Monrovia - Jefferson Koijee, the kid many regard as possibly one of the last remaining strongholds linking the opposition Congress for Democratic Change and its core youth base has apparently fallen out of ranks with the party’s executive Committee.

Koijee was suspended indefinitely Wednesday for what the party’s chair George Solo described as “grave offenses” found to be incompatible with the guiding principles and constitution of the party.

“The party informs the public of the immediate suspension of Mr. Koijee, pending investigation, consistent with Part II Bye Laws; Chapter I, Codes of Conduct, Rule 14 of the Bye-Laws and constitution of the CDC,” read a statement signed by Solo Wednesday.

Antithesis to Gbarnga

The suspension came hours after Koijee released a document to FrontPageAfrica he trumpeted as a statement he delivered at the national Vision 2030 deliberations in Gbarnga Nimba County.

Koijee in his statement to the Vision 2030 gathering in Gbarnga highlighted some of the ills in the Liberian society that needs to be solved.

“We must solve the real problems of Liberia including nepotism and tokenism if any kind of vision is to work for this country,” said Koijee.

“There can be no magic wand to erase the accumulated years of hurt of leaders do not take sincere steps to solve them.”

Weah’s appointment a mockery

Koijee questioned the appointment of the CDC head George Weah as peace Ambassador. For the young political activist, he sees Weah’s appointment to such a portfolio as an attempt by the Sirleaf administration to take away from the CDC its years of consistency in holding the government accountable.

Koijee would rather see the President change some of the undemocratic tendencies of her government, in order to prove that she is sincere when it comes to moving the country forward.

“We cannot be real in our desire to unify Liberians if we name one opposition leader as a peace emissary, no matter how loved he may be, if the public still see one person being named to three prominent governmental positions only because he is the son of the President,” said Koijee.

“We cannot hide behind qualifications real or imagined. If my mother were President I would be very qualified in her eyes. But my mother loves Liberia and its citizens too much to appoint me to three positions above public uproar and discontent.”

Was CDC embarrassed?

But the CDC apparently was embarrassed by such an unpolished statement delivered by one of its revolutionary young soldiers without fear of repercussions.

“It is however the belief of the leadership of the CDC that Mr. Koijee’s thoughtless actions betray this objective outlined in the foregoing and deliberatively flouts basic Executive orders decreed by the party; serious offenses that run contrary to the established etiquette governing all members
and officials of the Congress for Democratic Change,” stated the CDC executive in the statement.

The party wants Koijee to submit himself to its Grievance & Ethics Committee to obtain a copy of his charge-sheet adding that he may choose to exercise his inalienable right to defense and due process.

“Nevertheless, the leadership of the party reaffirms the immense significance of the Youth League as an integral part of the CDC’s body politics, which objectives shall be to unite the youth of the land in their common struggle against marginalization and provide leadership in surmounting meaningful contributions to the work of the CDC and the life of the nation,” stated the CDC.

Koijee’s suspension is the latest in a long line of defections and falling out to rock the CDC. To date, the party’s political leader Weah has been accused of engineering the departure of some of the parties strong women including Geraldine Doe-Sheriff, Alomiza Ennos and Regina Slokan Teah.

With the suspension barely taking root, the leadership of the party has cautioned its fearless youth chair to refrain from actions and utterances that could subject the institution to public ridicule adding: “as additional measures could be contemplated to protect the governing standards of the mighty Congress for Democratic Change.”

Weah’s acceptance of the appointment made by President ohnson Sirleaf to a position of ambassador for peace in the Unity Party-led government was greeted with mixed reaction in Monrovia and within his own party. President Sirleaf broke the news last Tuesday during a meeting with political parties ahead of next week’s National Conference in Bong County.

Sirleaf reportedly informed the political leaders that with the National Conference Committee launching the Reconciliation Roadmap, Ambassador Weah had consented to work with the government as “Peace Ambassador,” and will assist with reconciliation efforts. He will put together his own Plan of Action as to how he will proceed.

The President said that, over several months, the National Steering Committee, with technical assistance from the United Nations system and others, has put together the Reconciliation Roadmap with much more specifics as to how it will be achieved.

In an interview with the Voice of America, hours after the appointment, Solo, stressed that the acceptance of the post by Weah, is a manifestation of Weah’s commitment to peace in Liberia.

“This is not a new agenda of Ambassador Weah. As you are aware, Ambassador was very instrumental in the disarmament of young people working as a UNICEF Ambassador," said Solo.

Solo told the VOA that the CDC strongman has been a pillar of peace in Liberia and one of the custodians of the sustainability of the peace that the country enjoy presently.

But Koijee’s statement in Gbarnga in the presence of the President and her guests seems to be a bruising embarrassment the party finds hard to swallow.

“In the interim, the CDC maintains that it will not allow the party’s widening democratic space and the internal expansion of democratic pluralism to be compromised by selfish political engineering by any individual, irrespective of status or affiliation,” stated the party in Wednesday’s release. 

“Finally, the leadership of Liberia’s national liberation movement restates its determination to upholding the moral and ethical values of the CDC at all times without fear or favor, and reminds all CDCians to behave in accordance with the rule of law, throughout their endeavors.”

For Koijee, taking the bull by the horn when given the national platform to speak truth to power is something he did not take with a pinch of salt.

He let the national gathering in on the level of distaste so many of his compatriots felt about the current national visioning policy document currently under discussion.

“While the document crafters may have many things going in their favor in terms of experience and review of the local contexts, this document tells us that they limited their analysis,” said Koijee.

Continued Kojee: “By restricting their review to economics and social contexts of only Liberia, the United States and other African countries, they completely ignore the paths travelled by South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and other tigers who transformed from an extractive economy to full blown diversified economies in the same time that we as Liberians used finding excuses and justifications for bring our country on its knees.”

Koijee ‘Sheer Mockery’

Koijee reacting to the news of his suspension after he was contacted by FPA laughed off the suspension and termed the action as bogus adding that he does not think it can be the official position of the party.

“I am investigating; I don’t believe it is an official decision of the executive committee. However, it is a sheer mockery; so until I conduct my investigation, I will be able to respond,” he said.