MONROVIA: Nimba County’s controversial Senator, Prince Y. Johnson (PYJ), has flip-flopped again relative to his political support for incumbent President George Manneh Weah in the 2023 Presidential and Legislative elections.
Senator Johnson, addressing citizens of Nimba County, via his Facebook Page, said “in November 2017, we signed an agreement with the Congress For Democratic Change (CDC), to give the party our political support.
In the agreement, we signed up for top Ministerial posts, Managing Directors and some ambassadorial positions to be given to Nimba or President George Weah should appoint sons and daughters from Nimba County to occupy these top positions through our recommendations.
However, Johnson pointed out that “since the CDC led government came to power in 2018, we are yet to see sons and daughters from our beloved Nimba County in those top senior positions we agreed upon and signed a document as evidence.”
PYJ added that “the citizens of Nimba have, for the past five years, been knocking at my doors for the president to appoint them, and we have used all diplomatic means and have consistently engaged this CDC led government, but nothing is working in order to get redress and make our people who struggled during the campaign period happy.”
He asserted that “once again my fellow citizens of Nimba and supporters in Liberia and around the World, we like to take this time to inform you that the agreement we signed with the CDC has come to an end! So, for and on behalf of the great people Nimba and all partisans of the MDR Political Party, we are now constrained to make this pronouncement that we are “HALTING OUR POLITICAL SUPPORT” to the Coalition, the lawmaker disclosed.
In a special press statement over the weekend to the citizens of Nimba and supporters in Liberia and around the world, the former charismatic rebel leader, turned politician indicated that “as a former general in the army, we believe in agreement and don’t like to betray what we have agreed upon, so we ask you to remain calm until we can later inform you about where to go.”
Ironically too, the same Johnson in September accused the Standard Bearer of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), Mr. Alexander Benedict Cummings, as being “desperate for state power”, and as such, he (PYJ) cannot support such a man to ascend to the coveted Liberian Presidency come 2023 elections.
Senator Johnson made the statement on September 17, 2022 edition of the Spoon Talk-Show, one of Liberia’s sensational radio stations based in Congo town, near Monrovia.
The Controversial Nimba County Senator made it clear that on many occasions, Alexander Benedict Cummings (ABC), who is now heading the breakaway Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) and former Vice President, Joseph Nyuma Boakai, of the erstwhile governing Unity Party (UP) visited him (PYJ), at his residence in Paynesville, to seek his support for the pending 2023 presidential and legislative elections.
PYJ told SPOON FM that apart from the incumbent President of Liberia, George M. Weah, no other presidential aspirant will “merit his support for the Liberian presidency come 2023.”
But, without less than 90 days, the controversial Senator has backed off again from supporting incumbent President and his CDC come, 2023.
Apart, in 2021, Senator Johnson said he would die for Weah and nobody will stop him (Johnson) from supporting President Weah. He was speaking in an apparent response to United States sanctions imposed on him at the time.
Some political analysts are saying the despite Senator’s inconsistency, he remains a king maker when it comes to Nimba County and any threat from such man could be worrisome for his allies.
Other reports reaching this paper suggest that this is Senator Johnson’s third time withdrawing from supporting President Weah politically.
Prior to President Weah’s nationwide tour, Senator Johnson told the public that incumbent President George Weah would rig the 2023 presidential and legislative elections.
Conversely, last September, Senator disclosed that the 2023 presidential and legislative elections would be free, fair, transparent, and credible.
Johnson made the clarification in response to a question raised by the former Secretary General of opposition Unity Party, Mo Ali, during the same Spoon Talk-Show as per his (Senator Johnson’s) previous statement concerning the 2023 elections.
Senator, Prince Y. Johnson, is a Kingmaker in Liberia’s political history as his support helped to bring former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to state power in 2005 and 2011 respectively.
He, in the past, praised incumbent president Weah for carrying out many development projects in Nimba County.
