Buoyed for free GOL money and bereft of integrity or accountability, Mr. Boakai also developed a penchant for offering bribes. He started his tenure by offering bribes, including for the election of Speaker of the House of Representatives, and having lost the election, offered more bribes to remove the elected Speaker . The latter act eventually culminated in the greatest political dysfunction in Liberia’s political history, with two persons claiming to be Speakers or the lower house of parliament, as well as suspected arson on the Capitol Building. The sight of the capital building on fire represents the epitome of Mr. Boakai’s lack of leadership ability and whatever devastating consequences the politics of greed could wreak in Liberia. The unfortunate reality is that he was trusted with Liberia almost wholly on the fact that he was old and hence must be “wise”. Liberia is now contending with the disastrous consequences of this ostensibly faulty thinking.

**Liberia’s National Legislature Building – on fire. A potent reminder of what could possibly go wrong when leadership is entrusted to the wrong people**

**From living on loans n Stanton’s handout to flying private jets, the evolution of Joseph Boakai**

Impunity and Contempt for the Rule of Law

Mr. Boakai famously said that his boss, Ellen Sirleaf, wasted opportunity. He claimed that all the failures of the UP government were the doing of her alone and the successes were due to his contribution. Now, he’s fully in charge. In Joseph Boakai’s Liberia, USD 22m can be vandalized by his Public Works Minister without a word of protest from Mr. Boakai. Crimes have been committed left and right – including crimes by his UP people and Mr. Boakai does nothing. The [UP] Party Chairman “chops” money, no penalty. Miatta Fahnbulleh’s inaugural committed flops spectacularly and Mr. Boakai “congratulates” them for a job well done. Mr. Grigsby and Ms. Bility are teaming up in a criminal enterprise right in the Office of the President, and Mr. Boakai does nothing to stop the criminality. Ministers and commissioners award themselves fabulous salaries, and Mr. Boakai is perfectly okay with this .

One of Mr. Boakai’s worst demonstrations of leadership deficit was his open defiance of the Supreme Court. This he did twice! Firstly, in the Liberia Telecoms tenure position saga, when the Court opined that tenure position appointment is legal and constitutional, Mr. Boakai chose to openly defy the Court and continues to do so, as I write. And then, in the Supreme Court corruption case regarding the removal of the CBL governor and deputy, again the Court placed a stay order on the appointment of Mr. Henry Saamoi (the current acting [CBL] governor), yet Mr. Boakai still has his tribal man in there – in utter contempt for the Court. Mr. Boakai continued his law-breaking when he had his tribal man and Solicitor General, Mr. Fayiah from Foya, gave up a Guinean national, a prisoner in Liberia, to the government of Guinea without the benefit of a court order . It’s now clear to one and all that Mr. Boakai has absolutely no respect for the rule of law. None whatsoever! Contrary to Liberians’ hope that “age” would have had a moderating influence, this notion seems to have failed rather spectacularly. Methuselah Boakai is simply a lawless old man who wouldn’t pretend!

Business-as-Usual and Lack of Commitment to Development

Mr. Boakai and his UP party made a lot of “righteous” noises about not continuing business as usual. But after one year in power, if anything is clear, it is that they were not advocating against bad governance per se; they simply wanted to be the ones in the driver’s seat – doing the “chopping”. Some of the things they criticized – like the excessive foreign travels, large entourages, and private jet usage, they continued probably even more . They previously criticized the high cost of government – i.e., where nearly all the government funds went to running the government, leaving nothing for development. Now, whereas CDC and the first UP government had recurrent expenditures around 85%+/-, under the Boakai-led UP government, about 90% of the national income is spent on “running the government,” – leaving precious little for development. Instead of spending on infrastructure to encourage and facilitate development and employment opportunities, Mr. Boakai continues to spend on “covert operations”, bloated executive salaries, luxury vehicles and a long list of useless activities. Promoting local enterprise development, manufacturing, and job creation are seemingly the furthest from his mind.

Mr. Boakai has no serious plans for development. For him, Liberia’s development starts and ends with foreign governments/partners pouring money into Liberia, while he encourages and incentivizes GOL officials to steal, misuse, and abuse state resources with impunity. Reportedly, he has scribbled together an ARREST Agenda (development plan) that is overwhelmingly reliant on foreign donors. . Again, it appears that Mr. Boakai has accumulated age bereft of wisdom or even ordinary common sense– contrary to the general thinking that Methuselah must necessarily be wise or at least have some common sense.

Divisive, Tribalistic, and Thriving on Chaos

Over the course of the year (2024), if anything is clear, it is Mr. Boakai’s ability to sow discord and disunity. The chaos of the National Legislature bears all the hallmarks of Mr. Boakai’s machinations. He and his Unity Party people complained about southeastern dominance under Mr. Weah/CDC. However, under Mr. Boakai, the dominance is not even that of a region. It is a dominance of just one county – just Lofa. Lofa consists of no more that 6% of Liberia’s population, but in terms of appointments, it has garnered arguably about 60% or more of presidential appointments. I will not even belabor the point of giving examples because there is not much to argue. This is all an intrinsic part of Mr. Boakai’s construct of public service – an opportunity to “eat” – even if it means plunging the nation into chaos. It’s simply a replay of his “dancing with the devil” philosophy that saw him win the election. It seems Methuselah Boakai has no interest in national unity – contrary to the widespread public perception in Liberia that Methuselah must necessarily be a unifier.

Actively Promoting and Incentivizing Corruption

While in opposition, Mr. Boakai and his UP-ruling class accused Mr. Weah of massive corruption. Even the United States government seemed to back this up by slamming sanctions against top officials of the Weah/CDC government. In effect, there was sufficient anecdotal evidence that the Weah government was corrupt. However, with the coming of UP 2.0, Mr. Boakai now had the leverage and gravitas of state institutions to do something about CDC’s corruption. But that’s not what the supposedly wise old man did. With more than one year at the helm of the state, the promised widespread prosecution of corrupt CDC officials never happened. Mr. Boakai was simply not interested. Moreso, the General Auditing Commission (GAC) had, over the year, doled out a steady stream of reports , showing, as expected, widespread corruption and abuse of government resources, past and present. In just one audit alone (the CBL Audit, 2023), for example, Mr. Weah and his agents looted the state coffers to the tune of USD 200 million and have enjoyed and continued to enjoy impunity . Methuselah Boakai has said and done nothing, notwithstanding the reports.

Beyond the George Weah CDC corruption, Mr. Boakai and his UP people seemingly just swapped places with George Weah/CDC. They continued with the NSA’s “covert operations” millions as well as other abuses – including at the Ministry of Public Works, the Liberia Telecommunication Authority, amongst others, too many to mention. In short, wisdom did not accompany Boakai’s age, neither did honesty nor integrity. All Liberians see under the Boakai’s regime was just raw misuse and abuse of power, reminiscent of how Liberia has been run from time immemorial and for which Liberians are amongst the world’s poorest people.

The crowning example of Mr. Boakai’s thinking about his role as President of Liberia is encapsulated in his recent statements at an event in his home county of Lofa, in which he was reported to have said:
“I always say, sometimes you call the people to eat, [they used to eat with hand], but the person [the invitee] put his hand on the bowl and ask, “Who hand this?” [i.e., whose hand is this?]. [Mr Boakai continues…] I who call you to eat, and you’re asking, “Who hand this?” [i.e., How dare you ask whose hand is this, when it is I, in my magnanimity, invited you to eat? We the one should be asking you [i.e, I should be asking you whose hand is this?] … ….“We want to encourage those who want to remain corrupt and steal money; I beg y’all, the money should be used to bless our people”….

Let’s briefly unpack the implications of Methuselah Boakai’s statements.
a. The opportunity to serve in the Government of Liberia is an invitation to “eat”.
b. When you have been invited to “eat”; you don’t ask stupid questions – like who else is eating? Or why are others “eating” more? You simply “eat” your own – and be silent.
c. Only those who did the inviting (presumable the ruling party – UP) has the right to ask questions about the “eating”.
d. Being corrupt or stealing public money is no problem… indeed if there is any redline at all, that redline is using the money in Liberia –to bless our people;
e. The head of state, Mr. Boakai, is using “moral suasion,” as opposed to using the law to control or mitigate the harmful effects of corruption. Note his choice of words: Please, I beg you. Here, the state is substituting its coercive power for the “benevolence” and “goodwill” of the politician doing the stealing – as in the state is powerless and beseeches the goodwill of the politician to moderate the effects of his crime

**Business as usual in Liberia: Steal domestic resources and go abroad to beg foreigners to fund development projects.**

After this self-immolation by Mr. Boakai in Lofa, the GOL and UP spin doctors went into overdrive with hilarious interpretations of what Mr. Boakai actually meant. However, Mr. Boakai’s words only corroborate what his actions in have been communicating since he took over on January 22, 2024. Liberians have simply stopped counting the number of corruption scandals brought to light under the Boakai regime. The opposition rhetoric and campaign promises were merely a ploy to get to power. Nothing more, nothing less! Under Mr. Boakai, there has been near total impunity for corruption and even for other crimes. For example, once elected, the UP has done nothing to investigate and prosecute [2023] election-related violence and deaths. It seems their election to power is all that matters. Justice be damned.
Some people argue, “This is just year one”. With time, all will be well. These same people once argued similarly regarding the 100-day deliverables. Now, we are at 365 days! And they say, “Oh, 365 days is not enough”. It’s often assumed that time cures. But if Liberian history is anything to go by, time has not cured Liberia. In Liberia, it turned out that Tolbert’s time was better than Doe’s time, and Doe’s time was definitely better than Taylor’s time. Even now, many contend that George Weah’s time is way better than Mr. Boakai’s. So, it is doubtful that time will benefit Mr. Boakai. If you started your campaign with being “willing to dance with the devil” and continued to run your government with the maxim: “steal [enough], but make sure to bless the people”, even 1000 days or 100 years will not produce anything better. If the foundation is phony, the house is going down, definitely. If Liberians must learn anything from this Joseph Boakai fiasco of a government, it is this: the age of Methuselah has nothing to do with the wisdom of King Solomon. This is an ancient Christian wisdom that the supposedly Christian nation, Liberia, failed to heed and now is experiencing the devastating consequences of. Mr. Boakai is just not going to deliver anything better for Liberia. He was unable to do so for himself – infamously living on handouts from Henry Costa and Stanton Witherspoon. He was unable to do so for the many decades he served in GOL. He was unable to do so in his first year as President. Age is no substitute for wisdom, leadership, or integrity. Despite his advanced age, Mr. Boakai has demonstrated a brazen lack of wisdom and leadership; even worse, the old man lacks integrity. Those waiting for a better life under Joseph Boakai are simply waiting in vain. Mr. Boakai has been rescued from his poverty, but there will be no rescue for you. Brace yourself people; It’s going to be a SLOW six years of pain and agony!

Wonderr K. Freeman is a Liberian Investment Attorney, Political Economist, Accountant, and Certified Financial Crimes Specialist (CFCS) currently based in Minneapolis, USA. Mr. Freeman’s professional interests span the intersection of law and economics, including the political economy of development, economic justice, international trade/investment law, and financial crimes law. He can be reached at [email protected]. He blogs at https://wonderrfreeman.com