Like former Presidents Sirleaf and Weah, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai appears to have no qualm appointing individuals of his tribal interest in key positions in government, irrespective of expected public criticisms. Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 12 years appointed people of interest in government, who critics identified as close ties in relationship bordered on ethnicity or specialized interests. Mr. Robert Sirleaf, the biological son of Madam Sirleaf was made pro bono chairman of the National Oil Company of Liberia(NOCAL) during her regime when millions of United States Dollars poured into the Liberian economy through NOCAL but could not actually be accounted for. The Weeks’ family and other close associates of Madam Sirleaf held top positions also in government over the years until the regime faded away. The immediate successor of Madam Sirleaf, former President George Manneh Weah was also criticized for making the government he led at the time as Southeastern-dominated administration. The region alone produced President, Speaker, President Pro-Tempore, Finance and Development Planning Minister including other lucrative positions as well. Currently, President Boakai’s administration is being regarded as a Lofo County-dominated government where lucrative financial portfolios and other top public offices are occupied by citizens of the county. For the record, lucrative financial portfolios such as Liberia Revenue Authority Commissioner General, Liberia Telecommunication Authority Chairperson, Central Bank of Liberia Governor and Finance and Development Planning Minister are all occupied by Lofaians. At LRA is James Dorbor Jallah as Commissioner General; at CBL is Henry F. Saamoi as Acting Governor; at LTA is Abdullai Kamara as Chairperson, and now at Finance and Development Planning Ministry Augustine K. Ngafuan has been nominated as Minister, the position he occupied during the Sirleaf administration. Though Ngafuan rose from the position of Director of the Budget to Minister of Finance and Development Planning and later Minister of Foreign Affairs during the Sirleaf administration with some high level of performance, he was linked to corruption for alleged misappropriation of Japanese Grant designated for development projects at the time. This allegation came from the General Auditing Commission audit report during the Sirleaf administration but there was reportedly no appropriate action from the then government to investigate Mr. Ngafuan and others linked to either convict or acquit those indicted by the GAC audit report at the time. It can be recalled that the controversial Japanese Grant brought the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to public attention and in the interim Mr. Ngafuan tendered his resignation in 2015 thus leaving the corruption allegation unresolved. The resignation of Mr. Ngafuan at the time pricked some UL students to advance anti corruption advocacy and one of those students was Assatu Kabba who was quoted as saying, “The allegation could have serious ramifications on Ngafuan’s future credibility and the Government of Liberia commitment for fighting corruption if he occupies a top position like the Finance and Development Planning Minister.” Another UL student- Jerome Azango, II has a different view bordering on appointments in government noting, “The implications of appointing individuals from the same tribe suggest potential conflict of interest and nepotism.” Azango’s assertion points to what politicians seeking public offices often make the electorate to believe that they (politicians) would disallow under their watch nepotism and conflict of interest, once elected to serve the country. As far back as the era of Samuel K. Doe up to Boakai regime, the campaign against nepotism, favoritism, sectionalism, tribalism and other seeming inimical governance factors in Liberia appears unachievable because every leader heading the Liberian presidency seems to justify the right to appoint people to positions of trust as the authority exclusively belonging to the power-that-be. However, critics say the tendency of leader using appointment power to deliberately prefer one’s kinsmen, whether they are qualified or not to lucrative positions in government at the disadvantage of qualified citizens from other tribal groups undermines decentralization of government and geographical balance.
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