Monrovia – Reports of a doable U.S. visa restriction on Liberians have reignited debate over the nation’s passport scandal, with supporters of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and former President George Weah’s Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) administration blaming one another for the state of affairs.
By Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
According to The New York Times, a draft doc circulating throughout the U.S. authorities categorizes nations into three tiers—pink, orange, and yellow—primarily based on potential journey restrictions. Liberia falls underneath the “yellow” class, which means the federal government has been warned to handle particular deficiencies to keep away from sanctions. The U.S. Embassy in Monrovia has not formally commented on the matter.
Who Is to Blame?
The reported inclusion of Liberia on the listing has sparked a conflict of phrases. Critics of the previous CDC-led authorities blame it for allegedly promoting diplomatic passports to people of questionable character, which they argue led to heightened scrutiny from U.S. authorities.
Henry Costa, a political commentator and a one-time Boakai supporter, claimed that Liberia’s potential visa restriction is linked to the CDC administration’s alleged involvement in promoting diplomatic passports and consul normal positions to criminals and probably terrorists.
“This practice of the past administration has raised serious national security concerns in Washington, D.C., leading to Liberia’s inclusion on the proposed travel ban list,” Costa said on his Facebook web page.
Similarly, Unity Party supporter and political analyst Ambulah Mamey argued that whereas previous administrations, together with former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s, had been accused of improper passport gross sales, the Weah administration worsened the drawback. He additionally criticized the Boakai administration for failing to research the matter.
“Ellen [Johnson Sirleaf] government sold passports to journalists. Weah [George Weah] government sold passports to criminals & drug dealers. JNB [Joseph Nyuma Boakai] promised but FAILED to investigate, release a report, and clean the system. Now, ordinary Liberians risk visa restriction. JNB’s failure to investigate DOES NOT make Weah, who gave the passports to criminals, better,” Mamey wrote.
Supporters of former President Weah, nevertheless, argue that the Boakai administration’s dealing with of the passport problem has worsened Liberia’s diplomatic standing.
Acarous M. Gray, a former Montserrado County consultant, blamed the Boakai-led authorities for recalling diplomatic passports, which he claimed was prompted by U.S. issues over criminals holding such passports.
“President Boakai canceled diplomatic passports because the Americans raised concerns that criminals were holding diplomatic passports from ambassador-at-large and special envoys,” Gray said.
He accused the Boakai administration of continuous the follow of issuing diplomatic passports to people of questionable character, citing the case of Joe Kpoto, a Liberian arrested in Japan for allegedly defrauding a Japanese businessman whereas carrying a Liberian diplomatic passport.
A History of Passport Scandals
The controversy over Liberia’s diplomatic passports is just not new. In 2020, the U.S. authorities sanctioned Andrew Wonplo, former Director of Passport and Visas at Liberia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for his function in what it described as vital corruption associated to passport fraud.
“This designation reaffirms U.S. commitment to standing with the people and government of Liberia in their fight against corruption,” the U.S. State Department said on the time.
While Wonplo was later exonerated by the court docket, critics of the Weah administration argue that the federal government was lenient with Wonplo, fearing that he might implicate high-profile officers.
In 2022, one other passport scandal erupted when U.S. authorities found a Liberian diplomatic passport within the house of Sheik Bassirou Kante, who was later convicted within the United States for a $7 million commerce fraud scheme. Following this revelation, then President Weah ordered a momentary halt to the issuance of diplomatic passports and an investigation into how Kante obtained one. However, no public report of the investigation was launched.
Upon assuming workplace, President Boakai tried to handle the problem by suspending the issuance of diplomatic, official, and repair passports underneath the July 2023 Revised Passport Regulations. The administration reinstated the 2016 passport rules, citing nationwide safety issues.
The transfer was welcomed by the U.S. Embassy, which said, “The Foreign Minister’s commitment to address the issue of fraudulent travel documents advances not just Liberia’s national security but that of the international community.”
However, critics argue that regardless of the Boakai administration’s preliminary stance, there was little progress in cleansing up the passport system. Many of the earlier officers appointed as ambassadors-at-large underneath the Weah administration reportedly stay of their positions.
A New Travel Ban Looming?
With Liberia reportedly on the U.S. watchlist for potential visa restrictions, the talk over accountability continues. Critics of Weah say his administration’s failure to scrub up the passport system led to the present state of affairs, whereas opponents of Boakai argue that his authorities has didn’t take decisive motion to rectify previous errors.
As the 60-day interval reportedly given by the U.S. authorities to handle these issues approaches, it stays unclear whether or not Liberia will take the crucial steps to keep away from journey sanctions or if peculiar Liberians will bear the results of political mismanagement.
For now, the blame recreation between supporters of each administrations continues, whereas Liberians wait anxiously to see how the state of affairs unfolds.